Uruguay‚ Nepal establish ties

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Nepal has established diplomatic relations with the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, making it the 134th country to have such ties with Nepal.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations, Gyan Chandra Acharya and his Uruguayan counterpart Jose Luis Cancela signed a joint communiqué to this effect on Tuesday in New York on behalf of their respective governments.

The two ambassadors, while signing the communiqué, expressed confidence that relations between the two countries would deepen in the days to come, said the Permanent Mission UN in a statement.

Dahal bats for federalism

KATHMANDU:

Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal today clarified to the indigenous nationalities that federalism in the country would only be on the basis of identity and urged the indigenous communities to keep on creating pressure for the same.

Dahal told a delegation of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) at his residence this morning that reactionary forces have been attempting to foil his party’s agenda of identity-based federalism.

During the sit-in protest at Dahal’s Lazimpat-based residence today. NEFIN Chairman Raj Kumar Lekhi and General Secretary Aang Kaji Sherpa had recited the demands of the indigenous nationalities.

As part of their pressure campaign against the ‘secret’ understanding among major parties as revealed by the media, NEFIN, along with other organisations of indigenous nationalities announced several protest programmes including the sit-in protest at the residences of top leaders of major parties.

MoLD plan to fight fiduciary risk

KATHMANDU: At a time when irregularities and unaudited budget in local bodies are rampant, the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) has planned to implement the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability and Fiduciary Risk Reduction Action Plan for three years.

According to MoLD, the plan will be enforced from March 2012 to July 2015 in a bid to tackle fiduciary risk and irregularities in local bodies. Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, MoLD spokesperson, said financial discipline has deteriorated in local bodies while allocating budget and distributing plans. “The unsettled budget has reached Rs 8.5 billion, and misuse of funds and irregularities are rising despite attempts to control them,”he said.

The government annually allocates about Rs 53 billion including Rs 15 billion foreign assistance for local bodies. Donors have urging the government to check corruption in local bodies by maintaining transparency and financial discipline.

The action plan contains key stakeholders, coordination management, plan management control, risk rating for local bodies, risk areas and intensity of fiduciary risks, risk management tasks, risk assessment matrix planning and programming, budget release and fund flow, implementation including procurement management, internal check and control, auditing.

Two separate panels will coordinate with MoLD to implement the plan, which will incorporate all regulations related to local governance,” said Thapaliya.