Day: September 20, 2023

President Ramchandra Paudel has said the governance weaknesses are to be overcome by our political righteousness and it is necessary for us to make democracy result-oriented by establishing its sanctity.

At a programme organised at Sheetal Niwas on Wednesday on the occasion of Constitution Day and National Day, 2080, President Paudel said, "We must remain watchful to make sure that the achievements of people's movements are not again weakened from any quarter. We should remain alert to ensure that the provisions of democratic constitution are not subverted from anywhere."

He mentioned that the present Constitution has not only ended all kinds of discrimination and inequalities nurtured under authoritarian, centralized and unitary state system but has also made Nepali people sovereign of state power in real sense.

"Our constitution, while stipulating federal democratic republic has not only envisaged political, economic, social, religious and cultural freedoms but also justice to the helpless and income to the indigent," President Paudel said, "The diverse range of rights, provisioned in the constitution are aimed at providing unhindered freedom to the destitute people while giving them opportunities to uplift their life standards."

Politically, the country has attained 'republic', the highest level of achievement that people aspired for a long time but the true meaning of the republic remains to be understood and internalized, he viewed, adding it still remains for us to properly understand that the republic is the system that not only ensures people's direct participation but also excepts people to transform their conduct in accordance with spirit of the system.

The President viewed that there are an ample possibility of making the country a distinct nation with Nepali ingenuity and as the world's one of the advanced nations and have an important opportunity before the people. But this is possible only if we all work relentlessly to bring about drastic and righteous changes in our conduct and character in consonance with the democratic culture.

There is no alternative to moving ahead protecting Constitution and safeguarding the political achievements, he shared. "Our culture and nature have opened for us the door of infinite possibility to generate employment and income in the country. If we could properly harness energy sector, modernize agriculture realm and expand tourism domain, of course by dint of ensuring good governance and ending all kinds if mismanagement, Nepal can easily reach the category of the world's one of the advanced nations", said the President.

The President said the country has been hit by natural disasters triggered by climate change for the past several years, pointing out the need to move ahead in concrete manner with international community for addressing the challenges posed by climate crisis.

He also paid heartfelt tributes to martyrs who sacrificed their valuable lives for the establishment of democratic republic in Nepal, expressing sincere gratitude to the democratic fighters who endured imprisonment and also exile during democratic movements and remained unwaveringly active in favour of the political transformation in the country.

Present on the occasion were Vice-President Ramsahaya Prasad Yadav, Acting Prime Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka, Chief Justice Bishwombhar Shrestha, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, Chairperson of CPN (Unified Socialist) Madhav Kumar Nepal, former Chairperson of Council of Minister, Khilraj Regmi, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, ministers, former lawmakers, high-ranking officials of government, heads and representatives of diplomatic missions in Nepal, media persons as well as other personalities.

Source: National News Agency RSS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Wednesday) called for developing an international cooperation framework as part of the prevention of pandemics, placing five proposals to be addressed by the global community.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has been a turning point for us all. We lost many around the world. We realized that nature has its own limits for human intervention. We also experienced unprecedented global solidarity. We admitted that none of us is secure until everyone is," she said.

She said this while addressing the 78thUNGA High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) at the Conference Room of the United Nations Headquarters here.

"We must draw on our collective lessons to scale up good practices and avoid past mistakes. Equity and solidarity must form the core of our efforts," she said.

The Prime Minister put forth five priorities to prevent the pandemics.

The three priorities among the five are - concessional international financing for health system strengthening in developing countries, mobilizing resources and expertise for pandemic surveillance, prevention, preparedness and response in a science-based manner; ensuring equitable and unrestricted access for all to quality, affordable, and effective pandemic products, including vaccines.

The remaining two priorities are production diversification of pandemic products through access to technology and know-how; and developing an international cooperation framework for access and benefit sharing among concerned parties, with WHO in the lead.

"To that end, we hope to see fair and concrete outcomes from a pandemic treaty and amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) Bangladesh will remain constructively engaged with both processes," Sheikh Hasina said.

Thematic Ambassador of Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) Saima Wazed was present at the meeting.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh was no exception to the COVID-19 impacts.

"Yet, we ranked fifth globally in COVID-19 recovery by one index. From the start, we had to strike a balance between saving lives and protecting livelihoods," she said.

