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VOL. 03, NO. 03, July 01, 2009 (Ashadh 17 2066)
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Newly Appointed Ministers Taking Oath of Office with President Dr. Ramabaran Yadav
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The Government of Japan has agreed to extend a grant up to four billion, three hundred and thirty-three million Japanese Yen (¥4,333,000,000), equivalent to three billion, four hundred and eighty-three million, seven hundred and thirty-two thousand Nepalese Rupees (NRs.3,483,732,000), or approximately forty-five million, and thirty-eight thousand US Dollars (US$45,038,000) to the Government of Nepal for the implementation of the Project for Construction of the Sindhuli Road (Section III: Khurkot – Nepalthok Section) in Japan’s Fiscal Year 2009.
PRIME MINISTER MADHAV KUMAR Nepal on Wednesday (June 24) expanded the Cabinet for the fourth time, adding six new faces. In the latest extension, the PM inducted five cabinet ministers, representing two Terai-based parties and a fringe party. Five new ministers are two each from the Gachhadar faction of Madhesi Janadhikar forum (MJF) and the Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP) and one from Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). Meanwhile, PM Nepal administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly appointed ministers amid a program in presence of President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav this afternoon. Sarat Singh Bhandari and Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav from MJF were sworn in as Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation and Agriculture and Cooperatives respectively. Likewise, Ram Chandra Singh Kusawaha and Ganesh Nepali from the TMLP were sworn in as the Minister for Education, and the Youth and Sports respectively. Deepak Bohara of the RPP has been appointed the Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation. He also administered the oath of office and secrecy to Man Bahadur Shahi of the CPN-ML as State Minister for Land Reforms. Though only two ministers from the TMLP were sworn in Wednesday, the party’s Mahendra Raya Yadav as the Industry Minister was sworn in on Thursday. So was the party’s nominee as Minister of State for Industry Dan Bahadur Chaudhary.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS AGREED, IN PRINCIPLE, to extend the term of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). Communications minister and government spokesperson Shankar Pokharel told reporters after the cabinet meeting on June 24 that the government has "decided, in principle, to extend UNMIN's term". But the period of extension is yet to be determined, he added. The term of the UN mission, which was established in 2007 to monitor the management of arms and armies and facilitate the peace process, has already been extended thrice, by six months each time. Its term expires on July 22.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS REVERSED THE PREVIOUS government's decision to sack Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal and appoint Lt. General Kul Bahadur Khadka as acting CoAS. A cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's office, Singha Durbar took the decision. CoAS Katawal was sacked by the Maoist-led government on March 3. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav blocked the erstwhile cabinet's decision by asking Katawal to remain in position. Prachanda resigned the next day over the same issue.
UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAM HAS CALLED ON protesting groups to allow safe and unhindered passage of humanitarian relief convoys -- food assistance -- across the Terai. As a result of ongoing strikes in the Terai called by various groups, the WFP has been unable to deliver more than 400 metric tons of food assistance to thousands of food-insecure Koshi flood victims, said WFP Country Representative in Nepal Richard Ragan in a statement. "In observation of basic international humanitarian principles, I urge all protesting groups to allow safe and unhindered passage of WFP humanitarian relief convoys so that vital food assistance can reach Koshi flood victims in a timely manner," Ragan said.
THE GOVERNMENT OF NEPAL IS MAKING significant efforts to eliminate human trafficking but has not fully met the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, says the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report. The annual report notes that Nepal still does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. It says the government continued modest efforts to prosecute traffickers and raise public awareness on trafficking during the reporting period, though its efforts to adequately punish labor trafficking could be improved. Additionally, trafficking-related complicity by government officials remained a serious problem in Nepal. Nepal maintains its status as a Tier 2 country in the US State Department's report released on June 16. "Nepal is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude. Children are trafficked within the country and to India and the Middle East for commercial sexual exploitation or forced marriage, as well as to India and within the country for involuntary servitude as domestic servants, circus entertainers, factory workers, or beggars." According to the report, NGOs working on trafficking issues reported an increase in both transnational and domestic trafficking during the reporting period, although a lack of reliable statistics makes the problem difficult to quantify. NGOs estimate that 10,000 to 15,000 Nepali women and girls are trafficked to India annually, while 7,500 children are trafficked domestically for commercial sexual exploitation."
