Japanese Ambassador pays courtesy call on PM Oli
Japanese Ambassador to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today.
During the meeting held at the official residence of the Prime Minister at Baluwatar, they discussed traditional relations between the two countries, mutual welfare and exchange of cooperation.
Possible support from Japanese government for reconstruction of BP highway damaged by recent landslide and flood also featured in the meeting.
Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Keshav Kumar Sharma, Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Krishna Prasad Dhakal, among others were present on the occasion.
NA Chair Dahal holds bilateral meetings with parliamentary delegation leaders of various countries
National Assembly (NA) Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal held bilateral meetings with the President of the National Council of Switzerland, and the leaders of parliamentary delegations from India, China, Thailand, and the Philippines on the sidelines of the 149th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday.
Dahal is currently in Geneva, leading the Nepali delegation to the IPU 149th Assembly.
Chairperson Dahal held a bilateral meeting with Eric Nussbaumer, President of the National Council of Swiss Confederation. The two leaders expressed commitment to enhancing inter-parliamentary exchanges and cooperation in areas of climate change, mountain conservation and disaster risk reduction, strengthening federalism, and the Swiss development cooperation in Nepal including in the peace process, the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva said in a press release.
Later in the evening, Chairman Dahal held a bilateral meeting with the leader of the Indian delegation, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Discussions focused on promoting cooperation in the bilateral, regional and multilateral fronts to strengthen democratic institutions.
Earlier today, the National Assembly Chair held a bilateral meeting with the leader of the Chinese delegation Tian Xuejun. The two sides discussed the need for parliamentary exchanges and cooperation to address the common challenges such as climate change, inequality and digital divide while contributing to promoting peace and stability.
During the bilateral meeting with Mongkol Surasajita, President of the Senate of Thailand, Dahal emphasized the historical and cultural ties between Nepal and Thailand deep rooted in the ideals of Buddhism. The two leaders discussed enhancing parliamentary exchanges and cooperation to promote peace, democracy and development.
The Chairperson of the National Assembly of Nepal also held a bilateral meeting with Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Speaker of the House of Representative of the Republic of the Philippines and discussed promoting inter-parliamentary cooperation to promote peace, democracy and development in the world.
Water supply services in Lalitpur will resume within 15 days: Minister Yadav
Minister for Water Supply Pradeep Yadav has said the entire works on repair and maintenance of the Nallu, Basuki and Devaki water supply projects would be completed within 15 days.
He said so after inspecting the water sources of these projects in Godawari Municipality, Lalitpur on Tuesday. The water supply system in Godawari was disrupted after the flooding and landslide triggered by incessant rains on September 27 and 28 damaged the various structures.
"Today we took stock of the situation of the water source areas. A team comprised of the Director General of the Department of Forests, the Chief of the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) and the technical team from our Ministry reached the source of the water supply. The team will prepare a report along with the estimated cost. We will immediately start the repair and maintenance works once they submit the report," the Water Supply Minister said on the occasion.
Stating that water is the basic right of citizens, Minister Yadav directed the officials concerned to carry out works to restore the local water supply system within three days, establishing coordination among the federal, provincial and local governments, and the technical agencies.
He said that the government was sensitive towards the problems of the local people, stressing on the need of sustainable infrastructures and long-term plans to prevent recurrence of such disasters in the future.
Minister Yadav was accompanied by lawmaker from Lalitpur constituency 1, Udaya Shumsher Rana, Chief of the Lalitpur District Coordination Committee, Rishidev Phuyal, Mayor of Godavari Municipality Gajendra Maharjan, Deputy Mayor Muna Adhikari and the KUKL, the Department and the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management officials during the observation of the damaged water supply projects.
Everyone's equal access to technology imperative: NA Chair Dahal
National Assembly Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal has said development in science and technology had spurred innovation, making human life easier and dynamic.
Addressing the 149th general assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva on Monday, Chairman Dahal underlined the need for formulating and implementing the laws that ensure everyone's equal access to technology and its benefits.
Transformative capacity of States is essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals launched in 2015.
He expressed worry over the widening gap among the countries in the access to and capacity relating to information technology. "Still, over two billion people are deprived of information. Collective efforts are imperative to cope with the challenges posed by inequality. All people need to be guaranteed equal access to IT and innovation," Dahal underscored.
According to him, world Parliaments which devise laws, could play effective roles to resolve the problems surfaced in the wake of expansion of IT like privacy breach, cyber threat, and spread of propaganda.
For the relatively backward countries, international assistance and cooperation are required to develop and expand IT, research, resource mobilization and youth engagement.
Exchange of best practices of the Parliaments on science and technology across the world could be useful to bridge gaps between the developed and developing countries, he hoped.
He appreciated the Union's initiative to incorporate artificial intelligence in its action plan by forming a taskforce on science and technology.
"The Union is a significant forum to debate that help cope with worlds' burning problems like climate change, natural disaster, geopolitical tension, poverty and inequality," Dahal observed.
