UK Army chief visiting

British Army chief General David Julian Richards is arriving on a six day official visit beginning February 4 the invitation of his Nepali counterpart Chief of Army Staff Chhatra Man Singh Gurung. According to a press statement issued by Nepal Army's directorate of Public Relations, General Richard will meet president Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and defense minister Vidya Bhnadari. He will also hold bilateral talks with the CoAS Gurung,

UK ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF STUDENT VISA

The UK Border Agency announces that, with effect from Monday 1 February, it will temporarily stop accepting student visa applications under Tier 4 of the Points Based System at the visa application centre in Kathmandu. This is a temporary suspension and the UK Border Agency will begin accepting Tier 4 visa applications again as soon as possible. Customers who are making applications in other visa categories are unaffected by this announcement.

The UK Border Agency has taken this decision in response to an unexpectedly high number of student visa applications at this time of year in parts of South Asia, and will therefore stop accepting any new applications under the Tier 4 student route in affected areas, including Nepal and North India.

Customers who have already made appointments at the visa application centers in Kathmandu to submit their Tier 4 visa applications from 1 February onwards will have their appointments suspended until the UK Border Agency begins accepting Tier 4 visa applications again, and will then be given priority.

The UK Border Agency's Regional Director, Chris Dix, said, "the UK Border Agency remains committed to providing an efficient visa operation for all our customers. We aim to process applications fairly, thoroughly and as quickly as possible."

"The visa operation will continue to work hard to process the student applications that we have received so far and ensure that they all meet the required standard. We will review the temporary suspension in one month's time."

Similarly, the visa application centre in Kathmandu will be closing temporarily to enable the installation of a new IT system at the British High Commission in New Delhi (which includes the UK's visa operation) as part of a global program affecting all British Embassies and High Commissions.

The last day on which VFS will accept new applications will be Monday 8 February. The visa application centre will re-open on Monday 15 February.

UK announces aid to poor communities

The UK Department for International Development (DFID) committed today NRs. 800 million (£6.5 million) to be spent over the next two years for the second phase of the Community Support Program (CSP).

The funds go to an international NGO, Care Nepal and a national NGO, Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN), to implement the program.

Making the announcement, Head of DFID Nepal Sarah Sanyahumbi said:
“We are pleased to announce new support of £6.5 million to Nepal through Care Nepal and RRN to implement the second phase of the Community Support Programme. CSP has had a positive impact on poverty reduction, providing nearly 800,000 poor and excluded people with access to basic services over the last seven years. The logic for us to go to a second phase of CSP is that with an uncertain political environment, and with Local Governance and Community Development Programme taking longer to get off the ground than expected, DFID Nepal needs to continue to deliver essential services to remote and deprived areas. We expect, with time, that LGCDP will take over this important task.”

Secretary at the Ministry of Local Development Shyam Prasad Mainali said:
“The Ministry of Local Development recognises the effectiveness and success of CSP in providing service delivery in remote districts of Nepal. We are confident that with the extension of CSP, the people of remote districts will be able to receive basic services as per their needs.”

WFP Will Supply Food

Two donations totalling US$14 million will enable more than 1.2 million people in Nepal to receive vital food supplies for the next three months, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Thursday.

The two timely donations - US$8 million from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and US$6 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund - mean that more than 600,000 people who lost rations in December will now receive them again.
Speaking at the World Food Programme Headquarters in Rome, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said, “I’m pleased to be able to announce today that the United Kingdom is providing $8 million for the World Food Programme in Nepal, to help feed 450,000 people for three months.”

“The timing of the contributions couldn’t have been better with so many people in need of critical food assistance,” said Richard Ragan, WFP Country Director Nepal. “These generous donations will help ensure WFP can resume providing rations to most targeted beneficiaries over the coming months.”

Japan Helps Alleviate Difficulties of Working Children

The Government of Japan has decided to extend a financial assistance worth US$ 68,706, which is equivalent NRs. 4,994,926 to Shapla Neer-Citizens’ Committee in Japan. This is part of the Overseas Support in Japan’s Fiscal Year 2009 under the Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects Scheme of the Government of Japan.

