News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal Stage is all set for the ninth national congress of the CPN-UML, which would be held on July 3-9 in Kathmandu. All preparations seem to be almost complete for the ninth national congress in which, according to party sources, more than two thousands delegates are likely to participate. The delegates have already been elected and selected to take part in the conclave. The political and organizational reports have also been prepared by party chairman JN Khanal and general secretary Ishwar Pokhrel respectively and have been made public for comments and feedback from the workers and sympathizers for their improvement. Also, the CPN-UML is likely to make best use of the information technology in the national congress so that the delegates would be more familiar with and benefit from the newer technology. In other words, the ninth national congress of the CPN-UML is being dubbed by some of its leaders as the ‘high-tech’ conclave, which would be first of its kind in...

Yuba Nath Lamsal It’s been five months since the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was convened and the coalition government headed by Sushil Koirala was formed. However, given the snail’s pace with which the government is moving ahead, the government has not been able to make its presence felt and instill optimism in the general mass and the intelligentsia that the government and the ruling parties would keep the promises made to the people during the Constituent Assembly election held in November last year. All the political parties had made their stance and position clear to the country and the people during the election in which they had promised to give the country a competent, efficient and effective government to be able to solve the country’s problems and deliver swift services to the people. The other but most important promise they had made was the writing and promulgation of a new constitution within a year. The Nepali Congress triumphed in the election a...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala paid a two-day official visit to Kunming, China as a guest of honor in the inaugural session of the second China South Asia Expo in which he delivered as key note speech that touched upon not only the long legacy of friendly and cooperative relations between these two close Asian neighbors but also laid down a ground work for a new model of enhanced cooperation between Nepal and China. The visit was taken in a highly optimistic tone in both Nepal and China as it was viewed as an important milestone for further nurturing age-old friendly relations between these two neighbors. Soon after being elected as Prime Minister, Koirala was greeted with prompt congratulatory message by Chinese premier Li Kequiang   in which premier Li expressed his readiness to work together, develop comprehensive and cooperative partnership with Nepal. Moreover, the respect and role that was bestowed upon Prime Minister Koirala by the government of C...

China's entry would benefit SAARC Yuba Nath Lamsal The 17th summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) recently concluded in Addu Atoll of the Maldives, which appears to be a turning point in its history. Coming to the 17th Summit, the SAARC has traversed a long and tumultuous journey and has finally proved its worth. Some new initiatives now are afoot to turn the SAARC from a regional gossiping club of South Asian leaders into a vibrant and resourceful regional body. Much was discussed among the leaders of the South Asia and observer countries especially on the sidelines of the formal meetings. Talks were held and ideas were exchanged on various issues including enlargement of the SAARC. Currently, there are eight members and nine observers. The eight members include Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan. The observer countries are China, Mauritius, Japan, South Korea, Aus...

Yuba Nath Lamsal The newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi has chosen Bhutan as the first country for his maiden foreign trip. It is quite in contrast to what his predecessors had done as no previous Indian prime minister ever shoes Bhutan as the destination of his or her first foreign trip . This is also against general perception that he would start his foreign trip with big bang from some powerful countries like Russia, Japan, France or Great Britain. If not he was expected to begin his foreign trip from South Asia possibly either from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Nepal. Nepal was even upbeat with rumors had it that Modi would visit Nepal soon after his inauguration as Prime Minister for pilgrimage purpose to pay homage to Lord Pashupatinath. However, all the guess works failed as Modi announced that Bhutan is his first choice for official foreign trip as Prime Minister. If everything goes well, Narendra Modi will fly to Thimpu probably in the third week...