FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ITS HISTORY, the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index crossed 700 points on Sunday. The index reached 702.73 points – growing by 9.5 points from last week’s closing. In the last two months, the Nepse index has surged by 100 points or Rs 30 billion in market capitalization value. With the latest increase, the total market capitalization value of Nepse has reached Rs 192 billion.
THE PARLIAMENT PASSED THE AMENDMENT BILL to the Civil Service Act (2049), Friday (August 3), with a provision providing for automatic promotion of eligible civil servants. The amendment bill states that the gazetted and non gazatted officials who have completed certain years of service and who are academically eligible, will be automatically promoted by one rank. Likewise, the amendment bill also allocates 45 percent of the seats opened for open competition will be reserved for women, Madhesi, Janajatis, Dalits, disabled and backward people. Of the total reserved seats, women have been allocated 33 percent; Madhesis 22 percent; Indigenous Nationalities 27 percent; Dalits 9 percent; Disabled 5 percent and backward people 4 percent. The amendment bill also allows civil service officers up to the level of section officers to join trade union.
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS SAHANA PRADHAN, Friday (August 3), invited representatives of Kathmandu-based foreign diplomatic missions and international aid bodies at the Ministry and appealed for help to cope with consequences of natural disasters. Due to weeks-long monsoon rainfall, floods and landslides have affected most parts of the country. Particularly, Terai districts have been ravaged by the floods with human toll reaching 86. Around 200,000 people have already been displaced from their homes. Minister Pradhan informed that 60,000 people needed to be fed for at least three months period. At the meeting with the Minister, most of the foreign representatives pledged help to Nepal. They have agreed to provide emergency as well as long term assistance. British ambassador Dr. Andrew Hall said that DfID will be looking at how it can help in the reconstruction and rehabilitation. The acting ambassador of the United States, Robert Hugins, said that his government had provided $ 50,000 humanitarian assistance to the Nepal Red Cross Society as initial response. “We will look at new information and make available further assistance as needed,” he said. Earlier, the World Food Programme (WFP) in Nepal had committed to help in feeding of 60,000 persons.
SAYING THAT HE HAS PUT HIS ENTIRE political career at stake over the success of the forthcoming Constituent Assembly elections, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala urged the Armed Police Force (APF) to work with high morale giving highest priority to maintaining security for the elections. Addressing the national conference of senior officials of APF in Halchowk on Thursday (August 2), PM Koirala pledged total back-support towards APF actions. The APF has been given the responsibility for providing security for the November elections. At the function, chief of APF, IGP Basudev Oli vowed to fulfill the duty. He informed that APF will set up Election Security Base in each of the 75 districts as well as Election Constituency Security Base in each of the 240 constituencies. He said that of the 24,278 manpower of APF, 21,427 will be mobilized for the election security purposes.
DURING HIS MEETING WITH Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Thursday (August 2), the Japanese Senior Vice Minister for Defense Takahide Kimura pledged all possible assistance for Nepal’s democratization and peace process. Kimura, who returned to his country on Thursday after completing a brief visit to Nepal, said Japan appreciates the Prime Minister’s effort for democratization of Nepal. Kimura was in Nepal primarily to inspect the work of Japanese Arms Monitors in the UNMIN.
ALL THE CHIEF DISTRICT OFFICERS (CDOs)/of the 75 districts have issued a joint statement deploring the attack against CDO Uddhav Bahadur Thapa of Dolakha by Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) cadres. The CDOs have drawn the attention of concerned parties to ensure that such incidents do not repeat in future. They have called for clear demarcation between politics and crime to help in law enforcement. They have said that the attack has made the civil servants and people further suspicious at a time when there are so many challenges to hold the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. “A CDO is not an individual but an institution of the state. We take the attack against this representative institution of state as an attack against the state itself,” the statement says. They have also expressed solidarity with CDO Thapa for his commitment to uphold law enforcement. Their joint statement came in the wake of Maoist decision to “expose” CDO Thapa whom they have accused of being regressive.
COMPARED WITH LAST YEAR, the number of Nepalis going overseas for work has increased by 21 percent. According to the Department for Labor and Employment Promotion, during the fiscal year 2063/64 (2006/07), 199,119 Nepalis left for 15 different destinations – up from 165,252 who went overseas the previous fiscal year. Malaysia continued to be the most favorite destination where 71,074 Nepalis went during the period. This figure, however, is down by 14.39 percent compared to previous year when 75,526 workers went there. Till now, 367,000 Nepalis have gone to Malaysia for work. During this period, the number of workers leaving for Qatar reached 58,084 – up from 55,892 last year. The number of workers headed towards Saudi Arabia reached 37,779 – up by 113 percent from 15,813 last year. The UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Israel are other preferred destinations.
KUBER SHARMA OF GREEN NEPAL PARTY has decided to contest the forthcoming Constituent Assembly elections by advancing the slogan of ‘clean politics and clean environment.’ His party’s election symbol is mango. Sharma has said his party will raise the issue of private property and individual freedom during the election. Sharma said his party will abide by the people’s decision on the fate of monarchy.
