Kenya opposition inauguration a bid to 'overthrow govt': minister

Kenya opposition inauguration a bid to 'overthrow govt': minister


NAIROBI, Jan 31, 2018 (AFP) - Kenya's interior minister said Wednesday that opposition leader Raila Odinga's mock inauguration as "people's president" was an effort to overthrow the government, with media outlets shut down for their complicity in the event.

     Odinga, 73, held a swearing-in ceremony in Nairobi on Tuesday with the event attended by thousands of supporters in another challenge to President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election last year following two votes that the opposition claims were rigged.

     The lawyer and MP who swore Odinga in -- TJ Kajwang -- was arrested on Wednesday afternoon and was being investigated for his role in the ceremony, according to a senior police officer speaking on condition of anonymity.

     After initially vowing to block the gathering, police kept their distance, but a furore broke out after the Communication Authority shut down three of the country's main private television channels who were covering the ceremony.

     "What was witnessed at Uhuru Park was a well-choreographed attempt to subvert or overthrow the legally-constituted government of the Republic of Kenya," Interior Minister Fred Matiangi said in a statement.

     "Some elements in the media fraternity participated in furtherance of this illegal act," he charged, adding that "their complicity would have led to thousands of deaths of innocent Kenyans..."

     Matiangi said the authorities had information that "criminal elements operating under the banner" of the National Super Alliance (NASA) opposition coalition had planned to "shed blood" at the event and "blame it on the police".

     That was why police had withdrawn from the venue, he said.

     "We have commenced wide-scale investigations targeting individuals and organisations who include but not limited to media houses," he said, indicating that the outlets -- among them NTV, Citizen TV and KTN -- would remain shut until the probe was finished.

     The shutdown came after media organisations were summoned to State House last week for a meeting.

- 'Intimidation' of media -

     During the meeting, Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and other senior officials warned editors against live coverage of the ceremony and threatened to revoke their licenses if they failed to comply, according to Linus Kaikai, chairman of the Kenya Editors' Guild.

     In a statement, Kaikai said he was "gravely alarmed" by Friday's meeting which took place in "an atmosphere of intimidation".

     Rights groups on Wednesday criticised the government's move to block live coverage of the inauguration.

     "Kenyan authorities have restricted media coverage at a critical moment, and violated the public's right to information about important events," said Otsieno Namwaya, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

     HRW said the shutdown "underlines a trend since 2013, when Kenyatta took office for the first time" of intimidation, harassment and threats aimed at the media.

     For some, it brought back memories of years of dictatorship in the 1980s and 1990s when heavy-handed government censorship was common.

     "Kenya is on a very slippery trajectory in regard to human rights, and president Kenyatta urgently needs to reverse this trend," Namwaya said.

- 'Anarchy and mayhem' -

     Matiangi said Odinga's swearing-in itself was also under investigation and that "appropriate legal action" would be taken.

     Authorities had repeatedly warned that such an inauguration would be treasonous and that Odinga could face arrest.

     However, as the wording of the oath was different to that in the constitution, the consequences of Odinga's act of political theatre remain unclear.

     Odinga has refused to accept Kenyatta's re-election, which came after last year's deeply-divisive election season in which rights activists say at least 92 people were killed.

     First was an election on August 8 that was won by Kenyatta then annulled in a historic decision by the Supreme Court, which ordered a re-run on October 26.

     Claiming the poll would not be fair, Odinga boycotted the second vote and Kenyatta won with 98 percent.

     Since boycotting the re-run poll, citing a lack of reform at the election commission, NASA's strategy has been to challenge Kenyatta's legitimacy by seeking to establish parallel government structures.

     Opposition politicians have convened so-called "people's assemblies" in some counties and the inauguration of Odinga as "people's president" is seen as the culmination of this process.

     Matiangi on Tuesday denounced the opposition's National Resistance Movement wing, tasked with implementing a threatened programme of boycotts and civil disobedience, as an "organised criminal group".

     "It is a group of individuals who are bent on causing anarchy and mayhem," he added on Wednesday.

     "We will not accept subversion and criminal acts disguised as political activities. This will not be tolerated."

