Day: May 13, 2024

Kathmandu: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population, Upendra Yadav, has tendered resignation from the post today. He submitted resignation letter to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' this morning. Yadav, also the chairman of the Janata Samajbadi Party, mentioned in his resignation letter that he could not continue to work together staying in the present government, as the latest development in the political sphere did not favour for the same. He also thanked the Prime Minister for providing the opportunity to work in the government. Similarly, Minister of State for Health and Population Deepak Karki representing from the same party also resigned from the post today itself. Source: National News Agency RSS

Kathmandu: The meetings of the Nepali Congress (NC) Parliamentary Party and the Parliamentary Party Working Committee scheduled for today have been postponed. NC Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak said that the meeting of the Working Committee scheduled for 1.0pm and the meeting of the Parliamentary Party slated for 2.00 pm today has been postponed for 9.00 am on May 14. He said that the meetings called for discussing the latest political developments and contemporary issues, including the formation of a parliamentary investigation committee on the embezzlements of the cooperatives' funds, has been deferred by a day for additional preparations. "The budget session of the parliament has started. The government is presenting its policies and programmes tomorrow alone, but no consensus has been reached till this hour regarding formation of the parliamentary investigation committee, the topic that we have been raising," he said, adding that they have postponed the meetings for tomorrow thinking it would be appropriate t o devise the required strategy discussing the matter tomorrow on the basis of how the developments on the topic play out throughout the day today. NC has been taking a stance of not allowing the parliament proceedings to move ahead until the parliamentary probe committee is constituted to look into the cooperatives fraud scam. On Sunday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' had held talks with the NC leaders regarding removing the obstruction in parliament. Source: National News Agency RSS

Kathmandu: Police arrested two Indian nationals with gold from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) last night. Chief of TIA Security, Senior Superintendent of Police Krishna Hari Sharma said that 33-year-old Suresh Kumar and 34-year-old Mohan Kumar Ganeshan, who arrived in Kathmandu last night from the Fly Dubai flight FZ-575, were arrested. He said, "They were found with a yellow coloured metal that looks like gold coated/pasted on their clothes." TIA security chief Sharma further informed that the weight of the gold-looking yellow metal with the clothes of Suresh Kumar is 2.6 kg while the weight of Mohan Kumar's clothes is 2.5 kg. Police are investigating into the case. Source: National News Agency RSS

Kathmandu: Speaker of the House of Representatives, Devraj Ghimire has made a telephone call to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' this morning. According to speaker Ghimire's Press Coordinator Shekhar Adhikari, the Speaker and the PM held discussions on the government's policies and programmes. It is shared that both exchanged views regarding the efforts made by Prime Minister for political consensus and Speaker's initiatives to run the House effectively. Press coordinator Adhikari said, during the telephonic conversation the Prime Minister briefed the Speaker about the political developments and PM's talks with major opposition Nepali Congress as well as with other political parties, and that consensus will be reached by this evening. The Prime Minister had further shared that he will initiate to end the deadlock in the House soon after he returns Kathmandu from Chitwan. Earlier, the Speaker had a discussion with the Chief Whips of the major political parties along with the Minister for Law, J ustice and Parliamentary Affairs regarding resuming the House proceedings smoothly. He had further emphasized on the need to agree on policies and programmes, and to pass the budget without politicizing it. Source: National News Agency RSS

Two persons were arrested on the charge of looting eight million rupees in Janakpurdham Sub metropolis-19. Police have arrested Janak Mahato and Shrawan Kapar in this connection. They were accused of looting the money by threatening a cooperative official with pistol. According to Dhanusha Police chief Bhuwaneshwar Tiwari, police have seized Rs 1 million and 453 thousand from them. According to police, Dhanusha Municipality-12 Raghunathpur-based Shubhashree Cooperative official Birendra Kumar Mahato was looted by unidentified people on May 6. Source: National News Agency RSS

