UK suspends Indian student visa applications

the last three months of last year, there were 13,500 applications from northern India alone, compared with 1,800 in the same period of 2008.

British officials say the system has been overwhelmed and there are concerns that many cases are not genuine.

Unscrupulous offers of visas as a way of settling in the UK are not uncommon.

The British high commissioner in Delhi, Sir Richard Stagg, said abuse of the system would not be allowed to happen.

'Tough action'

While extra checks take place, visa applications have been temporarily suspended - a decision which will be reviewed at the end of February.

Jeremy Oppenheim, of the UK Border Agency, said: "The points-based system gives us the flexibility to act to maintain the integrity of the visa system, whilst processing legitimate applications fairly, thoroughly and as quickly as possible.

"We continually check and monitor all student applications and education providers to ensure that they meet the required standards.


The genuine students who want to come over for the universities they're going to suffer as a result and they won't be able to get here in time for their courses
Harjap Singh Bhangal

"We will take tough action against those who attempt to abuse the system."

The director of the legal advice firm, London Immigration Advice and Appeal Services, Harjap Singh Bhangal, says a temporary suspension will prevent illegal immigration, but it will also adversely affect genuine students.

He told the BBC: "It's going to create a panic and we don't know when this suspension is going to be lifted. I believe it's for one month initially but it could run into several months.

"The problem that we're going to have is that the genuine students who want to come over for the universities they're going to suffer as a result and they won't be able to get here in time for their courses."

India is currently the UK's biggest visa operation in the world.

More than 500,000 Indians visit the UK every year, among them tens of thousands of students.
Source:

Birgunj traffic at mercy of transporters ire

A Chakka Jam brought traffic movement in Birgunj to a grinding halt on Saturday morning with transport workers demanding action against the students who had beaten a bus driver and conductor on January 29 at Parawanipur.

Transport employees showed their solidarity with their fellow men demanding adequate compensation to Rajesh Patel, 22, the bus driver who was left injured.

The incident was sparked off by an arguement over the fare. The culprits also damaged the vehicle.
Source: The Himalayan Times

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Speaker Nabih Berri’s call to begin the process of abolishing sectarianism in politics was greeted Thursday with criticism of the lack of national consensus on the issue, along with counter-calls for establishing a federal system. Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Thursday the formation of a national committee tasked with the abolishment of political sectarianism necessitated consensus of all Lebanese factions, which currently does not exist.

“Consensus on the issue is the basis, and if certain stances don’t support the formation of a committee, then it means there’s no consensus over the issue,” Hariri told reporters at the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut.

During a news conference on Wednesday, Berri said the abolishment of political sectarianism was not optional, but rather mandatory in accordance with the Taif Accord, while underlining that participation in the committee was open to all religious sects, which would choose their own representatives. The speaker had said some parties’ claims that the formation of the committee necessitated consensus weren’t justified.

However, Hariri said that since the current Cabinet was a national unity government, he was interested in issues that brought the Lebanese together, rather than dividing them.

“I believe Berri thinks similarly,” Hariri said.

But Berri reiterated Thursday before visitors at his residence in Ain al-Tineh that the current circumstances, given the presence of a national unity Cabinet, constituted the best moment in years to liberate the Lebanese people from sectarianism.

Voicing support for Berri’s call, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said in remarks published on Thursday by the daily Al-Safir that “there’s nothing wrong with forming a committee tasked with the abolishment of political sectarianism in accordance with the Constitution.”

March 14 groups have linked the formation of the committee to the full implementation of the 1989 Taif Accord, namely ensuring total state sovereignty and the exclusive authority over the possession of arms, a reference to Hizbullah and armed Palestinian factions.

Labor Minister and Batroun MP Butros Harb said Thursday the issue of abolishing political sectarianism was a source of conflict between Cabinet members, as he underscored the need to tackle the issue by staying away from bickering in the media, which could lead to national division rather than unity.

The Phalange Party and the Lebanese Forces have said the current conditions of domestic challenges and foreign threats to the country were unfavorable for such a step, while Berri’s ally in the former opposition, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun also raised concerns about the issue, saying Wednesday that it required preparations before being tackled to avoid negative repercussions.