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From Nepal

From Nepal

Mt. Nilgiri Nepal

Mt. Nilgiri    Nepal

Packing Tomato for Marketing

Packing Tomato for Marketing

Trump talks about Brexit, trade, Twitter habit with UK media

Trump talks about Brexit, trade, Twitter habit with UK media

LONDON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump talked about Britain's exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU), trade and his Twitter habit among other topics in a wide-ranging interview with a British media outlet aired on Sunday.

   TIES WITH UK AFTER BREXIT

   On negotiations over Brexit from EU, Trump said he would have taken a "tougher" approach than the one currently adopted by British Prime Minister Theresa May, in the interview with British ITV channel's program Good Morning Britain.

   Acknowledging he had a lot of respect for May, the president said "I would have said that the European Union is not cracked up to what it's supposed to be."

   London has dragged itself into painstaking negotiations with Brussels chaffering over favorable terms about its exit from the 28-country bloc. Formal Brexit is expected in March 2019, but progress of the talks has been slow given the complexity of the issue.

   Noting that London will be banned for two years from signing bilateral trade pacts with other economies before leaving the EU, Trump said: "When that restriction is up, we're going to be your great trading partner."

   The president also expressed his willingness to visit Britain, though he has recently canceled a trip to London, the reason for which he said was that he didn't like the relocation of the U.S. embassy there.

   Media reports, however, have attributed the decision to the cool reception the president would likely receive. The British public, outraged by Trump's retweet of an anti-Muslim video originally posted by a far-right British nationalist group known as "Britain First," signed a petition urging the government not to give Trump a state visit.

   UNFAIR US-EU TRADE

   On trade, Trump complained about what he said was very unfair trade relationship between the United States and the EU, warning that trade disputes could become a big problem.

   "The European Union has treated the United States very unfairly when it came to trade ... and it may morph into something very big," he said.

   The president has always complained about other economies taking advantage of Washington by means of "unfair" trade practices.

   As regards the EU market, Trump said "We cannot get our product in. It's very very tough," adding that products from the EU are sold to the United States with "no taxes -- very little taxes."

   Trump's "America First" slogan was snubbed by international politicians and business leaders as they gathered in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum last week.

   In an interview with Swiss national television RTS, French President Emmanuel Macron called on Trump "to be on board with us on multilateralism."

   Trump, for his part, gave Macron a high praise during the interview Sunday, saying the young French leader is "a great guy." 

   "He's a great guy ... His wife is fantastic. I like them a lot. You know, we had dinner at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and everything was closed," Trump said.

   TWITTER HABIT

   For the first time, Trump admitted that he sometimes posts on Twitter while in bed, a habit previously revealed by the New York Times.

   "Well, perhaps sometimes in bed, perhaps sometimes at breakfast or lunch or whatever," Trump said in Sunday's interview. "I can do whatever, but I am very busy during the day, very long hours."

   The contents of his frequent tweets range from serious policy decisions to hostile war of words against nations or leaders he denigrates.

   The outspoken president's frivolousness in both topic choices and wording styles has raised concern over his personal integrity as well as fitness for presidency.

   Trump, in response, defended his use of the social networking tool as necessary amid "a lot of fake news" about him, saying "If I don't have that form of communication I can't defend myself."

   Trump said he usually tweets himself, but sometimes lets other people write down what he says as well on his personal account, which now has some 47.2 million followers.

   Concerning one example of controversies caused by his tweets, Trump apologized for his retweet of an anti-Muslim video posted by far-right group "Britain First."

   In the build-up to his apology, Trump emphasized that he had only recently become aware of the nature of the group, and that stories about the group in the United States are less as popular than in Britain.

   "I am, as I say often, the least racist person that anybody is going to meet ... If you are telling me they're horrible people, horrible, racist people, I would certainly apologize if you'd like me to do that," he said.  Enditem

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Budget Session 2018 to begin with President Kovind's address today

Budget Session 2018 to begin with President Kovind's address today

New Delhi [India], Jan. 29 (ANI): The Budget session of the Parliament will begin on Monday at 11 am with the speech of President Ram Nath Kovind.

President Kovind's address to a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will mark the beginning of the Budget Session 2018.

The Muslim Women's (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 related to triple talaq, the Codes of Wages Bill, 2017, Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education, 2017 are among the important bills that will be tabled for discussion and passage.

