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VOL. 27, NO. 32, April 25, 2008 (Baishakh 13 2065 B.S.)
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THE ELECTION COMMISSION (EC) has said the election costs are well within the limit of its budget estimate that was announced earlier. According to the EC, the total amount spent so far in election programs has not exceeded 2.73 billion rupees, the estimated budget for the election. The commission said that 75 district election offices and the offices of election officers in 240 constituencies will conduct thorough auditing of their spending and then send the details to the center. EC spokesperson Laxman Bhattarai said that the EC would start assessing the costs as soon as it completes the election works. Reports say the total costs of the CA election, including the money spent by national and international observation missions, could cross 6 billion rupees, but Bhattarai said the EC had no information regarding the money spent by other agencies.
MAOISTS HAVE VOWED TO DEVELOP hydropower and have expressed willingness to overcome any challenge including the one posed by employees to realize their aim. In an interaction with bankers and power developers, Thursday, Maoist leaders said they will form a high level committee soon to proceed with project developments. The Maoists have committed in their manifesto to develop 10,000 MW of power in ten years.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS URGED INDIA to withdraw its decision to ban exports of cement and clinker towards Nepal. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has written a letter to the Indian Embassy requesting lifting of such restrictions for Nepal because of its serious impact in the local market. The Ministry is also preparing to make its case clear to concerned Indian officials by mobilizing Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi. Citing spiraling inflation, the Indian government had restricted export of cement, clinker and food stuffs. Due to the decision, the import of cement and clinker has stopped since April 11 triggering rise in cement price by over 20 percent in the local market. Although 70 percent of total cement demand is met domestically, most of the industries depend on the import of clinker as raw material from India.
THE CPN (CPN) HAS QUIT THE GOVERNMENT after its defeat in the constituent assembly elections. Following the party's decision to quit the government, all seven UML minister including two state ministers tendered their resignation to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Wednesday (Apr 16) afternoon. In their joint resignation letter, the UML ministers stated that their party decided to pull out of the government honoring the people's verdict expressed through the CA polls. Foreign minister Sahana Pradhan, education minister Pradeep Nepal, tourism minister Prithvi Subba Gurung, general administration minister Ram Chandra Yadav, agriculture and cooperatives minister Chhabilal Biswokarma and state ministers Mohan Singh Rathour and Nagendra Prasad Chaudhary had represented the UML in the Koirala-led government. Foreign minister Pradhan, who led the UML team in the government, met PM Koirala in Baluwatar and presented the resignation letter to Prime Minister Koirala. The Prime Minister is said to have asked the UML team to reconsider its decision to quit the government "so soon". Earlier Wednesday, UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal had met Koirala and discussed the post-election scenario, particularly the election result that has gone in favour of the Maoists. The UML's decision to pull out of the government comes at a time when the CPN (Maoist), which has emerged as the biggest party after the polls and is set to led the new government, has pledged collaboration with other parties in running the government. Compiled from reports
IN A BID TO INCREASE CHILDREN'S ACCESS to quality education, the government has from Wednesday (Apr 16) started, what it calls, a nationwide "school enrollment campaign". According to the Department of Education (DOE), the campaign that is organized every year will chiefly target over one hundred thousand children who have not received any primary level schooling till now. The Department further said that this campaign will run for the next three weeks during which time not only children coming to schools will get admission but the education officials would themselves also go to each and every house asking parents to admit their children in schools. Janardan Sharma, director of DOE, informed that from this year on children below the age of 5 years would not be admitted in the primary level like in the past years. Instead they will be admitted in pre-primary or kindergarten schools, he said. Since the past five years, the DOE has been starting the campaign from the beginning of every new academic year to meet the government's aim of "Education for all" till the year 2015. It is estimated that around 445,000 children across the country don't have access to school education