On Thursday, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said that the Taif Accord should be implemented as a whole rather than picking out certain clauses, while underscoring that the abolishment of political sectarianism was a constitutional step but required sufficient preparations in order to bolster public support.

For his part, Metn MP Sami Gemayel said a federal state should be established if political sectarianism is to be abolished.

Echoing the stance of the Maronite patriarch, Gemayel said that abolishing sectarianism from the country’s legislation rather than people’s hearts would lead to the domination by sects with the largest numbers.

“As long as we live in a centralized state, political sectarianism should be maintained,” Gemayel said, adding that “guarantees should be made to ensure that none of the religious sects in Lebanon seeks to abolish the other.”

“Therefore, abolishing these guarantees mean that others should be provided, and if we want to abolish political sectarianism, we should [move toward] a federal state,” Gemayel added.

Also, Phalange Party official and Social Affairs Minister Salim Sayegh said his party rejected the partial implementation of the Taif Accord, while calling for a comprehensive framework to promote several reforms in order to reach a civil and secular state.

“The Phalange Party does not fear the abolishment of political sectarianism or any other reforms, but we fear their partial implementation,” Sayegh said, adding that “given the presence of illegitimate weapons being disputed by the Lebanese, the circumstances aren’t favorable for such step.”

Meanwhile, the National Bloc called for setting up another national committee, tasked with disarming militias.

“In light of Speaker’s Berri calling for establishing a national committee for abolishing political sectarianism, the National Bloc would like to suggest setting up another national higher committee, tasked with disarming militias,” a statement by the group said.

Criticizing Hizbullah’s possession of weapons outside state authority, the National Bloc said “reforming state administrations will be impossible given the presence of weapons in the hands of a militia that aimed to grab hold over all the government’s institutions.”

Baalbek-Hermel MP Marwan Fares, an official with the fiercely anti-sectarian Syrian Social Nationalist Party, said he supported Berri’s call.

“We support abolishing political sectarianism, and then eliminating sectarianism,” Fares said.

“There are [different] sects and religions in France, Germany and everywhere in the world, why is this a problem?”
Source:http://www.dailystar.com.lb

PM has no place in HLMP: Prachanda

Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' today said the Prime Minister had no business in the newly-formed High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM).

Talking to mediapersons in Kailali's Dhangadhi, prior to his flight to Kathmandu, Prachanda said it was not necessary to include the PM in the mechanism and added it was wrong to demand his inclusion.

Claiming that the present political impasse was created by the government, the Maoist supremo said, "Why include the person who is the cause of the obstruction?'' He added that there was no use of two leaders from the same party in the mechanism since CPN-UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal was already there. ''The government has been terrorised after the formation of the mechanism,'' Prachanda said. ''The mechanism is not to topple the government but to take the peace process to a logical conclusion, to draft the statue within the time stipulated time and to forge a consensus among the political parties,'' he clarified.

The Maoist chairman said their agitation would remain until the guarantee of national independence. He stated that some forces had been spreading rumour that the issue was a political tool for the Maoists, refuting the allegation. He claimed that the Nepali territory had been encroached by India in Brahmadev of Kanchanpur.

Prachanda claims 'foreign powers' plotting to kill him

Prachanda, who just returned from his unannounced visit to Hong Kong, claimed that he has been receiving death threats, especially after his Unified Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) party decided to fight for "national independence".

He also claimed that the Maoists had initiated a dialogue with the Royal Palace, a month before the June 2001 massacre of King Birendra and his entire family.

"We had tried to hold direct talks with then King Birendra, and to offer him the post of first president of the country if he had agreed to abdicate," he said. But, the king was killed along with his family soon after that.

Former general secretary of CPN-UML Madan Bhandari died in a jeep accident under mysterious circumstances when he
opposed "foreign intervention" in Nepal, Prachanda said, adding he was also receiving similar threats.

Prachanda, who did not categorically name any country, alleged that imperialist and expansionist forces were behind it, indirectly hinting at the US and India.

The Maoists regard the US as an imperialist force and India as an expansionist power.

"No one will be able to defeat us as there will be an army of 30 million Nepalese to fight for national independence," Prachanda said yesterday.

Home ministry sources said that the government has stepped up security for Prachanda in the wake of possible threats.