As many as 28 bills will be tabled in the Lok Sabha, while 39 bills are listed for the Rajya Sabha for the upcoming session.

Long pending issues including the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, will be discussed in the Lower House.

Meanwhile, the Triple Talaq Bill passed in the Lok Sabha in the last winter session of the Parliament will be in focus in the Upper House of the Parliament.

Following is the list of issues that will be taken up in the Parliament -

Lok Sabha:

Bills referred to Joint Committee:

• The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Bill, 2015

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017

Bill returned to Lok Sabha:

• The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill, 2017(as passed by Lok Sabha, as reported by Select Committee of Rajya Sabha and returned with amendments to Lok Sabha)

Bills referred to Standing Committees:

• The Codes of Wages, 2017

• The Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Second Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017

Bills not referred to Standing Committee:

• The High Court's (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016

• The Constitution (Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2017

• The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Consumer Protection Bill, 2018

• The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2018

Bills on which reports presented by Standing Committee:

• The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014

• The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2014

• The Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014

• The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2015

• The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016

• The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016

• The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016

• The Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016

• The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The National Sports University Bill, 2017

Rajys Sabha:

Bill, as reported by Joint Committee:

• The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 1987

Bills as passed by the Lok Sabha:

• The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015

• The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015

• The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• The National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017

• The State Bank (Repeal and Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Requisition Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Bill, 2017

• The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017

Bills not referred to Standing Committee:

• The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Repeal) Bill, 2012

• The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies (Third) Bill, 2013

• The Delhi Rent (Repeal) Bill, 2013

Bill, as passed by the Lok Sabha and as reported by Select Committee:

• The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017

Bill referred to Select Committee and report presented:

• The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013

Bills on which report presented by Standing Committee:

• The Constitution (79th Amendment) Bill, 1992 (small family norms for legislators)

• The Delhi Rent (Amendment) Bill, 1997

• The Provisions of the Municipalities (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Bill, 2001

• The Seeds Bill, 2004

• The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2005

• The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2005

• The Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy Pharmacy Bill, 2005

• The Private Detective Agencies (Regulation) Bill, 2007

• The Pesticides Management Bill, 2008

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2008

• The Mines (Amendment) Bill, 2011

• The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2011

• The National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2011

• The Armed Forces Tribunal (Amendment) Bill, 2012

• The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2012

• The Building and Other Construction Workers Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013

• The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Bill, 2013

• The Rajasthan Legislative Council Bill, 2013

• The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013

• The Nalanda University (Amendment) Bill,2013

• The Assam Legislative Council Bill, 2013

• The Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2013

• The Waqf Properties (Eviction of Un-authorized Occupants) Bill, 2014

• The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2015

The Budget session of the Parliament will be conducted from January 29 to April 6, with the first phase to be held from January 29 to February 9 and the second phase from March 5 to April 6.

The Finance Minister will present the Union Budget 2018 for the fiscal year 2018-19 on February 1.

This will be the first Budget in the post- GST (Goods and Services Tax) era and the last full budget from Jaitley before the general election in 2019. (ANI)

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Pakistan must remove ambiguities about terror groups

Pakistan must remove ambiguities about terror groups

Islamabad [Pakistan], Jan 29 (ANI): Pakistan should remove all ambiguities and confusion regarding banned militant groups while making its national security policy, a security analyst has said.

In an opinion piece published by the Dawn, titled as "Mother of all Confusions", Muhammad Amir Rana states that "The architects of our security policies have to come up with a comprehensive, workable mechanism to deal with the challenge."

"One cannot ignore the role of parliament, which should have a frank debate on banned militant groups," he added.

Rana said Pakistan has drawn criticism from the international community for not taking enough action against the terror-groups and banned outfits operating from its soil because the government has failed diplomatically to defend its case.

"International politics is the art of constructing narratives, which in turn cultivate public opinion. This requires diplomacy and opinion-making, yet the arguments embedded in a narrative are themselves the most important part. When a narrative loses appeal it simply requires a review. Harping on lost arguments creates only confusion and distraction," he stated.

"Pakistan is annoyed at the international community's repeated concerns about the alleged presence and status of non-state actors on its soil. Pakistan tries to convince the world by describing multiple anti-militant actions it has taken and the sacrifices it has rendered," he added.

