Modi's visit takes Nepal-India ties to new heights: Oli
Kathmandu, May 13: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Nepal was highly successful and has taken bilateral ties to new heights, Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said on Sunday.
Oli made the remarks in Parliament while informing members about Modi's visit.
An environment was created to take forward Nepal-India relations based on mutual benefit, Oli said, while claiming that national interests were kept in mind while dealing with India and no compromise will be made.
"Once we had stressful relations with India, but that stage is now over," the Prime Minister said. "We have mended fences... There will be no more blockade from the Indian side in future."
On Saturday, Modi had tweeted: "My Nepal visit was historic. It gave me a great opportunity to connect with the wonderful people of Nepal."
Modi's latest visit was the third to Kathmandu in four years, coming in the backdrop of a six-month blockade on Nepal-India border as well as a Left victory in Nepal's elections.
The "stressed situation" that led to the blockade three years ago and hurt bilateral relations have now turned harmonious, Oli said.
Echoing Modi's statement that India respected the sovereignty and integrity of Nepal, Oli said that bilateral relations should be based on equality and India's support will be received as per Nepal's needs.
Oli told lawmakers that discussions and agreements inked will benefit both countries.
Oli said that projects on which both countries will cooperate were related to road and railways, waterways, integrated security checkposts, transmission lines and petroleum pipelines.
"The Prime Minister of India and I have agreed ... to address in a time-bound manner the outstanding issues between our two countries. This will further strengthen Nepal-India relations," Oli tweeted in English, a translation of his tweet in Gujarati.
Oli and Modi have agreed to resolve all outstanding issues by September 19, the day marking the promulgation of the new Constitution in Nepal.
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Karnataka caste census report likely to be placed before cabinet on Jan 16
Bengaluru (PTI): With the Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, popularly known as the 'caste census,' likely to be placed before the state cabinet on January 16, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara stressed that its contents should be made public.
He said, any decision based on the report is the prerogative of the government and it will be taken after analysing it.
Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes under its then Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde had submitted the report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on February 29 last year, amid objections raised by certain sections of society and voices against it from within ruling Congress.
"It was decided the sealed cover (of report) will be opened before the cabinet, otherwise it may lead to leakage of information....whether there will be a discussion on it or not, I cannot speak about it now, once opened at least abstract information will be known to us," Parameshwara told reporters here replying to a question.
To a question on the opposition from certain dominant sections to the report and implementation of its recommendations, he said, the government has got the report after spending Rs 160 crore tax payers money, it should at least be made public, taking action based on it is secondary.
"Taking action based on it is left to the discretion of the government, the government will ultimately decide. But at least the information from the report that was prepared by spending Rs 160 crore, should come out. So there is a demand that what is there in the report be made public," he added.
What is happening now is bringing out the information from the report, the Home Minister said.
Karnataka's two dominant communities -- Vokkaliags and Lingayats -- have expressed reservations about the survey done, calling it "unscientific", and have demanded that it be rejected and a fresh survey be conducted.
The commission headed by Jayaprakash Hegde had said that the report was prepared based on data collected by 1.6 lakh officials, including 1.33 lakh teachers under the leadership of respective Deputy Commissioners of the districts across the state.
The then Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018) had in 2015 commissioned the survey in the state.
The state Backward Classes Commission under its then chairperson Kantharaju was tasked with preparing a caste census report. The survey work was completed in 2018, towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as Chief Minister. The findings of the survey in the form of a report never came out in public thereafter.
With strong disapproval from the two politically influential communities the survey report may turn out to be a political hot potato for the government, as it may set the stage for a confrontation, with Dalits and OBCs among others demanding for it to be made public.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, and a Vokkaliga, was a signatory, along with a couple of other ministers, to a memorandum submitted by the community to the chief minister earlier, requesting that the report and the data be rejected.
All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, which has also expressed its disapproval vis-a-vis the survey and demanded conduct of a fresh survey, is headed by veteran Congress leader and MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa. Several Lingayat ministers and MLAs too have raised objections.
According to some reports, findings of the survey are allegedly contrary to the "traditional perception" with regard to the numerical strength of various castes in Karnataka, especially Lingayats and Vokkaligas, making it a politically sticky issue.
