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The 8th General Convention of CPN (Maoist Center) has begun in Kathmandu, on December 26. The four-day convention will conclude by electing new leadership.

Top leaders of major parties including Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba were invited as guests of the inaugural session of the convention. Addressing the inaugural session of the Maoist convention, Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Deuba said the American grant Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is in national interests so it should be endorsed by Parliament. CPN (Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal is likely to be re-elected as party chair from the convention. 

Speaking at the inaugural session, CPN(Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda convention will take measures to revive the strength of the party. 

The Standing Committee of the party has proposed a 15-member office-bearer which is likely to be endorsed by convention. This is the first time the Maoist Centre has provisioned senior vice-chair and general secretary posts.As many as 1,631 delegates are attending the convention.  

Hanan Goder, Ambassador of Israel to Nepal, has said that media remains a prime ingredient of the discourse for preserving democracies, democratic inclusion, and democratic life.

Speaking at a program organized to mark the sixth anniversary of Media Action Nepal(MAN), a research-based media rights advocacy group, the Envoy said that Israel is very proud of what it has achieved in the last 73 years in the bilateral relation, Ambassador Goder added. Appreciating Nepal’s independent and inclusive media, he lauded Nepal’s press freedom.  The 6th anniversary was celebrated in Kathmandu on December 21 with a dialogue program on the foundations of independent and inclusive media.

Speaking at the same program, Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Murari Prasad Kharel, said that the state was not seen as liberal in granting freedom of the press even though it was mentioned in the constitution.

Chairperson of the National Women Commission Kamala Parajuli, said that the media sector was the carrier of inclusive social and gender transformation and that it should disseminate news in a fair and independent manner.

Chief Commissioner of the National Information Commission (NIC) Mahendra Man Gurung pointed out that a handful of journalists are exercising their right to seek information. He said that the media houses had failed to ensure the freedom of the press and inclusion guaranteed by the constitution of Nepal.

Laxman Datt Pant, MAN Chairperson stated that the organization has conducted various programs for the benefit of more than ten journalists since its inception. It has provided training and fellowships to more than 700 journalists since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

Senior director Bimal Paudel announced his new sequel-film ‘The PremPooja 2’ in debut with Actor Safal Paudel and Alija Shrestha.

According to director Paudel, the movie will be shot in Dhorpatan, Nepal and Belgium, by next month.

Publishing the poster of the film on Tuesday, Paudel said that the film will try to restart the entire Nepali film industry from the pandemic crisis. “We aim to break the hazards of Nepali Film with new story and taste”, Paudel said at the press meet ceremony.

Paudel has proved himself a successful director by making movies like Kisan, Janayudhya, Nagarik, Pokharaki Kali, etc.

Along with Safal and Alija, Rajani KC, Subas Gajurel, Babi Roja Dhakal, Sabita Karki, Laxman Nepal, Dinesh Kunwor, Manisha KC will also be a part of acting. Meanwhile, Dayaram Dahal and Hari Bhusal will lead the music and song. Binaya Gautam will be the chief-assistant director and Mahendra Thapa as the cinematographer.

‘B company’ will produce the film, in presentation with ‘Caravan Nepal.’ ‘PremPooja’ was a very popular Nepali film during the 90s.

AidData, a research lab at William & Mary’s Global Research Institute, has come up with an extensive new study on Chinese public diplomacy efforts in South Asia and Central Asia, ranging from financing and education to culture and social media that seek to win over foreign leaders and the public in what Beijing considers its “greater periphery.”‍

The Corridors of Power report, accompanied by an interactive dashboard, analyzes Beijing's efforts to cultivate and deepen economic, social, and network ties with 13 countries in South and Central Asia (SCA) over two decades, according to AidData.

These ties foster interdependence with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that have the potential to both empower and constrain SCA countries, while threatening to displace or diminish the influence of regional rivals such as Russia, India, and the United States, the new report says.

The report examines how the PRC has deployed $127 billion in financial diplomacy to sway popular opinion and leader behavior over an 18 year period. This state-directed financing includes both aid (i.e., grants and concessional loans) and debt (i.e., non-concessional loans approaching market rates) in four categories of assistance visible to foreign publics (infrastructure financing, humanitarian aid) and prized by foreign leaders (budget support, debt relief).

The new research finds that Beijing does not distribute attention equally—beyond national boundaries, the PRC clearly views some communities as more strategically important to advancing its interests than others. According to the authors, Beijing is employing three distinct subnational public diplomacy strategies, varying its engagement to best advance specific economic, security, and geopolitical goals.

China’s financial diplomacy is indeed highly concentrated: the report finds that Beijing focuses the lion’s share of its largesse to just 25 provinces (receiving 62 percent of financing) and 25 districts (receiving 41 percent of financing) in the region, the report reads.

While China is best known for the power of its purse, the authors argue that Beijing’s economic and soft power tools may be most formidable in exerting influence with countries when they are employed hand-in-hand. The report acknowledges that the more that SCA publics and elites build closer people-to-people ties with counterparts in China, the more they may turn to these social networks when it comes to sourcing goods, services, capital, and other economic partnerships. Read the full report here.