Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said that the recent political transformations observed by Nepal are not mere cosmetic changes but complete metamorphosis.

Addressing the inaugural session of the Conference on Democracy, Development and Peace in Asia, in Kathmandu Monday, PM Dahal said that recent global crisis has seriously affected poor countries.

“The global meltdown that started from the US and, which is having chain effect elsewhere, is triggering tremendous negative effect on countries of the south,” he said.

Professor Samir Amin, a noted political economist, termed the recent global financial crisis as systemic failure of capitalism.

At the same programme, former general secretary of UML Madhav Kumar Nepal said that Nepal presently has six tasks in its hand.

He listed constitution writing, inclusion, restructuring of state, scientific land reforms, logical conclusion of peace process and improvement in governance as major tasks ahead of the country.

The three-day conference is being jointly organised by Least Developed Countries (LDC) Watch, South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE), Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA) and Korea Democratic Foundation (KDF).

Meanwhile, speaking at a conference on science and technology in the capital, PM Dahal said that the “first republican” government of Nepal will give top priority to the development of science and technology field as without it the development goals of the country can’t be achieved.

Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal and Vice Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology Dr Homnath Bhattrai (L) attend the inaugural ceremony of the fifth National Conference on Science and Technology in Kathmandu Monday, Nov 10 08. nepalnews.com/rh

Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal and Vice Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science…
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 5th National Conference on Science & Technology, he said that Nepal lagged behind in development because enough was not done in the science and technology field in the past, and indirectly blamed the failed policies of previous Maharajas and governments for this.

Nepalese people had to suffer a lot because the past political leadership couldn’t be “more honest and hardworking”, he added.

Talking about the advantage science has over politics, PM Dahal said there is always cheating and deception in politics but not in science.

“As this [science] is a field where you’ve to very work hard and there is also no room for any cheating, we should also have a very scientific approach towards politics,” he said. He, however, expressed regret that there never any good inter-linking between politics and science in Nepal.

PM Dahal said a conducive environment should be built so that gifted Nepali intellectuals who have settled abroad would be encouraged to return to the country, and pledged that the government will develop this sector in such a manner that it would discourage the “brain drain” from Nepal.

To prove that the government is serious towards the development of this sector, he said that many in the new Maoist-led government come from science and technical background. He also informed that some programmes have been introduced in the budget for the development of the sector.

Before becoming the prime minister, even before his underground days as a Maoist chief, Pushpa Kamal Dahal was a science student. He did his graduation with Agriculture as a major subject.

Speaking at the same programme, Minister for Science & Technology Ganesh Sah stressed on the need to do away with what he called “foreign dependence” in the field of science & technology and develop efficient manpower to work in the area in the country itself.

Vice-chancellor of National Academy of Science & Technology (NAST) Hom Nath Bhattarai, scientist Dinesh Raj Bhoju and lawmaker Bishwanath Prasad Agrawal also put forth their views in the program

NAST is organising the three day even participated by over 1200 Nepalese and foreign scientists and technicians.

Meanwhile, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav issued a congratulatory message on the occasion, and said that for Nepal which is facing challenges like many other developing countries, scientific knowledge would be important for meeting its development goals. nepalnews.com sd/ag Nov 10 08