Kathmand, November 14, 2006

Minister for Land Reform and Management Prabhu Narayan Chaudhari today said that the state should declare Nepal a republic immediately as people cannot wait for the election of constituent assembly for this.

“The whole county is in favour of a republican system. It should be declared that Nepal is a republican state before the election of constituent assembly is held,” he said. Chaudhary was addressing an interaction programme on the peace deal, organised by the Forum For Intellectual Debate.

He said that when all are united to remove the king and monarchy, some leaders are still speaking in “crooked language” to save the king.

“What is the secret of the attachment of some leaders to the king?” he asked. Chaudhari said that though the recent peace accord was historic, it lacked any word to console the voices of the indigenous people, women, Dalits and the Madheshis.

“Nobody can guarantee permanent peace in the country until all the problems people have been raising are not addressed properly,” he said.

He also urged all to finalize the issue of citizenship as soon as possible.

Dr Minendra Rijal of NC-D said that the country is still under the shadow of terrorism though the situation is gradually getting democratic and open.

He also said that only the federal system of government would relieve the people from the ethnic, religious, cultural and regional discriminations they have so far been facing.

No of Nepali students in US goes up

The number of Nepali students enrolled at colleges and universities in the United States grew up by 25 per cent last year (2005/2006), according to a new annual report published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

A total of 6,061 students enrolled in 2005-06 whereas the number was 4,861 in 2004-05. The increase places Nepal among the top 20 countries sending students to study in the United States.

Nepal rose from number 23 to number 19 in the ranking of countries, outpacing Pakistan, which is in 20th place with 5,759 students, and Malaysia, which dropped out of the top 20 with 5,515 students in the United States in 2005-06, a press release issued from the American Centre in Nepal stated, quoting the reports.

India, with 76,503 students in the United States, is ranked number one.

In a statement on International Education Week, which the Department of State and the US Department of Education are observing this week (November 13-17), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said:

“Each year, more than 550,000 students from all over the world come to the United States to study in order to gain a better understanding of this country.