Kathmandu: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, has said yoga and meditation are vital for maintaining sound mental and physical status. In his address to an inaugural session of the second edition of Health Conference commenced here today, the Deputy Prime minister said" Yoga and meditation are characteristics of Eastern philosophy and culture and this is our lifestyle, too. That's why it should be practiced routinely." Underlining the need of further advancements in the country's health sector, the Deputy Prime Minister said preventive measures against health complications also be focused. As he stressed, the upcoming government policies and programmes should give priority to the promotion of Yoga and meditation practices. On the occasion, Nepal Medical Council's former Chair and senior cardiologist Prof Dr Bhagawan Koirala said more training and incentive are necessary to enhance the health sector along with the focus on the production of required human resourc es. "Everyone's access to quality healthcare should be guaranteed to prevent any of avoidable deaths." Source: National News Agency RSS

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said Bangladesh development is not possible without good relations with India as both the countries share common border of several thousand kilometers. 'The country (India) which we (Bangladesh) have several thousand kilometers of border … the country with which we have borders on three sides---- our development is not possible without maintaining good relations with that country,' he told the reporters at the foreign ministry here. The foreign minister said it is not possible to maintain peace and stability in Bangladesh without good relations with the neighbor. Hasan who is also Awami League's joint general secretary made the remarks while responding a question regarding BNP's failed programme on boycott of the Indian products. 'Their efforts (call for boycotting Indian products) went unsuccessful. They know it, too. It will be refused by the people of the country again if BNP comes up with the agenda afresh,' he said. He said BNP will further be isolated from t he people, nothing more than that if they again call for a boycott of Indian products. The AL leader said there are Indian products in many of their (BNP leaders) houses. Hasan said the main aim of BNP's boycott Indian products campaign was to create a crisis in the domestic markets to create instability in the country's economy. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Muhammad Abdul Kader Sawdagar, father of Chattogram Union of Journalists (CUJ) member Reza Muzammel, died of old-age complications at his residence here this morning. He was 81, family sources said. Abdul Kader left behind his four sons, five daughters and a host of relatives and admirers to mourn his death. He will be buried at their family graveyard at Chafri village of Kolagaon Union under Patiya upazila after Asar prayers today. In a message of condolence, BFUJ-Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists President Omar Faruque and its Secretary General Deep Azad along with other leaders expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of Muhammad Abdul Kader Sawdagar. The BFUJ leaders prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family. Meanwhile, Chattogram Press Club president Sala Uddin Mohammad Reza, its general secretary Dev Dulal Bhomik, president of Chattogram Union of Journalists (CUJ) Tapan Chakaraborty and its General Secretary M Shamsul Islam expre ssed deep shock and sorrow at his death. In separate condolence messages, they expressed deep sympathy to the bereaved family and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Improving energy efficiency in Bangladesh could save $460 million annually and reduce reliance on costly liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). As per report released today, the initiative to improve energy efficiency can help wean the country off its expensive import dependence as well. The report surveyed 51 industries with 124 gas-fired captive generators with a combined generation capacity of about 250 megawatts (MW) to find solutions to reduce the country's increasing LNG demand. 'An insatiable appetite for gas could lock Bangladesh into a vicious cycle of spiraling prices and supply issues pertaining to LNG, and threaten to stall its economic transformation,' says the report's author, Shafiqul Alam, lead analyst - Bangladesh Energy, IEEFA. 'The plan to import sufficient energy for development was not designed to cope with the high-level of volatility in the international fuel market, depreciation of the local currency, and weak fiscal conditions,' he said. 'Low efficiency in gas-fired captive power generation consumes a significant amount of gas annually. This is despite the average efficiency in captive generation increasing to 35.38% from 30% in the last decade,' Alam said. 'Additionally, a significant percentage of industries do not utilize the waste heat released by these generators,' he added. The report found that by replacing the vast stock of aging, inefficient generators with more efficient models already available, and harnessing the waste heat produced by generators for other applications, Bangladesh could reduce the demand for imported LNG by a massive 50.18 billion cubic feet a year, or 21%, representing an annual saving of$460 million. Replacing generators will require significant upfront investment, this capital outlay can be recouped within 1.5 to five years. The payback of investment in waste heat recovery is only about one year, the study found. The alternative is to spend far more on buildi ng additional infrastructure to cope with the increasing local demand for fossil fuel imports against a global backdrop of tightening regulations to produce environment-friendly products. 'As the era of cheap energy comes to an end, with the government likely to make energy pricing more competitive in the foreseeable future, enhancing energy efficiency will be financially more rewarding. Any complacency in undertaking energy-saving measures will likely erode the competitiveness of industries in the international market,' Alam added. The policy foundations for such a shift already exist in Bangladesh. For instance, energy auditing of designated consumers, including industries, is mandatory. The Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA), established to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, may design measures to swiftly scale up energy efficiency. However, greater support, incentives, and access to finance are essential to drive the country's energy sector towards a more secure and sustainable future, the report found. This study calls on the government to spearhead a comprehensive approach in the medium- to long-term, by enhancing the reliability of the electricity grid to encourage industries to shift to grid power from captive generation, increasing renewable energy capacity and more Alternatively, replace of gas turbines from old combined-cycle gas-fired plants, which are due to be phased out, as a source of power, when renewable energy is not available. All the measures will help Bangladesh reduce its dependence on gas far more than efficiency improvements in captive generation alone. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said those who had criticized the Padma Bridge project could have sought apology to the nation, as they were proved wrong. 