Kathmandu, 13 May : Lawmakers have demanded that the government officials including President, VVIPs and VIPs should use the government-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) on their foreign visits.

They also demanded that a policy and plan should be formulated incorporating a provision to this effect, suggesting to make it mandatory for the officials to adhere to such provision.

The demand was made at the meeting of the International Relations and Labour Committee of the parliament on Friday. Referring to the recent visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to China via an aircraft belonging to a private company, lawmaker Bal Bahadur KC said that the use of private aircraft by a high level official like PM was not good.

Another lawmaker Jitendra Narayan Dev said that in neighbouring India, a provision is in place making it mandatory for Indian government officials to use Indian government aircraft on their foreign visits. "So such provision should be formulated and enforced in Nepal too," he said.

The lawmakers also suggested operating flights on time and proritising service and security of the national flag carrier. The meeting was also attended by the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ananda Prasad Pokharel, secretary Prem Kumar Rai, Inspector General of Police Upendra Kanta Aryal and director of the Department of Immigration Kedar Neupane, among others.

Meanwhile, the meeting also directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to operate flights on time, carry out reforms in the management of taxi, its parking lot and sanitation inside the Tribhuvan International Airport.

It also directed the ministry to manage stores inside the airport, set standards to determine ticket price of NAC flights and carry out reforms in security and ensure that airport employees and guards treat passengers well. RSS

Kathmandu, May 11 : Former BCCI president Shashank Manohar has been elected unopposed as the first independent chairman of the ICC. He will serve a two-year term - an unpaid position - beginning with immediate effect.

Manohar's election has come two days after he quit as BCCI president, a move that made him eligible to contest for the post under the new ICC regulation that its chairman must not hold positions in any national board. Manohar, however, had said his resignation had not been influenced by the upcoming ICC election.

"According to the election process, ICC directors were each allowed to nominate one candidate, who had to be either a present or past ICC director," the ICC said on Thursday. "Nominees with the support of two or more Full Member directors would have been eligible to contest the election, which was scheduled to have been concluded by May 23.

"However, given that Mr Manohar was the sole nominee for the position and the Board has now unanimously supported his appointment, the independent Audit Committee Chairman, Mr Adnan Zaidi, who has been overseeing the election process, has declared the process complete, and Mr Manohar the successful candidate."

Manohar, a prominent Indian lawyer, has served two terms as BCCI president - from 2008 to 20011, and from October 2015 to May 2016, when he succeeded Jagmohan Dalimya who died while holding office. During his second term, Manohar had also served as ICC chairman by virtue of being the Indian board's nominee to the ICC. By resigning as BCCI president on Tuesday, Manohar had given up his ICC chairmanship, only to be re-elected as the first independent chairman two days later.

Kathmandu, May 12 : Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli unveiled a five-year work plan on post-quake reconstruction at the Legislature-Parliament on Thursday.

The work plan clearly outlines how reconstruction works would be accelerated, PM Oli said, adding that the work plan was introduced as a guideline to the government, private sectors and donor agencies.

Although the PDNA had estimated a budget of Rs 699 billion for the entire reconstruction activities, the number of damaged houses has increased and the ministries too demanded additional amount, so the proposed budget has increased accordingly.

With the additional budget, Rs 838 billion has been allocated under the five- year work plan for the reconstruction activities. PM Oli argued that all damaged houses would be rebuilt within two years.

Of the total allocation, Rs 645 billion will be spent for individual homes, while Rs 106 billion for production, Rs 61 billion for promotional expense and Rs 26 billion for shared activities.

It was also shared by PM Oli that all cultural and archaeological heritage sites would be reconstructed within five years, while government buildings like health posts and hospitals in three years.

Kathmandu, May 11 : Chairman of the Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN), Upendra Yadav has said that the federal alliance will not sit for talks with the government anymore and that the alliance was preparing for launching stringent protests against the government.

Talking to journalists at Biratnagar Airport Wednesday morning, Yadav said that the government did not budge even an inch from its stance even though the alliance sat for dialogue with the government for 36 times.

"Therefore, it is meaningless to hold any talks with the government. We are now making preparations to make our demands heard by means of street protests," Yadav said.

He added that the alliance will picket Singha Durbar on May 15, warning that the people will retaliate if the government resorted to suppressing the protests.

He argued that local body elections should not be held without finalizing the issue of federalism. He further said that the outline of local governance should be clearly defined in the constitution itself. "The local bodies should be restructured and the constitution should be rewritten. Holding local elections is the right of the provincial governments, not that of the central government."

Claiming that the federal alliance is not in the game of making or breaking the government, Yadav said the alliance will launch protests to ensure the rights of Madhesis, indigenous people, nationalities, women and Dalits. RSS

Kathmandu, May 11 : The government has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, among other dignitaries, to the International Buddhist Conference to be held here on May 19-20.

The conference is being held coinciding with the 2560th Buddha Jayanti or the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha which falls on May 21 this year. The conference is being held in the capital while the Buddha Jayanti commemorations will be held in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.

The other invited dignitaries include Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chief Minister of the Indian state of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav, Chief Minister of the Indian state of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tripura Manik Sircar and Chief Minister of the Indian state of Sikkim Pawan Chamling.

Similarly, the government ministers for culture and religious affairs from 13 countries have been invited to the conference. Culture and Religious Affairs Ministers of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, India, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Bhutan, South Korea, Laos, Mongolia and Israel have been invited.

Representatives and delegates of Buddhist organisations from 23 countries are attending the event. They include Buddhist organisations from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, India, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Bhutan, South Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Russia, Germany, France, Austria and Canada.

Some 92 delegations at the governmental level and others from 21 countries have confirmed their participation so far, Bachchu Narayan Shrestha, member secretary of the Conference Organising Main Committee, said.

Meanwhile, the preparations for the International Buddhist Conference being held for the first time on the occasion of the Buddha Jayanti have reached the final stage.

Although various conferences were held in the past coinciding with the Buddha Jayanti celebrations, this is the first time that a historic conference is being held under the chairmanship of Executive chief of the country by inviting international representatives and renowned persons.

The government had made preparations for organising the International Buddhist Conference in Kathmandu last year. Altogether 24 international standard working papers on Buddha and Buddhism including 18 by scholars and researchers from Nepal will be presented in the conference.

Similarly, the government has made preparations for celebrating the Buddha Jayanti with enthusiasm and in a grand manner along with various religious rituals as per the Buddhist tradition in Lumbini on May 21.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli heads the 501-member International Buddhist Conference Organising and the 2560th Buddha Jayanti Celebration Main Committee. The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the main organiser of the event.

A 101-member working committee has also been formed under the chairmanship of Minister for Culture Ananda Prasad Dhungana for this purpose. Likewise, 13 different sub-committees under the Main Committee are working to make the conference a success. RSS