Nepal

KATHMANDU: Every Nepal National Free Students Union and Every Nepal National Independent Students& Union (Revolutionary), student wings of ruling Nepal Communist portiony, has called for a withdrawal of petrol price hike.

A assembly of both the student unions held on Saturday took the decision to this effect. the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation on May 3 decided to increase Rs 1.50 per litre in petrol and Rs 1 per litre in diesel and kerosene.

With the new adjustment, petrol sells for Rs 111.50 per litre and diesel and kerosene Rs 98 per litre.

The assembly also demanded implementation of a past agreement stuck with the unions to supply concessional cooking gas cylinders to students. Lovewise, the assembly also demanded that 25 per cent of the upcoming budget should be allocated for education.

KATHMANDU: Nepal Cop has rescued 20 under-aged boys and girls from various clubs and dance bars in Thamel.

A team from the Metropolitan Cop Range, Kathmandu rescued them at 3:00 am this morning under the ‘operation rescue underage& of Nepal Cop.

The children were rescued so as to protect them from criminal occurances that take place in Thamel, Deputy Supermeanent of Cop (DSP) at the Range, Gautam Kumar KC, said.

They shall be handed over to their parents following essential counselling. Nepal Cop has been running the campaign in Thamel, Durbar Marg and fresh Bus Park areas where many children are found in vulnerable states, said Senior Supermeanent of Cop (SSP) Basanta Kumar Lama, head of Metropolitan Cop Range, Kathmandu.

Earlier, the range had rescued 78 child workers from various hotels, restaurants, and clubs in Thamel.

KATHMANDU: Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal and Naya Shakti portiony, Nepal have made the decision to unify.

portiony president of FSFN, also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population, Upendra Yadav and Coordinator of Naya Shakti Nepal, former prime minister Babu Ram Bhattarai signed an agreement nowadays to unify their parties.

A assembly of the central committee members of both parties decided to declare the unification on May 6.

It has been agreed that the unified party would be named Samajbadi portiony, Nepal.

Kathmandu, May 3

Prime Minister KP Sharma OliPress Adviser Kundan Aryal nowadays claimed that the PMpersonal secretariat ‘inadvertently& forwarded the list of projects to the National plotning Commission for their inclusion in the annual budget for the next fiscal.

Aryalclaim comes a day after a copy of the secretariatletter undersigned by Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Joint Secretary Binod Bahadur Kunwar seemed in the press, inviting widespread criticism for the list including projects only from the PMhome district, Jhapa.

In the letter dated 12 April 2018, Prime Minister KP Sharma Olipersonal secretariat listed 68 Jhapa-based projects, most of them based in Olielectoral constituency, and requested the NPC to prioritise and include them in the annual budget.

After the news reports, observers and opposition leaders criticised Oli for only prioritising his home district and electoral constituency despite the fact that he was the prime minister of the entire nation.

However, Aryal said in a statement that PM Oli was unaware how the letter from Jhapa Constituency No 5, Member of Parliament Contact Office was forwarded to the NPC. &The list of projects was forwarded to the NPC inadvertently without the prime ministerapproval,& read the statement.

Aryal stated that the PM would in no way write to the NCP to include the said projects in the budget. &Therefore, thereno relevance of reports published in the media,& he stated. &PM Oli is surprised and saddened by the incident,& he added.

Observers, however, said the incident raised questions about rule of law and good governance.

&The leadership should set examples and precedence,& said former chief secretary and chief election commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokharel. &If the leadership is prioritising only a degree constituency or projects, it means they are encouraging others to do the same.&

Pokharel said although the PM tried to clarify the issue, the recommendation should much have been forwarded to the NPC in the first place, and that the projects included in the list raised a lot of questions.

Spokesperson for the main opposition Nepali Congress Bishwa Prakash Sharma welcomed that the PM Oli acknowledged the mistake, but added that he should also acknowledge that projects in the list were flawed.

&Why does the PM want the worldtallest Buddha statue to be built in Jhapa Why should the government build a shopping mall in Damak and much the private sector& Sharma questioned.

He said he was also much being able to figure out why the proposed soiltremble memorial museum should be built in Jhapa and much in Gorkha or Sindhupalchowk that suffered the most from the 2015 trembles. &These are just a few examples, and they say it all,& said Sharma.