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PM G.P. Koirala administers oath of office to newly appointed ministers |
BREAKING HIS OWN RECORD, famous mountaineer Appa Sherpa has successfully climbed Mount Everest for 16 th time. On Friday morning (May 19), the 46-year-old mountaineer from Thame, Solukhumbu, reached the peak as team leader of the Team No Limit Expedition. A father of two sons and a daughter, Sherpa had started his climbing career by first scaling Annapurna First in 1987. He first climbed Everest in 1990. Except for 1996 and 2001, he has scaled the roof of the world every year since then. In 1992 and 1997, he successfully climbed Everest twice in one year. Meanwhile, another person from the same village of Appa Sherpa holds the record of climbing Everest 14 times. Chhewang Ngima Sherpa, 39, climbed Everest for the 14 th time on Saturday (May 20).
THE GOVERNMENT IS PREPARING TO celebrate Jestha 4 (May 18) – the day of parliamentary charter declaration - as the National Day from the coming year, according to deputy prime minister K.P. Oli. He said that he would present the proposal to this effect in the cabinet. Till now, the diplomatic missions and the government celebrated Asar 23 – the birthday of the King - as the National Day.
THE SUPREME COURT (SC) has annulled a provision of the National Broadcasting Act that allows the de-registration of electronic media. The special bench comprising justices Anup Raj Sharma, Balram KC and Tahir Ali Ansari annulled Article 8 of the Act. The Article provisioned that the registration of any electronic media organization could be cancelled if it broadcast any program violating rules. The decision was made in response to a writ petition filed by Narayan Dutta Kandel.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard A. Boucher said that the return to democracy in Nepal has created a broad spirit of optimism. According to press statement released by American Embassy, t estifying on U.S. policy in South Asia before the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific on May 17, Ambassador Boucher said, “The people of Nepal have shown they are not prepared to live under an autocratic monarch. Their success in forcing a return to democracy has created a broad spirit of optimism for the future. We are looking at ways in which we can further strengthen democracy and, through greater public participation in the political process, strengthen the momentum for peace.” On the Maoists, Boucher said, “Should they lay down their weapons, end their use of violence and intimidation and accept the rule of law, and accept the will of the Nepali people through the democratic process, there will be a place for them in Nepal ’s political arena. Until the Maoists take steps to change their character, we will not be convinced that they have abandoned their stated goal of establishing a one-party, authoritarian state.” He added that US “can make a positive difference include technical assistance and equipment to the Parliament and to a constitutional reform process, assisting reintegration of internally displaced persons, and funding election monitors. In addition, we want to assist the Nepali people with projects that can promote economic recovery, especially in rural areas.” He said that the U.S. supports the new government’s efforts to bring peace to Nepal . “The cease-fire is holding and the new government has made clear its readiness for peace. I told Prime Minister Koirala on May 2 that we stand ready to provide assistance to security forces if his government were to make a request. This offer includes our ongoing commitment to improve the human rights record of Nepal ’s security forces.” Likewise, the U.S. Representative James Leach, the subcommittee chairman and a Republican congressman from the state of Iowa, noted in his opening comments that “both the Congress and American people recognize their determination and success in creating the conditions that led the King to hand over the reigns of power and reinstate Parliament.”
CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY OF NEPAL (CAAN) has grounded two Fokker 100 aircraft of Cosmic Air following the request by Netherlands-based Air Cap Ireland Limited – the owner of the aircrafts. The Dutch company had written a letter complaining that the Cosmic was flying its aircraft illegally by not paying its dues. With this step, the Cosmic now has only one Fokker aircraft. Of its four aircraft, one has already been grounded on technical reasons. Meanwhile, Upendra Karki, marketing director of Cosmic, complained against the CAAN decision saying that they were flying the aircraft as per the decision of the court. He also claimed that the company had paid US$ 400,000 to the Dutch company last month. Cosmic had introduced cheaper rates of flying in the country since one and a half years by bringing in jet aircrafts.
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS has denied reports in media that it has written a letter to the United Nations asking to send back a senior Royal Nepalese Army official, who is working in the peacekeeping force. The Ministry, on Tuesday (May 16), said that it had never made any communication to the UN authority to recall Lt. General Balananda Sharma, who is currently working as Force Commander in the UN Peacekeeping Force in the Middle East . It said news stories published in some dailies were totally false. It also urged the concerned publication to adhere to the ethics of journalism. Leading dailies report
BREAKING THE CYCLE OF HUNGER and poverty in Nepal and meeting the goal of halving the number of chronically under-nourished by 2015 seems an elusive task, said Jean Pierre de Margerie, representative of the World Food Program Nepal (WFP/N). Addressing a press meet on Monday (May 15), Margerie said 12 million Nepalis – about 47 percent of the total population – are chronically hungry, reports The Himalayan Times daily. The meet was organized to brief the media on ‘Fight Hunger: Walk the World’ – a walkathon to raise awareness on hunger and collect fund for the program. In a report, the WFPN said Nepal ’s stagnant economy, lack of employment opportunities, weak governance, insufficient infrastructure and the Maoist insurgency have ensured that a significant number of Nepalis remain trapped in a cycle of hunger and poverty from which there appears to be little relief. One child dies every five seconds, Margerie said. At present, the WFP’s global school feeding program is being run in 16 food-deficit districts of mid-western and far western regions of Nepal . The expected number of beneficiaries of the program is 292,000 in 2700 schools. Walk the World even is being organized on May 21 in Kathmandu . Comedian duo Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya have been appointed goodwill ambassadors for the program.
