Kathmandu, Feb 4: The Nepal Government and the Republic of Finland on Tuesday signed a bilateral agreement for the protection and promotion of investment as well as promotion of mutual economic cooperation.

The agreement will stimulate investment in respective countries. As per the agreement, investment shall not be confiscated or nationalised.

The prime tenets of the agreement are to allow, encourage and promote investment and to ensure returns on investments in an equitable manner.

Kantipur quoted Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal as saying that the agreement recognises the need to protect investment of investors with full security.

Kathmandu, Feb. 3 : Calling the situation a crisis for children, UNICEF today said that an increasing number of children, some just months old, had been injured in the fighting in Sri Lanka in the past two weeks. UNICEF again called upon the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to give absolute priority to the safety of children and the wider civilian population.

Kathmandu, Feb 3 : Nepal Finance Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has urged donor agencies to extend support to materialise the government''s efforts in economical restructuring of the country.

During the meeting of the representatives of various donor agencies here on Monday, Dr. Bhattarai stressed the need to work in carefully for resolving the problems of the country.

Representatives of donor agencies said that the government should ensure proper utilization of resources in order to receive expected foreign aid.

Kathmandu, Feb 3 : Former United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) chief Ian Martin has asked the political parties not to make the recruitments in Nepal Army a matter of contention.

Speaking at the Reporters'' Club here on Monday, Martin said the parties and the government must abide by the peace agreement and resolve their differences through dialogue.

"Nepal's peace process has many challenges ahead and they would augment further if parties fail to settle them amicably," he added.

Kathmandu, Feb 3  Nepal President Dr Ram Baran Yadav today met several experts on promulgation of ordinances.

Dr. Yadav, who has the right of putting an official stamp on the ordinances, met the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) Chairman Bishwakant Mainali, senior advocates Sindhunath Pyakurel, Purna Man Shakya, Shambhu Thapa and Badri Bahadur Karki at his office in Shital Niwas.

Dr. Yadav has intensified consultations in order to settle the ordinance row in an uncontroversial manner.

Kathmandu, Feb 2 : The CPN (Maoist) and the CPN (UML) today agreed to introduce ordinances in a transparent manner based on consensus with other political parties.

At the meeting held in Prime Minister Prachanda ''s residence in Baluwatar this morning it was agreed that the three ordinances in the pipeline would be discussed with other parties to ensure their effective implementation.