Referring to recent drone strikes carried out by the United States, which killed two Haqqani Network militants in northwestern Pakistan, Rana said, "However, a drone strike and a subsequent press conference, or public demonstration by the leaders of banned organisations and their other public activities, offset the impression."

"The blame lies largely with the civilian governments that have failed to diplomatically defend Pakistan's case," he added.

He mentioned that just before the recent visit of the United Nations Security Council's sanctions monitoring team, Hafiz Saeed had approached the Lahore High Court to prevent his arrest.

"He suspected that the government would put him under house arrest during the team's visit. He got temporary relief from the court, but the media coverage of one of his news conferences resulted in his views being known abroad. Who now would believe that Pakistan recently took serious measures against banned groups?" he said.

"The UNSC monitoring team's visit was part of its regular inspections but the Financial Action Task Force, an international body that combats money laundering and terror financing, shares concerns with many other international actors about the activities of banned groups in Pakistan," he added.

Rana emphasised that banned militant groups in the country are persistently Pakistan's diplomatic stress.

"It has been discussed at various high-level national forums that these groups have become a strategic burden for the country. And that they are also causing internal security problems. These groups provide recruitment bases to anti-Pakistan and global terrorist networks and also have an impact on relations within law-enforcement departments," he stated.

He further mentioned that the counter-strategy by building a soft image through expanding their outreach in political spaces and avoiding confrontation with the government of banned militant groups has proved effective.

"Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal sees the workers of JuD and other conventional militant groups as 'ex-militants' who are engaged in welfare work. He has cautioned that if disturbed, they may join terrorist outfits. Interestingly, he was expressing these views after attending the graduation ceremony of the Counterterrorism Force at the Police Lines Headquarters in Islamabad," he said.

"He also claimed that about 4,000 to 5,000 militants had quit militancy and were raising funds for welfare activities. It is not certain where he got these statistics from as the JuD claims it has more than 50,000 registered workers across the country," he added.

Rana concluded by saying that for a coherent policy to deal with this, the government and military establishment will have to be on the same page. (ANI)

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Martyrs day being observed today

Martyrs day being observed today

Kathmandu, Jan 30: Martyrs Day is being observed across the country today by paying tributes and respects to those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country and people.

Magh 16 in the Nepali lunar calendar every year is marked as the National Martyrs Day, commemorating those who were executed by the autocratic Rana rulers for voicing for people's rights and those who lost their lives in various movements launched for democracy and people's sovereignty. 

Freedom fighters Shukra Raj Shastri, Dharma Bhakta Mathema, Dashrath Chand and Gangalal Shrestha who were sentenced to death for their battle for people's rights are remembered and respected as the four leading martyrs in country's political history.

Nepal celebrates a martyr week from Magh 10-16 in the Nepali calendar every year. The four heroes of the country had established an organisation Nepal Prajaparishad to motivate the people for fighting for their rights. Shukraraj was hanged from a tree near Pachali of Teku on Magh 10, 1997 BS.

Dharma Bhakta was hanged in Sifal on Magh 13 and Dashrath Chand and Gangalal were gunned down at Shobha Bhagawati on Magh 15 by the then autocratic Rana rulers. The government has announced a public holiday on the occasion of Martyrs' Day.

True tribute to martyrs if prosperous nation built: President

Meanwhile, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has said that all should work to make an economically prosperous nation based on justice and equality.

In a message today on the occasion of the Martyrs Day, President Bhandari said that we should always keep in mind that those sacrificing their priceless life are eligible to be martyrs for the country and people.

The President has also expressed best wishes to all for getting inspirations to materialize the dreams of those known and unknown martyrs to get motivated for joining in the great campaign of nation building.

Stating that federal democratic republic was established in the country due to the contributions of martyrs who got martyrdom after getting involved in different movements of the history, Bhandari said that making a prosperous nation by institutionalizing the achievements made so far would be a true tribute to the martyrs.

Likewise, Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has urged all to unite to materialize the dreams of martyrs for making a prosperous nation along with the sustainable economic development.

Vice President Pun has also expressed due respects to the families of martyrs for the sacrifices of their invaluable lives for the establishment of democracy, loktantra and republic.