The premier said they adopted a National Preparedness and Response Plan with the support of WHO.

"We ensured the free provision of medicines and PPE for those in need. The number of ICU beds was more than doubled. From zero facilities, testing laboratories were set up in 885 centres. Oxygen supplies were secured in almost all hospitals," she added.

Around 11,000 doctors and 13,000 medical support staff were recruited within months, she said, adding: "With a fatality rate of 1.46% our frontline workers did wonders."

"A dedicated digital app was launched to administer vaccines entirely free of charge. We reached vaccine coverage of 93% with at least a second dose. I called for pandemic vaccines to be considered global public goods," she said.

The Prime Minister said their government rolled out a stimulus package worth 26.9 billion US dollars.

"We provided direct food assistance to more than 40 million low-income people. Bangladesh extended support to other friendly countries as well as to our migrant workers abroad," she added.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

The Nepali embassy in Tokyo hosted a special ceremony on 19 September in Tokyo on the occasion of Constitution Day.

The function was attended by members of the National Diet, ambassadors and the heads of diplomatic missions, high-ranking officials of the Japanese government, Governors and Mayors of various Prefectures, representatives of the Japanese business community and the Nepali community in Japan, according to a press release issued by the Nepali Embassy in Japan.

On the occasion, Ambassador of Nepal to Japan, Dr Durga Bahadur Subedi extended best wishes to the Nepali community residing in Japan and expressed his belief that the Day would inspire all Nepali people to work unitedly for peace, development and prosperity of Nepal. He highlighted the longstanding friendly relations between Nepal and Japan, and underlined that both the Nepali and Japanese people had strong faith in the principles and values of democracy, peace, peaceful co-existence, love, brotherhood and cooperation.

Ambassador Dr Subedi appreciated the generous and continued cooperation of the government and the people of Japan for overall socioeconomic development of Nepal. He further mentioned that the relationship between the two countries was not confined to the government and government level alone but also growing vigorously at the peoples’ level.

In her congratulatory message, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Yoko Kamikawa extended her best wishes for continued success and prosperity of the people of Nepal and for the further development of friendly relations between Nepal and Japan. Foreign Minister Kamikawa further mentioned that since the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal in 2015, the Japanese government had been actively supporting for the consolidation of democracy in Nepal. Highlighting the extensive people-to-people ties between Nepal and Japan, the Foreign Minister said that more than one hundred forty thousand Nepali people in Japan were contributing to Japanese society in various fields. She further said that in the capacity of Foreign Minister of Japan, she would make every effort to further strengthen bilateral relations in various fields including political and economic arena.

Similarly, President of Japan-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship League, Toshihiro Nikai, extended congratulations to the government and people of Nepal. He expressed happiness that democracy in Nepal was thriving after the promulgation of Constitution in 2015. Nikai mentioned that the Japan-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship League was happy to see Ram Chandra Poudel as the President of Nepal who served as the first President of Nepal-Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group.

He further stressed that relations between the two countries could not flourish only by the efforts of diplomats and politicians alone and but wider engagement and cooperation at the peoples’ level was. President of the League also mentioned that as the President of Japan-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship League would continue to work for the promotion of Nepal-Japan relations.

Similarly, Chief of Protocol of the Japanese government, Takehiro Shimida, expressed his best wishes for continued peace, progress and prosperity of Nepal and Nepali people and for the further development of relations between Nepal and Japan.

On the occasion, renowned and popular Nepali singer Ananda Karki and musician Shikhar Santosh performed Nepali songs. Also, some Nepali cultural dances were also performed by the Nepali artists in Japan.

Over four hundred people attended the function.

Earlier, on September 16, the Embassy hosted a special ceremony to celebrate the National Day among the Nepali community in Japan.

Source: National News Agency RSS

President Mohammed Shahabuddin today expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of Ekushey Award-winning dancer and television actress Zeenat Barkatullah.

In a condolence message, he recalled her contributions to the country's cultural arena, terming it as an irreparable loss.

The Head of State prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deepest sympathy to the bereaved family.

Actress Zeenat Barkatullah died of old-age complications at her own residence in the city's Dhanmondi area this afternoon.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha