Senior Chinese leader Liu Jianchao arriving on Sunday
International Liaison Department head of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao is scheduled to visit Nepal on Sunday.
According to a source at the Foreign Ministry, he is arriving on a four-day visit to Nepal.
During his visit, Liu Jianchao will hold meetings with President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli among other leaders, the source said.
Earlier in the last week of June, he held separate virtual meetings with Dahal and Oli.
He held a video conversation with Foreign Minister and Nepali Congress leader Narayan Khadka last week.
Liu Jianchao is a senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
Dahal’s political report endorsed unanimously
The political report presented by CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the Central Committee meeting has been endorsed unanimously on Thursday.
A Central Committee meeting held this afternoon endorsed a brief political report presented by Dahal.
The report incorporated various issues like recently concluded local level elections, upcoming parliamentary and provincial elections, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and State Partnership Program (SPP) among others.
Dahal had presented the report on Sunday.
Tension runs high at voting center in Bajura, police fire into air to take situation under control
Tension ran high at the Trishakti Higher Secondary School voting center in Budhiganga Municipality-9 of Bajura on Thursday.
Police fired into the air after a dispute arose between cadres of the CPN-UML and the ruling coalition.
Chief District Officer Prakash Chandra Adhikari said that police opened fire to take the situation under control.
"Police opened fire to take the situation under control. The situation is normal now. The voting has been resumed," he said.
The voting was halted for some following the dispute between the cadres of the UML and ruling alliance.
The election, which was deferred on May 14, has resumed from 7 am today.
Ranga Bahadur Khati of the Nepali Congress and Ram Bahadur Baniya of the UML have filed candidacy for the post of mayor.
Sri Lankan president calls Russian leader seeking fuel
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said Wednesday that he had a telephone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to request credit support to import fuel for the island nation that is facing its worst economic crisis in memory, Associated Press reported.
“Had a very productive telecon with the Russia President Vladimir Putin. While thanking him for all the support extended by his govt to overcome the challenges of the past, I requested an offer of credit support to import fuel to #lka in defeating the current econ challenges,” Rajapaksa said in a tweet.
Western nations largely have cut off energy imports from Russia in line with sanctions over its war on Ukraine. Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said earlier that the government would look for other sources first but it has not been successful.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, global oil prices have skyrocketed, prompting a number of countries to seek out Russian crude, which is being offered at steep discounts.
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has led to a dire fuel shortage forcing the government to shut schools and ask employees other than those in essential services to work from home to cut down on consuming the limited stocks. The government said earlier that no entity is willing to supply oil to Sri Lanka even for cash because its petroleum corporation owes a heavy debt.
Sri Lanka’s foreign currency crunch led to its suspending repayment of foreign debt in April pending outcome of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package. However, Wickremesinghe told Parliament on Tuesday that discussions with the IMF have been complex and difficult because Sri Lanka is now a bankrupt nation, according to Associated Press.
Unlike in the past, when Sri Lanka entered negotiations as a developing country, this time it has to produce a debt sustainability report to the IMF for approval before any agreement could be reached.
Sri Lanka’s foreign debt stands at $ 51 billion, of which it must repay $28 billion by the end of 2027. It means a payment of an average of $5 billion for the next five years.
Sri Lankans for the past months have been forced to stand in long lines to buy the limited stocks of fuel, cooking gas and foods. The crisi has led to monthslong street protests and scuffles with police at gas stations, Associated Press reported.