Prachanda had visited Hong Kong last week before reaching a deal with Nepali Congress president GP Koirala to form a high-level political mechanism to facilitate completion of the peace process and drafting of the new Constitution. That was
his fourth visit to China since August 2008.

Though Prachanda told the media that the aim of his visit to Hong Kong was to impart training to his party's cadres based there, political observers have cast a doubt his real intention.

Former king leaves for India

Former king Gyanendra Shah left for India to attend a nuptial ceremony of one of his relatives. It's Shah's second India visit after the Constituent Assembly stripped him of all the privileges that he had been enjoying as the head of the state. However, the date of his return is yet to be fixed though reports say he is likely to be away for nearly three weeks as he will reportedly proceed to Europe for a visit. Shah is accompanied by his wife Komal Shah and personal secretary Sagar Prasad Timalsina.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs issued a diplomatic passport for Shah, 63, on November 20 following his request through his aide. It is the first passport that Shah holds as he did not need it for his official visits when he was head of the state.

Nepal vows to fight threats posed by climatchange after concluding historic high-altitude meet

The historic cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar plateau near Everest Base Camp (5,242 meters) in the foothills of Mt Everest has concluded by issuing a 10-point "Everest declaration" which calls for concerted actions to minimize adverse effects of climate change in the Himalayan region.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal (center) and other ministers at a press conference organised after the historic cabinet meeting at Mount
Everest base camp at Syangboche, Friday Dec 04 09. nepalnews.com/Ram Humagai
Informing about the decision of the cabinet meeting at a press meet organized in Syangboche (3,780 m) after returning from Kalapatthar, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that through the Everest declaration Nepal wants to express its commitment to fight the threats posed by global climate change and show areas of cooperation to follow for this noble purpose.

The meeting held for around 20 minutes also declared Banke National Park as new national park and Api-Nampa and Gauri-Shankar as conservation areas.

In the 10-point declaration, Nepal has expressed commitment to work together with the international community to mitigate the threats of climate change to the entire human civilization including the world's fragile bio-diversity, heritages and for sustainable socio-economic and cultural development of mankind.

He said the Himalayan region which boasts of Mt Everest, the world's tallest peak, including the majestic 2,700 kilometer-long mountain range, has a special significance for the socio-economic and cultural development of 1.3 billion people living in the region including maintaining the global environmental balance.

"But the world-wide climate change patterns of recent years has started to negatively affect the Himalayas and the people living in this region, their socio-economic development, biological diversity and other sectors, " he said, adding that as a result of which the risks of floods, landslides, glacier outbursts, drought, deforestation and other natural calamities have greatly increased.

He said the adverse effects of climate change is not only being seen in the areas near to Himalayan region, but in the whole of South Asia including the ecology of the whole world.

"Due to global climate change and its effects, the entire human civilization is faced with additional challenges for their survival," PM Nepal claimed.

PM Nepal said that Government of Nepal has from the past many decades been expressing bilateral and multilateral commitments for sustainable development and environmental protection knowing that conserving and protecting planet Earth, our shared home, is not only in the interest of us but our future generations too.

Twenty-four cabinet ministers, including PM Nepal, had flown to Kalapatthar at 9:20 am on Friday to hold the historic cabinet meeting set in the backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, including Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain.

A rescue team led by Usha Gurung along with six doctors and a team of mountaineers accompanied the ministerial team for this historic event.

Speaking to media-persons before the ministerial team was air-lifted to Kalapathhar, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Dipak Bohora had said that the government is holding the cabinet meeting to draw the attention of the world to the threats of climate change in the Himalayas and the people living in the region.

State-owned Nepal Television broadcast the special event live from Syangboche.
Source: nepalnews.com

Maoists declaring autonomous states to end significance of Constituent Assembly: PM Nepal

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that the plan of the UCPN (Maoist) party to declare autonomous federal states is against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the Interim Constitution, accusing the former rebels of trying to end the significance of the Constituent Assembly (CA) with this move.

Speaking at a programme organized in the capital on the occasion of Jyapu Day Wednesday, PM Nepal dismissed Maoist claims that their plan to declare federal states is as per the tenet and spirit of the Interim Constitution.

He criticized the Maoists for their plan to declare federal states at a time when the political parties are holding discussion on state restructuring, adding that the Maoist move is objectionable.