'Those who spoke wrong (regarding Padma bridge) during that time did neither acknowledge their mistakes nor seek apology to the nation,' he said while unveiling a book titled 'Padma Bridge: An Epic Accomplishment,' edited by eminent economist Dr Qazi Khaliquzzaman at the foreign ministry here. The foreign minister said during the time, many newspapers made headlines and there were a lot of criticisms in TV talk-shows demonstrating that the Padma Bridge project is not going to be implemented. Hasan said the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) came up with sharp criticism after World Bank's scrapping of committed loans. 'How could there be corruption where no funds were released? Luckily, the Canadian court concluded that no corruption was found,' he said. The foreign minister said that the Padma Bridge is the symbol of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's able leadership and shining example of Bangladesh's capacity Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam and Dr Khaliquzzaman also spoke at the event where a new music video of a patriotic song titled 'Sonar Bangladesh Dekhte Chai', written by Hasanuzzaman Masum and sang by singers Kishore Das, Joy Shahriar, Zakia S Kornia and Elita Karim. The foreign minister underlined the need for a united cultural renaissance in favour of development and humanity to take forward the country and turn it into a Sonar Bangla as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 'I think there is a need for a strong cultural renaissance to keep people united. My request to you all, let's come together,' he said. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Kathmandu: The draft of the 16th Five-Year Periodic Plan (2081/82-2085/86) has been sent to the Council of Ministers for final approval. The National Planning Commission (NPC) sent the draft of the sixteenth periodic plan with the major goals of 'Good Governance, Social Justice and Prosperity' to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers on Sunday. The periodic plan to be implemented from the next fiscal year 2081/82 carries some ambitious targets including to achieve an economic growth rate of 7.3 percent and per capita income of 2,413 US dollars. In the current year, the projected economic growth rate of Nepal is 3.9 percent and the per capita income is 1,456 US dollars. Similarly, the five-year plan targets reducing absolute poverty to 20.3 percent, consumer inflation to 5 percent by the fiscal year 2085/86 and take Nepal's human development index to 0.650 from the current 0.601, human wealth index from 76.3 to 78 and to reduce the economic and environmental risk index from 29.7 to 24 . The plan aims to increase average life expectancy of Nepalis to 73 years from present 71.3 years within five years. The number of families with access to a health facility within half an hour's distance is currently 77 percent, and the target is to reach it to 90 percent, literacy rate to 85 percent and reduce the unemployment rate from 11.4 percent to 5 percent. The periodic plan aims to take the hydropower production, which is currently around 3,100 MW, to 11,769 MW within five years. Similarly, access to the Internet will become 90 percent while 85 percent of families will have access to banks and financial institutions. A goal has been set to bring the rule of law index from 0.52 to 0.80, the global competitiveness index from 52 to 65 and the corruption reduction awareness index from 35 to 43. The periodical plan includes sectoral indicators, transformational strategy and major interventions to achieve the set goals and targets. In the draft of the periodical plan, the target is to achieve economic growth rate at 7 to 8.5 per cent, which was 1.86 percent last year. According to the NPC, the draft has been prepared with transformational programmes along with sectoral strategies. The updated planning includes transformational strategies, major interventions and quantitative targets. The sectoral headings include Strengthening Macroeconomic Fundamentals and Rapid Economic Growth; Enhancing Production, Productivity and Competitiveness; Decent Job and Productive Employment; Educated, Skilled and Healthy Human Capital Formation; Quality Infrastructure and Integrated Transport Management System; Modern, Sustainable and Systematic Urbanization and Settlements; Social Empowerment, Inclusion and Mobilization and Development and Reinforcement of Provincial and Local Economy and Expansion of Formal Sector. Likewise, Balanced Development for Reducing Poverty and Inequality and Creating an Equitable Society; Efficient Fiscal Management and Capital Expenditure Capacity Enhancement; Governance Reform and Promoting G ood Governance' LDC Graduation and Beyond, and Sustainable Development Goals and Green Economy are the other sectoral themes for the 16th Periodic Plan. As targeted, the revenue-GDP ratio will be increased to 24 per cent from the current ratio of 17.8 per cent and the federal expenditure will be increased to 32 per cent in ratio to GDP from 26.5 per cent of the present. Similarly, the 16th periodic plan has targeted not to exceed the sovereign loan from 45 per cent of the GDP while the trade deficit would be reduced to 24 per cent in ratio to GDP from 27 per cent of the present time. Likewise, the inflow of remittance would be maintained between 22 to 24 per cent of the GDP. The 16th periodic plan has set some ambitious targets for increasing domestic production and productivity including establishing 140 industrial zones, establishing one more special economic zone and increasing the power production and consumption as well. As planned, electricity worth Rs 41 billion would be exported year-on-year by t he end of the 16th periodic plan and the energy sector would be promoted to reduce overall trade deficit. The periodic plan has targeted to create 1.2 million jobs in a year and increase the minimum wages of the workers to Rs 25,000 per month while bringing the number of social security beneficiaries to 2 million. A plenary meeting of the National Planning Commission held in early May 2023 had approved the 16th five-year periodic plan (2081/82-2085/86). The draft of the 16th plan has the objective of maintaining good governance in political, administrative and judicial sectors, maintaining social justice in health, education, employment sectors, and achieving prosperity in social life, economic development and national economy. The new periodic plan has determined a strategy of achieving good governance, social justice and prosperity through structural transformation by identifying, addressing and resolving structural obstacles seen in development activities. The structural transformation strategy has in corporated the issues of adopting latest technology and management method based on research and development, producing decent, productive and inclusive employment. It is said that a policy would be adopted to run national skill development and employment programme with collaboration of private, government and non-government sectors while priority would be given for the empowerment of marginalized community and promoting inclusive employment through affirmative action. "Employment will be created within the country by producing skilled and capable human resources through the utilization of demographic dividends in all three-levels of the government", reads the concept paper of the periodic plan. A strategy has been adopted to identifying new destination countries with high returns along with safe and secured work for foreign employment and signing of bilateral labour agreements. Source: National News Agency RSS

