Canadian agency to stop work in Nepal

KATHMANDU, FEB 06 -

The Canadian Cooperation Office, established in 1987, has decided to wind down its Nepal-based operations.

“The Government of Canada decided to wind down its direct country-to-country bilateral development assistance for Nepal on February 28, 2013. This decision is part of a Deficit Reduction Action Plan announced in the Government of Canada ’s 2012 budget,” said the Canadian Cooperation Office in a statement.

The purpose of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan was to make government operations more efficient and achieve greater effectiveness in the government’s programmes and services, said the statement, adding that based on these factors, Canada has decided to scale down its direct bilateral development assistance in a number of countries.

Although no further bilateral programmes will be undertaken, Nepal will remain eligible for Canadian assistance through multilateral organisations and Canadian NGOs.

Canada ’s New Delhi-based mission will look after Nepal affairs. “When a bilateral agency shuts down its office, we cannot expect the same level of assistance. This will definitely hamper future Canadian assistance to Nepal,” said a senior government official.

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Present government will exit soon: Oli

KAILALI, FEB 06 -

Senior leader of the CPN–UML KP Oli has said that the tenure of the present government will end soon.

Speaking at an interaction programme organized in Kailali on Wednesday by the Nepal Intellectual Council Kailali, Oli said, as there is no reason for this government to remain intact, it will soon collapse.



The outlet of the present crisis is nothing other than exit of the present government, he said, adding that new government would hold election and a democratic constitution would be promulgated.

The UCPN (Maoist) has two alternatives either to correct or to perish, and if they do not correct they will be finished, he said.

The UML leader said the present government is unworthy and corrupt, it does nothing good and people will overthrow if it nurtures the aspirations of dictatorship.

Oli said as the UCPN (Maoist) has invited crisis it should itself open avenues for crisis mitigation.

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34 Killed by Heavy Rain

SLAMABAD: Days of torrential rain have killed 34 people in Pakistan, mostly on the northwestern border with Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.The worst-hit region was Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest where 25 people were killed and 57 injured as a result of heavy rain from Sunday to Tuesday, the provincial disaster management authority said.

Three soldiers were also reported missing after they were hit by a snow avalanche in the northwestern district of Lower Dir.Eight people were killed in the central province of Punjab, said Shahzad Abbasi, spokesman for the Punjab disaster management authority.

One person died and another was injured when they were hit by lightning in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, said state official Shahid Hasan Malik.Pakistan has suffered devastating monsoon floods for the last three years, including the worst in its history in 2010 when catastrophic inundations killed almost 1,800 people and affected 21 million.

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