Caption: His Excellency the President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau with Mr Rudra Kumar Nepal and his family.
1. NEPAL’S NON-RESIDENT AMBASSADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS – His Excellency the President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau today received credentials from Nepal’s new non-resident ambassador to Fiji Mr Rudra Kumar Nepal at Government House.
2. GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE EQUAL BENEFIT FOR LANDOWNERS – Government is committed to ensuring that individual members of landowning units receive an equal and fair share of all income generated from iTaukei land.
3. TWENTY FIVE MORE FOR LEADERSHIP TRAINING IN CHINA – Twenty five senior officers working in Government and statutory institutions leave for the People’s Republic of China tomorrow as part of the second cohort to undertake leadership training.
4. AOG QITO CARNIVAL A SUCCESS – Assemblies of God Church youth from the Central Eastern Division converged over the weekend for their Qito Carnival 2013 at the Suva Grammar School Grounds.
1. NEPAL’S NON-RESIDENT AMBASSADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS
His Excellency the President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau received credentials from Nepal’s new non-resident ambassador to Fiji Mr Rudra Kumar Nepal at Government House today.
Mr Nepal holds a Master of Arts in Economics from Tribhuvan University in Nepal and a Graduate Diploma in Foreign Affairs and Trade from the Australian National University (ANU).
He began his career in foreign affairs at Nepal’s Foreign Affairs ministry in 1983.
Since then, Mr Nepal has worked at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Division in Kolkata India, at the Embassy of Nepal in Tokyo as the First Secretary, at the Washington DC based Embassy of Nepal as Minister-Counsellor and at the Nepalese Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Currently, Mr Nepal is ambassador of Nepal to the Commonwealth of Australia.
Mr Nepal also participated in various bilateral, regional and international meetings and conferences including the United Nations General Assembly sessions, Human Rights Council session, 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit and the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (UNLDC).
In presenting his letters of credential, Mr Nepal said he was honoured to be appointed as Nepal’s ambassador to Fiji and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to further enhance his country’s diplomatic relations with Fiji
Mr Nepal hails from Palpa in Nepal and is married with a son.
Fiji and Nepal established diplomatic ties in June, 1986.
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2. GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE EQUAL BENEFIT FOR LANDOWNERS
Government is committed to ensuring that individual members of landowning units receive an equal and fair share of all income generated from iTaukei land.
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama who is also the chairman of the ITaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) today made this comment during the opening of a Strategic Panning workshop 2014 – 2016 at the Warwick Resort and Spa.
PM Bainimarama said owners of customary land and customary fishing grounds are entitled to receive a fair share of the royalty with respect to any minerals extracted from their customary land and fishing ground.
“All Mataqali members must have equal access and benefit to the proceeds from the Mataqali land leases,” PM Bainimarama said.
“Protection for landowners through protection of ownership and now a requirement to have fair and equitable rent paid to land owners compliments the constitutional protection for the rights and interests of land lessees and tenants. No law must diminish or adversely affect those rights and interests. Lessees and tenants also have the right not to have their leases and tenancies arbitrarily and illegally terminated.”
TLTB general manager, Alipate Qetaki said reforms within TLTB structures would continue to ensure government’s role as guardians of iTaukei land.
“The reforms that began a few years ago will continue and as PM Bainimarama stated, we will continue to ensure our role as guardians of iTaukei land,” he said.
“The Government and landowners expectations are high and this workshop will assist us on how the TLTB can focus better on its core role as the “Trustee” for all iTaukei landowners in Fiji.”
Mr Qetaki said that under the 2013 Constitution, TLTB clearly needs to make a paradigm shift to truly create and enhance opportunities for the landowners and by natural extension to all other Fijians.
He added that the TLTB expects to fully commence the equal distribution of lease money from the beginning of next year.
Currently, 91 per cent of the land in the country is owned by the ITaukei.
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3. TWENTY FIVE MORE FOR LEADERSHIP TRAINING IN CHINA
Twenty five senior officers working in Government and statutory institutions leave for the People’s Republic of China tomorrow as part of the second cohort to undertake leadership training.
Public Service Commission (PSC) permanent secretary, Mr Parmesh Chand and the Political Counsellor from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China Mr Yang Zhaohui today met with these senior officers for a briefing session.
Mr Chand urged the senior officials to take this opportunity to see, learn and acquire the necessary skills that would allow them to return home and make a difference at their respective workplaces.
Mr Zhaohui said the training would be beneficial in theory and practice and urged participants to make full use of this learning opportunity.
The 25 officials will spend three days in Guangzhou, China from November 7 – 9 to attend the 2nd China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum. This forum is hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.
During the forum there will be four seminars held simultaneously and as such the officials will be attending sessions on Trade and Investment, Tourism, Agriculture and Fisheries and Environment.
On November 9th, the officials will leave for the China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong (CELAP) in Shanghai for their leadership training.
Their leadership training will be the same as the first batch of trainees and would include lectures in the morning and site visits in the afternoon.
The officials would return on November 22.
Over a three year period, there will be 300 officials trained in China from within Fiji’s civil service and statutory organizations.
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4. AOG QITO CARNIVAL A SUCCESS
Assemblies of God Church youth from the Central Eastern Division converged over the weekend for their Qito Carnival 2013 at the Suva Grammar School Grounds.
Ministry of Youth and Sports permanent secretary Joseva Sania while officially closing the event thanked AOG church and other similar faith based organisations for their commitment and dedication towards the upbringing of Fiji’s young men and women.
Mr Sania said it was everyone’s collective role as a nation to equip young people with skills to cope with life’s challenges.
Mr Sania challenged the youth to identify their talent and develop and extend it in order to be useful citizens.
Event coordinator, Reverend Semisi Delana said that the Qito Carnival continued to grow every year.
“It is very important to emphasize physical health and wellness when developing the spiritual life of young people,” Rev Delana said.
The “Na Qio” rugby team from Nailili in Rewa scooped the Reverend Pita Cili Shield while the CCC netball team walked away with the netball trophy.
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