Govt to bring back Col Lama

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa Friday said that the United Kingdom was positive about handing over Nepalese Army colonel Kumar Lama, who is in detention in the UK for last three years, to Nepal within a couple of months.

Speaking to the journalists at the Tribhuvan International Airport upon his arrival after concluding 11-day visit to the Unnited States and the UK, DPM Thapa said, "The UK government was positive about handing over Lama to Nepal. But, as his case is pending on the court, the government asked us to wait till June. Once the court gives verdict on Lama's case two government will hold discussions to bring him back to Nepal."

As Nepal established the Truth and Reconciliation  Commission, Lama's case could be handled by the Commission, he informed.

Lama was arrested by the UK police three years back over torture which he allegedly committed during the Maoists' war.

Col. Kumar Lama

DPM Thapa claimed that he tried to alleviate misunderstanding about the new constitution in the US and UK.

"Some forces had been trying to misinform the high government officials and civil society members there about the new constitution and latest political development in the country. We, successfully countered such misunderstanding," he said.

In New York, Thapa participated in Paris Agreement on Climate Change Signing Ceremony. He signed the pact on behalf of the country along with 60 head of government and state, and representatives of 170 countries.

According to DPM Thapa, Nepal updated other nations about its National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) and Local Adaptation Programme of Action (LAPA), which the government formulated to combat the impact of climate change.

He also participated in High Level Thematic Debate on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UN Special Assembly on Draught.

DPM Thapa met US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington DC and invited him for Nepal visit.
"Kerry has assured that he would visit Nepal by the end of this year."

In the UK, Thapa met Minister of State Hugo Swire Thursday and asked the UK government to do the justice and give recognition to British Gurkhas for their tremendous sacrifices to the British interest and cause.

According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), DPM Thapa said that given the historical connection of Gurkhas in bilateral relations of the two countries, and in the context of bicentennial celebration, that it was very opportune moment for the UK to address the remaining issues of British Gurkhas once and for all.

The DPM informed that Swire said that the British government would make every possible effort to address the issues related to British Gurkhas.

During the meeting with Swire, the matters of bilateral relations, development support from the UK to Nepal, the reconstruction process and exchange of high-level visits were discussed.

Earlier yesterday, DPM Thapa held a meeting with Minister of State at the Department for International Development (DFID) Desmond Swayne during which they discussed about the development cooperation between the two countries. 

Committees formed to suggest relocation of settlements

The National Reconstruction Committee (NRA) meeting Thursday formulated two committees - Expert Committee and Steering Committee - to study and suggest the reconstruct body on the relocation of the quake-ravaged settlements that are at the risk of landslides and other disasters.

The Authority formulated an Expert Committee led by its Directive Committee member Dr. Taranidhi Bhattarai to facilitate and provide expert opinion on the study for relocation of the settlements that are at risk.

NRA Directive Committee member Kishor Thapa, Permanent Invited member and experts from Department of Mines and Geology (DMG), Department of Land and Watershed Conservation, Central Programme Implementation Unit of Ministry of Urban Development, Department of Survey and Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention will be the member of the committee.

Likewise, Steering Committee will be led by Dr. Bhattarai while Executive Committee Members Dr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha and Dr. Hari Ram Parajuli and heads of other respective departments will be its members.  

The meeting directed the DMG to submit the proposal along with required structure of the team, human resources, budged details and study process and methods to the NRA to complete the field observation and study before the monsoon.

Similarly, the NRA asked the Central Implementation Unit at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development to make necessary arrangement to provide the first installment of the housing grant in eight VDCs of eight districts where the reconstruction body has forged grant agreement with the house owners.

According to a press statement issued by the Authority, the District Development Committee and government owned commercial banks to facilitate in distributing the first installment of the grant.

The grant will be distributed through Rastriya Banijya Bank in Hansapur of Gorkha district, Kharanitar of Nuwakot district, Okhreni of Ramechhap district, Jhagajholi of Sindhuli district, and Rumjhatar of Okhaldhunga district.

Nepal Bank will facilitate in Bridim of Rasuwa district while Banijya Bank and Agriculture Development Bank will jointly distribute grant in Marpak of Dhading district.

Similarly, Nepal Bank and Rastriya Banijya Bank will facilitate in Rabiopi of Kavre district.

Local polls after monsoon

The Election Commission of Nepal (ECN), and Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD) Thursday informed that they had expedited the works to make necessary arrangement to hold the election of local bodies immediately after the monsoon.

Bir Bahadur Rai, spokesperson of the ECN said that the Commission had been making internal preparations, including drafting the election work procedure, for the local elections since long.

“We have drafted the work procedure for the poll and forwarded it to the government. I hope the government will present it to upcoming session of the Legislature-Parliament,” Rai said.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari had summoned the summer session of the Legislature-Parliament from Tuesday.

According to Rai, although there had not been any discussions regarding the local elections between the ECN and government recently, the Commission had made significant progress towards making the election happen.

The civil society has been blaming the major political parties for running the local bodies without people’s representatives for the past 16 years.

The development works had been severely affected due to the lack of elected representatives while their absence hampered the data collection as well as rescue and relief operations in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in the April and May last year.

Similarly, secretary of MoALD Mahendra Man Gurung informed the Development Committee of the Legislature Parliament Thursday that without the elected representatives in the local bodies, it would be burdensome to manage development projects at the municipalities and VDCs.

Gurung said that more than 40,000 projects had been implemented by the District Development Committees and municipalities across the country. “If we add the projects in the VDCs the total number of development projects will be doubled.”

He assured that the election of local bodies would be held after the rainy season and stated that the ministry was prepared for the job.

Spokesperson of the MoFALD Purna Chandra Bhattarai said that the Ministry had prepared a draft to amend the Local Self-Governance Act, 1999 which would be presented in the Parliament’s upcoming session.