The Vice President has said that the dreams of martyrs are gradually being fulfilled after the country heads towards political stability following the recent polls.

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2017 AD, a foundation year for Nepal’s prosperity

2017 AD, a foundation year for Nepal’s prosperity


-    Mahendra Subedi

KATHMANDU (RSS): The year 2017 has just ended with some far-reaching impressions and precedence in Nepal’s history. Nepal witnessed many ups and downs both positive and negative last year. The year 2017 left behind sweet memories in political, social and economic domains but disaster took a heavy toll in the southern plains causing a huge loss to human life and property.

Completion of all three-tiers of elections amid uncertainties remained the landmark achievement in the country. The country people got their elected representatives for the first time nearly after two decades in the 2017 in line with the federal setup. Uncertainties had loomed large over the timely elections to the local levels despite the government announcement as the political parties in the Province No. 2 were taking to the streets threatening to boycott the local polls. However, the agitating parties too came on board the polls thanks to massive political engagements and grievances handling of the agitating forces.

Likewise, Nepal held the province assembly elections for the first time in the history while the elections to the House of Representatives were also conducted in a free, fair, fearless and credible manner. The international community has also lauded the elections to the Province Assembly and House of Representatives stating that the elections have provided ground for much needed periodic stability in the country.

With the fresh mandate and people representatives in all layers of government, Nepal has entered into a stage in which almost all doors to possibilities towards prosperity have opened up.

The issue coming together with the election-2017 is the alliance of two rival communist parties. The patch up of the CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (UML) and landslide victory of the left alliance has become a historic move in the country. The victory of left alliance forged aiming to form a single communist party and the subsequent victory has ushered in multiple rays of hope to the general public. In this case, 2017 has become a foundation year for the nation’s economic development followed by political stability after the end to longstanding political instability and decade-long transition. So, the country has welcomed the left alliance's plan for socialism of Nepali characteristics by sweeping away all forms of exploitations and injustices prevailing in the society.

Another thing to cheer in 2017 is rapid economic growth and all time high tourists' arrival with past record break.

In the year 2017, Nepal remained the third fastest growing economy in the world according to a report of the World Economic Forum. The Swiss non-profit foundation ranked Nepal third in terms of growing economy after Ethiopia and Uzbekistan stating that Nepal’s growth rebounded strongly following a couple of reasons.

For the first time in the history of tourism sector, Nepal welcomed 940,000 plus international tourists which is a major point to cheer as good rebound in tourists' arrival has build trust of the air service operators, tourism investors and business community ultimately contributing to the country's foreign exchange earning.  However, there are some analysts who argue that tourism experienced better turnaround due to marketing efforts and aggressive promotion by various international media. The current growth heralds a cosy picture of the country's tourism. The number of 2017 indicates that we will be seeing arrival of more tourists in 2018 because more star-hotels are under construction, better tourism infrastructures are being created and political stability and peaceful situation in the country has been improved.

Despite the abovementioned achievements, Nepal suffered badly, perhaps one of the worst disasters in southern plains in 2017. Nearly one and a half dozen districts in Tarai and Madhes suffered badly due to floods. The total damage caused by the floods is approximately Rs 61,844.8 million (USD 595.5 million) which stands almost three per cent of our gross domestic products (GDP). The household sector takes the largest share of damages as many houses and standing crops were damaged. The 2017 floods damaged thousands of houses and the total number of houses completely destroyed was reported as 41,626 while 150,510 houses were partially damaged. The government report states that Rautahat district reported 16,145 houses as fully destroyed, the highest among all the 18 severely affected districts. The total cost of recovery needs is estimated at Rs 73,224.8(US$ 705.1) million. Though the cost of recovery appears to be high, a careful planning of the recovery programme would ensure that the recovery programme is fiscally prudent and affordable.

Nepal set bright records in almost all issues in 2017 despite some hurdles. We witnessed better political accommodation, economic growth and better international image. However, the natural disasters remained beyond our control as the Tarai flood took heavy toll on human lives and infrastructures. So, 2017 remained a departure point for Nepal's prosperity from where we can set a new journey for the country's bright future and people's wellbeing provided that we deal with the serious issues at hand tactfully.

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