AT the seminar the positive relationship of social liberation with  higher Gross Domestic Product resulting in lower corruption in the public and private sectors while opening up markets for the region was highlighted. India seems to be at the forefront of the economic liberalization in the SAARC region with many Free Trade Agreements being signed bilaterally with fellow SAARC countries. Mr.Sayeed also said that the 1.7 percent in world trade from the region had a lot more potential to grow, specially since  SAARC is home to more than one fifth of the world population. The current levels of inter-regional trade stood at mere 6 percent while intra-regional trade in, EU 58 percent, NAFTA was 62 percent and ASEAN 26 percent.

H.E. Sharat Sambharwal, the High Commissioner of India to Pakistan was the guest of honor, he said that it was India’s and specially Dr.Manmohan Singh’s vison to see South East Asia being transformed to a knowledge-biased economy. This could be achived only by rapidly increasing the pace and scope of the current inter-economic activity within SAARC.

After 1800, the heirs of Prithvi Narayan Shah proved unable to maintain firm political control over Nepal. A period of internal turmoil followed, heightened by Nepal’s defeat by the British in a war from 1814 to 1816. Stability was restored after 1846 when the Rana family gained power, entrenched itself through hereditary prime ministers, and reduced the monarch to a figurehead. The Rana regime, a highly centralized autocracy, pursued a policy of isolating Nepal from external influences. This policy helped Nepal maintain its national independence during the colonial era, but also impeded the country’s economic development.

In 1950, King Tribhuvan, a direct descendant of Prithvi Narayan Shah, fled his “palace prison” to newly independent India, touching off an armed revolt against the Rana administration. This allowed the return of the Shah family to power and, eventually, the appointment of a non-Rana prime minister. A period of quasi-constitutional rule followed, during which the monarch, assisted by the leaders of fledgling political parties, governed the country. During the 1950s, efforts were made to frame a constitution for Nepal that would establish a representative form of government, based on the British model. In 1990, the political parties again pressed the King and the government for change. An interim government was sworn in on April 19, 1990, headed by Krishna Prasad Bhattarai as Prime Minister presiding over a cabinet made up of members of the Nepali Congress Party, the communist parties of Nepal, royal appointees, and independents. The new government drafted and promulgated a new constitution in November 1990, which enshrined fundamental human rights and established Nepal as a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch. Following the May 1999 general elections, the Nepali Congress Party once again headed a majority government after winning 113 out of 205 seats. But the pattern of short-lived governments persisted. On June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra reportedly shot and killed his father King Birendra, his mother Queen Aishwarya, his brother, his sister, his father’s younger brother Prince Dhirendra, and several aunts before turning the gun on himself. After his death two days later, the late King’s surviving brother Gyanendra was proclaimed King.

Citing a steady deterioration of conditions in the country, King Gyanendra dismissed the Cabinet and constituted a Council of Ministers under his own chairmanship on February 1, 2005. He stated that the Council of Ministers (i.e., Cabinet) would try to reactivate multi-party democracy within three years. The King subsequently declared a state of emergency and suspended almost all fundamental rights for nearly three months. His new government was sworn in on February 2, 2005. The Council of Ministers under the King’s chairmanship was reshuffled twice during the King’s 15 months of direct rule.

Geographic coordinates: 23°42′N, 90°21′E

Land area: 51,703 sq mi (133,911 sq km)

Total area: 55,598 sq mi (144,000 sq km)

Population: 150,448,339 (2007)

Government: Parliamentary Republic

President: lajuddin Ahmed (2002)

Prime Minister: vacant

Head of Interim Government: Fakhruddin Ahmed (2007)

Languages: Bengali (Bangla) (official) English

Capital and the largest city: Dhaka

Other large cities: Chittagong, Khulna

Religion: Islam 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)

Currency: Taka (BDT)

Race: Bengali 98%, tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims (1998)

Literacy rate: 43% (2003 est.)

Independence Day: 26^th March (1971)

Victory Day: 16^th December (1971)

Time zone: BDT (UTC+6)

Country calling code: +880

Internet TLD: .bd

The refugee issue also dominates relations with Bhutan’s other neighbor, Nepal. Bhutanese refugees are housed in camps in the east of the country. Most are ethnic Nepalese whose citizenship is in dispute. The Nepali government wants them to go back to Bhutan but they are not wanted by the Bhutanese too.

Bhutan’s indigenous population is the Drukpa. The Sharchops, Ngalops and the Lhotsampas are the three main ethnic groups. Bhutan’s earliest residents, the Sharchops reside predominantly in eastern Bhutan. The Ngalops migrated from the Tibetan plains and are the importers of Buddhism to the kingdom.

Pic:

Christopher J. Fynn

India is the largest democracy in the world. For most of its democratic history, the federal government has been led by the Indian National Congress (INC). State politics have been dominated by several national parties including the INC, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), and various regional parties.

The Maldives holds the record for being the flattest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 2.3 m (7½ ft), though in areas where construction exists this has been increased to several metres. Over the last century, sea levels have risen about twenty centimetres (8 in). The ocean is likely to continue rising and this threatens the existence of Maldives.

Modern Nepal was created in the latter half of the 18th century when Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of the small principality of Gorkha, formed a unified country from a number of independent hill states. The country was frequently called the Gorkha Kingdom, the source of the term “Gurkha” used for Nepali soldiers.

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Pakistan is a rapidly growing population. Pakistan has a mixture of many ethnic groups ranging from Pathans, Baluchis, Punjabis and Sindhis. 97% of the country is and Urdu is the official language, but Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Baluchi, and Brahui are also spoken. English is common among the upper classes and also in the government.