“As per the new constitution, the female representation in the local bodies should be 40 per cent which is more than double of the Local Self-Governance Act, 1999,” Bhattarai informed.

However, he stated that the elections could happen even with the amendment of the Act, if the parliament passes the work procedure for the polls.

 Meanwhile, chairman of the Development Committee Rabindra Adhikari directed the government and MoFALD to hold the election of the local bodies as per the article 203 of the constitution at the earliest.

UK commits to address Gurkha issues

United Kingdom’s Minister of State Hugo Swire Thursday said that the British government would make every possible effort to address the issues related to British Gurkhas.

At a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK, Swire responded to the concerns of British Gurkhas.

According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), DPM Thapa said that given the historical connection of Gurkhas in bilateral relations of the two countries, and in the context of bicentennial celebration, that it was very opportune moment for the UK to address the remaining issues of British Gurkhas once and for all.

He also asked the UK government to do the justice and give recognition to British Gurkhas for their tremendous sacrifices to the British interest and cause.

Swire assured of the increased political, moral and financial support to Nepal in the new context that has arisen after the promulgation of the new constitution in the country.

During the meeting, the matters of bilateral relations, development support from the UK to Nepal, the reconstruction process and exchange of high-level visits were discussed, informed the MoFA.

DPM Thapa hoped that there would be other high political visits, like the visit of Prince Harry, in the days to come.

Earlier, DPM Thapa held a meeting with Minister of State at the Department for International Development (DFID) Desmond Swayne during which they discussed about the development cooperation between the two countries.

Appreciating the support of the UK in Nepal’s development efforts, the DPM urged Swayne to increase the support in order to help institutionalizing the political achievements made so far.

He requested the British government to support Nepal through government channel as far as possible.

DPM Thapa was accompanied by Tej Bahadur Chhetri, Charge d’Affairs at the Nepalese Embassy in London, Bharat Kumar Regmi and under secretary at the MoFA.

In the evening, DPM Thapa unveiled special souvenir director ‘Taste of Nepal UK’ published by Nepalese Caterers Association (UK) in association with the Embassy of Nepal, London.

He is scheduled to return in Kathmandu Friday.

PM urges parties to send volunteers to quake-hit areas

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli Wednesday urged all political parties to send volunteers to the districts severely hit by the earthquake in April and May last year to assist in the reconstruction programmes.

Addressing the concluding ceremony of two-day training on ‘Basic training for engineers on housing reconstruction’, he said, “Reconstruction of the quake-ravaged settlements is an uphill task that requires the mobilization of a large pool of human resources. Therefore, I urge all major political parties to send volunteers for at least a month.”

The training was organized by the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) as orientation programme for about 2,500 engineers selected by the Authority who will soon be sent to the quake-hit areas to assist in the reconstruction works.

They would assist in house reconstruction, settlement development and authorization of housing plan. 

The Prime Minister directed the young engineers to be at the front line of the reconstruction process. “There are some legal complexities in obtaining grants for house reconstruction and passing the blueprint of houses. You should be assisting the quake-victims in solving these problems and report these hurdles to the NRA.”

He assured that the government would always be with the engineers.

PM Oli expressed his commitment to roll out plans for hydroelectricity and road development.

The government is mobilizing 1346 engineers, 600 overseers and 550 sub-overseers in the quake hit areas.

“More than 3,000 engineers had applied for the job. We selected 1346 engineers on the basis of 70 per cent and 30 per cent merit and interview respectively,” informed Dipendra Nath Sharma, secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development.

He declared that the female engineers would be deployed to the districts in and around the Kathmandu Valley.

He directed the engineers to be people-oriented and fair.

Kunti Kumari Shahi, Minister for State at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, said that it was both opportunity and responsibility of the young engineers and directed them to use their skills for reconstruction and sustainable development.

NRA Chief Executive Officer Sushil Gyawali said that priority would be given to the reconstruction of houses of marginalized and poor people.

“Your major responsibility is to assist people in construction of houses that are in harmony with nature and culture. Let the local communities decide the modalities of houses and the NRA will facilitate them in reconstruction,” he said.

Kantipur to sell Toyota

The United Traders Syndicate Pvt. Ltd., distributor for Toyota vehicles in Nepal, Tuesday appointed Kantipur Auto Link in Birtamod of Jhapa district as its new dealer.

The Kantipur Auto Link has previously been operating as service center in Birtamod for the past 12 years.

"Looking at the market need of the Birtamod and the strength as well as capability of the Kantipur management, we decided to appoint the company as an authorized dealer for the Mechi region," read a press statement issued by the United Traders.

Chief District Officer of Jhapa Madan Kumar Bhujel inaugurated the dealer while senior director of the company Kailash Rajbhandari and other prominent businessmen from the region were present on the occasion.

Online insurance portal launched

ebeema.com, an online insurance portal, was launched Wednesday.

ebeema.com is an online insurance portal allowing the user to compare and buy insurance policies from multiple insurance providers.

The portal include features like tracking of customers’ policies, receiving reminders for expiration and payments, scheduling physical surveys and medical checkups and making claims, informed the company in a press statement.

“ebeema’s current product portfolio includes insurance for homes (fire, earthquake and burglary), cars, two-wheelers, health, personal accident, travel and life insurance,” read the statement.

Currently the company is working with six life insurance and six non-life insurance companies.

“There are no companies or agencies in Nepali insurance market that allow the user to view and buy price quotes online while purchase of insurance is limited to the branches and agents of insurance companies,” said Yurop Shrestha, chairman of the company.

He claimed that ebeema.com would make purchasing insurance easy and accessible to everyone and contribute significantly in the development of the insurance industry.