Shapla Neer is to implement the Project for the “Alleviation of Difficulties of Working Children” in Patan City, Lalitpur District in coordination with a local NGO – The Center to Assist and Protect Child Rights of Nepal (CAPCRON).

The Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects is a scheme to provide financial assistance for the implementation of social and economic development and emergency humanitarian assistance projects to be undertaken by Japanese NGOs in developing countries and regions.

The grant contract relating to this project was signed and exchanged between Tatsuo MiZuno, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, and Ms. Yukiko FUJISAKI, Resident Representative of Shapla Neer – Nepal Office.

Speaking at the grant signing ceremony, ambassador MIZUNO expressed his hope that the project will contribute in enhancing the welfare of children and ensuring the quality of their life.

India Provides Buses

On the occasion of the 61st Republic Day of India on January 26, 2010, twenty one ambulances and six buses were gifted by the Government of India to various hospitals, non-profit charitable organizations and educational institutions from twenty one districts in Nepal.

At a public function held in the Embassy premises in Kathmandu to mark the Republic Day, Ambassador of India, Rakesh Sood hoisted the Indian national flag and read out the address the President of India delivered on 25th January, stressing, amongst other things, India's commitment to democratic principles and to work for peace and stability, and its desire to empower the poor and the disadvantaged for inclusive growth.

The ambassador presented sixteen ambulances and six buses to recipient organizations from 17 districts. The remaining five ambulances were gifted by Consul General of India at Birgunj, Shri T. Ashok to organizations coming under the consular jurisdiction of Consulate General of India, Birgunj.

Since 1994, the Government of India has gifted 262 ambulances to various organizations across 67 districts in Nepal. This has helped in bringing healthcare services to the doorsteps of thousands of people who do not have access to healthcare services especially in remote areas, by connecting them with the nearest district hospitals/health centres.

Japan’s Assistance for Clean Energy

The Government of Japan has agreed to extend a grant assistance of up to six hundred and sixty million yen (Y660,000,000), approximately US$7,298,000, which is, about NRs.537,900,000 to the Government of Nepal, for the execution of the Project for Introduction of Clean Energy by Solar Electricity Generation System in Japan’s FY 2009.

Under the “Cool Earth Partnership” initiative which the Government of Japan has taken from several years ago, the program grant aid for environment and climate change aims to mitigate the effects of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emission. This project is being implemented in response to the request made by the Government of Nepal for the sustainable and uninterrupted power supply to the Dhobi Ghat Reservoir, which will be used for pumping ground water to the Sundarighat Water Treatment Plant under Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), which is responsible to supply drinking water to the population of the Kathmandu Valley.

At present, due to the current energy crisis in the country, Nepal is experiencing severe load shedding hindering socio-economic development activities. On the other hand, due to the unavailability of adequate surface water resources, KUKL is largely dependent on the ground water resources to meet the water demand of the Kathmandu Valley.

In this regard, the Government of Japan has decided to extend this grant to introduce this clean energy resource to set up a sustainable solar electricity generation system that has a capacity of about 300kW for Dhobi Ghat Reservoir.

In this context, a set of notes was signed and exchanged between Tatsuo Mizuno, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, and Rameshore Prasad Khanal, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Nepal, on behalf of their respective Governments.

Korea-Nepal Institute for Technology in Butwal

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal laid the foundation stone of the Korea-Nepal Institute of Technology in Tamnagar, Butwal. During the ceremony, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Irrigation, the Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation, Vice Chairman of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), and other Nepali dignitaries were present.

Hong Sungmog, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea and Ms. Doh Young-Ah, the Resident Representative of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Nepal Office, were also present on behalf of the Korean Government.

The government of the Republic of Korea has decided to support the Project for the Establishment of the Korea-Nepal Institute of Technology (KNIT) in Butwal worth US$5 million. The project has the purpose of enhancing and upgrading the quality of technical education and vocational training in Nepal.

KOICA will support the construction of the institute and provide equipment and educational materials necessary for vocational training. KOICA will also support capacity building in the vocational training field of Nepal through invitational training programs in Korea and the dispatch of experts for institute management, as well as training teachers in each trade.

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