Nepal Highlights

Nepali Congress affiliated Prem Bahadur Khadka -- 1543 UML affiliated  Hari Krishna Karki --    1050 Unified CPN (Maoist) affiliated Ram Nath Mainali --    398

Mr. Stéphane Jaquemet has been appointed as the new Representative of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Nepal. Mr. Jaquemet presented the Letter of Credentials to the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Nepal Sujata Koirala on Wednesday.  Before coming to Nepal, he served as the UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, Beirut. Having spent 17 years with UNHCR, Mr. Jaquemet has held a number of senior positions both at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva and in other UNHCR offices, including Indonesia, Togo and Croatia.  Mr. Jaquemet has a strong legal background, and served as Chief of Protection Capacity Section, Department of International Protection, at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva from 1997 to 2002. Upon assuming office, Mr. Jaquemet said, "I am happy to be in Nepal, such a beautiful and cultured country, and work for one of UNHCR's largest resettlement operations in the world." Since late 2007, UNHCR has helped more than 25,600 refugees from Bhu

CAN Info-Tech 2010, the largest Information, Communication Technology (ICT) fair in the country, has kicked off in Kathmandu, Wednesday. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal inaugurated the fair amid a function at the city theatre, this morning. The expo showcases the latest trends and developments in the IT and related sectors. About 270 national and international companies have set up their stalls at the expo. Various brands of laptops, computers, security systems, software, UPS, invertors, mobiles, iPods and digital cameras are some of the highlights of the expo. Electronic and digital devices of renowned brands including Lenovo, HP, Sony, Samsung, Umax, Logitech, Su-Kam, Brother, Kaspersky, Toshiba, and HCL are also displayed in the fair. The fair, organised by Computer Associaion of Nepal (CAN), will run for six days. The entry fee for the fair is Rs 30 for students and Rs 50 for others. On business days, January 14 and 18, the tickets will cost Rs 150.

Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala and CPN (UML) chairman Jhala Nath Khanal have agreed to include Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal in the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM). Koirala and Khanal agreed to include PM Nepal in the mechanism at a meeting held at Koirala's residence, Maharajgunj, Wednesday morning. Koirala is the coordinator of the mechanism, while UML chairman Khanal and Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal are its members. Maoist chairman Dahal had ruled out the PM's inclusion in the the mechanism, on Tuesday. "Why include the person who is the main cause of the political deadlock?", he had told journalists in Dhangadi yesterday. Koirala and Khanal also discussed about the operating guidelines of the mechanism in today's meeting. Next meeting of the mechanism will take place after Khanal returns from a visit to India. He is going to India today.

US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick Moon will visit Kathmandu from January 17-20, the US embassy in Kathmandu said. During his visit, deputy assistant Secretary Moon will meet government officials, political leaders, human rights activists, and representatives of the international community to discuss the current political situation and the continuation of the peace process, the status of the discharge of the disqualified combatants from the cantonments, and economic development. Moon was appointed the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in March 2009. Earlier, he served as the Coordinator for Afghanistan beginning in January 2008 and from June 2008 to March 2009 he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Afghanistan. This is Moon's first visit to Nepal.

Nepal's oldest elephant has passed away at the age of 70 years in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Conservation Area today.