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Miscellaneous News
Miscellaneous News
KTM Metro Reporter
June 19, 2018
Prime Minister Oli’s Visit To China
Kathmandu: Prime Minister KP Oli left Kathmandu for China with a 118-member team including four ministers on Tuesday morning (9:30 am local time) June 19, 2018 on a chartered flight of Himalaya Airlines. Ministers accompanying the prime minister are Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, Energy Minister Barsha Man Pun, Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Raghubir Mahaseth. Surely, prime minister’s better half and spouse Radhika Shakya is with him, too.
Why the prime minister is a fan of the Himalayan Airlines. The local media answer that the Himalayan Airlines belong to the company the Chinese have heavily invested in and the Oli’ relatives if not his own investment have in the company. So, first, taking the Himalayan Airlines, probably, Prime Minister Oli keeps the Chinese investors happy and profitable while keeping his portion of investment safe and profitable, too. Prime Minister Oli does not care about the State-run Nepal Airlines whether it goes to hell or heaven. That is how the prime minister must have thought to run the socialist economy.
How Prime minister Oli is going to manage the two ministers who have been head-on collision concerning the construction contractors. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has been for taking strong actions against the non-performing contractors and he has already collected the list of non-performing contractors. He has publicly stated that he would bring the non-performing contractors to justice whether they are lawmakers or influential political leaders whereas Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Raghubir Mahaseth has been soft on the non-performing contractors and assured the contractors of the government not taking strong actions against them. Probably, Minister Mahaseth might have a heavy investment in the construction companies that might have been defaulting on the construction work.
Speaking at the joint session of House of Representatives and National Assembly on Monday, June 18, 2018, Prime Minister Oli informed the lawmakers that he is visiting China on signing off a number of memorandums of understandings on power, railroads and reconstruction keeping in mind that all those MOUs would meet the national interest.
Prime Minister Oli would meet with Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in Beijing. He would also meet with other senior Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping and address the Nepal-China Business Forum and other intellectuals in Beijing.
Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Shankar Das Bairagi said PM Oli would sign on memorandums of understanding on infrastructure under the Belt and Road Initiative, and energy projects and investment, tourism and other projects; among them the most important one would be the Trans Himalayan Railroads.
Prime Minister Oli would stopover in Lhasa of Tibet Autonomous Region and would meet with the provincial leaders there on the way back to Nepal.
He would be back home on June 24.
During his last China visit in March, 2016, Prime Minister Oli had signed off 10 different bilateral agreements on free trade, transport connectivity including cross-country railroads, financial cooperation, and transit facilities through China; however, his successors such as Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Sher Bahadur Deuba did not show any interest in implementing those agreements, the news on http://republica.nagariknetwork.com/news/deals-with-china-will-be-in-line-with-national-interests-pm/ stated.
Stating that Nepal had already decided to be the participant in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Prime Minister Oli said that Nepal needed to take the advantage of the prosperity China achieved enhancing connectivity; so probably we would agreed to open new entry points between China and Nepal, and to build a few new north-south economic corridors such as Koshi Economic Corridor, Gandaki Economic Corridor and Karnali Economic Corridor corridors; we would reach on the agreement on resuming the Tatopani checkpoint that has remained closed since the devastating earthquakes of 2015, Prime minister Oli said. “We will also hold discussion on reducing the trade deficit, rail and road networks, hydropower, transmission line and ongoing projects assisted by China in Nepal,” the news in “The Rising Nepal” quoted Prime Minister Oli on June 19, 2018.
Prime Minister Oli has held a meeting with the former prime minister either to inform them on what he is going to do in China or to get their opinions of what needs to be done in china or maybe for both. However, he has at least met the formalities.
The news in “The Rising Nepal” on June 18, 2018 stated that the government of Nepal is sending a pair of rhinoceros; the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation named Bhadra (male) and Rupasi (female); a Chinese team is arriving at Kathmandu on June 29 to receive the unique gifts; in fact, Nepal decided to present two pairs of rhinoceros to China; another pair would probably leave Nepal for China in the third week of July.
Prime Minister Oli is sure that Nepal could take the opportunities for development in the current context of China and India reaching the improved understanding; he is confident reaching an understanding on opening five more entry points on the Nepal-China border, the news in “The Himalayan Times” stated.
Speaking to the anchor of the Radio Nepal morning program called “antar-sambad on June 19, 2018. Former Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey said that the prime minister needed to raise the trilateral issue of Lepu Lekha from where China and India had agreed on running the trade business not even informing Nepal. India has been stationing its army at the Lepu Lekh since King Mahendra authorized India to do so in 1960s.
Neurosurgeon Upendra Devkota No More
Kathmandu: Renowned neurosurgeon Prof. Dr. Updendra Devkota passed away peacefully at the Bansbari Neuro Hospital in Kathmandu on Monday afternoon, June 18, 2018. He had been suffering from cancer for the last six months. He was 64.
He was the founder member of the first neurological trauma center at the Bir Hospital, and the Bansbari Neuro Hospital. He had been in England for treatment but he returned to Nepal to die in the homeland after the disease did not respond to the treatment.
Before his death, Dr. Devkota visited his birthplace in Gorkha on a helicopter on June 9, stayed at his ancestral home for awhile, and had a few drops of water from the Sisnedhara: a stone spout from which he used to drink water in his childhood, and got some water from the rivulet to wash his feet, and then flew back to Kathmandu on the same day.
Dr. Devkota came to the reporters’ radar when he was reportedly disappeared rather kidnapped in 2001 but actually he was taken to the Army Hospital at Chhaune in Kathmandu where the members of the royal families were kept for treatment after the Narayanhity massacre on June 1, 2001. He had written that Dhirendra: the youngest brother of King Birendra was in a speaking condition. However, he did not say why he could not save Dhirendra. Later on, Dr. Devktota got appointed to the ministry of health King Gyanendra had set up not following the constitution.
Set Term Of Office Of National Assembly Members
Kathmandu: The draw has been made for setting the term of office of all members of the National Assembly, elected or appointed. National Assembly has 59 members, 56 of them were indirectly elected while the president appointed three of them on the recommendation of the prime minister.
National Assembly is a permanent body. The constitution has made the provision for making one third of them elected every two years. So, the Federal Parliament Secretariat has to set the term of office of National Assembly members; one third of them for six years then another one third for four years and the remaining for two years.
The Federal Parliament Secretariat has put pieces of paper with the number of years written in them, and then enclosed those paper with different number of years separately in green balls, and then the National Assembly members allowed to take one ball to determine his or her term of office.
Lucky ones drew six year, less lucky one four years and even less lucky one two years.
Out of the 13 NC National Assembly members, seven drew two-year term, two four-year term, and the remaining four six-year, the news in “gorkhapatra” stated on June 19, 2018. So, after four years, NC would have only four NC members at the National Assembly because the election to be held after two years, NC members would have almost no chance of getting elected to the National Assembly, as majority of the electoral college made up of the provincial assembly members and the chiefs and deputy chiefs of the local governments are of the CPN-CPN.