Kathmandu: Janamat Party's senior vice-president Abdul Khan has highlighted the need of economic policy of social-democratic concept in the country. He shared the information that the party is preparing to organize a grand public gathering in Kathmandu on May 28 on the occasion of the Republic Day this year. Khan, also the chairperson of the Industry, Commerce, Labour and Consumer Welfare Committee under the House of Representatives, said the public gathering would mark the future course of new republic and social democracy in the country. "The new republic is to correct the shortcomings surfaced during the practice within the Constitution and the system in a timely manner," he said. Noting that socialism has been enshrined in the Constitution as part of economic policy, Khan said that the provision shows the State would run, control and take ownership of all factories and industries. "Socialism is a very broad issue. There has been no capitalism and no capitalist revolution in Nepal so far. How is social ism possible without that?" he asked. Senior vice-president Khan said that there is a need to bring socio-democratic concept by changing the economic policy related to socialism which is currently in practice. A mixed economy of socialism and capitalism adopted by the US and some European countries could be suitable for Nepal, he argued that the country could go through that path to achieve economic development and prosperity. Talking to RSS, Khan claimed that foreign investment would increase if the social democratic economic policy was adopted. He stressed the need for direct election of people to all important positions in the country, including the Prime Minister, to end the political instability that is a major challenge to the development of the country. Source: National News Agency RSS