14 killed, 24 injured in bus plunge

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: Fourteen passengers were killed and 24 were injured when a bus fell into Mahesh khola on the Prithvi highway near Dhading Friday morning.
Two Indians were among the killed; injured are being treated in the capital.
The bus was heading for the capital from Birgunj when it fell into the river at 5.30 in the morning.
Army has pulled the bus out of the rivulet.
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PM Prachanda flies for New York Saturday

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda flies for New York
Saturday to lead the Nepalese delegation to the annual UN general assembly session.
He leads a 12-member team that includes Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav.
The visit will be his third foreign trip of the prime minister who first visited China and then India.
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President to receive credentials from foreign ambassadors

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: For the first time, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav will receive credentials from ambassador designates of German and Norwegian ambassadors at Shital Niwas.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, officiating as head of state as well, received such credentials at Singha Durbar soon after political changes in April 2006.
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PM Prachanda calls for break in continuity in Indo-Nepal ties

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda Thursday called for a break in continuity in bilateral Indo-Nepal ties with the establishment of a republic in Nepal.
“To establish a republic in Nepal is not continuity. It’s a break in continuity. Continuity now should be broken in Nepal-India ties,” Prachanda told reporters after returning home Thursday from an official India visit.
“There were two possibilities before the visit before the visit. There was a possibility of a new chapter being added to Nepal, India relations; dangers could have ensued if the result was negative.”
Prachanda said the visit was successful.
An angry prime minister said he visited India as a head of government and not a party.
“My party may have its own principles over many issues. But I am representing the state,” he told reporters emphasizing differences in party and government perceptions.
“I didn’t go to India to establish Maoists,” the angry government chief told reporters who asked him if CPN (Maoist) had abandoned its claim India was expansionist. “There are examples of Mao’s China and Soviet Union during the Stalin era having good ties with capitalist nations.”
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Confusing statements on entry on Indian troops in Sunsari

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: Home Ministry Spokesman Modh Raj Dotel said Indian soldiers and heir vehicles were taken under control by local administration in Sunsari because of lack of communication.
“The work was stopped because of information which didn’t reach the local level in time. They [ Indian soldiers] are technicians in uniform without weapons,” Kantipur reports Friday quoting Dotel.
Earlier reports said a team of 24 soldiers led by a colonel started work on flooded Kosi this week without Nepal government permission.
CPN-UML said its serious attention has been drawn to the entry of Indian troops in uniform Monday.
The ruling party asked the government to furnish information while asking the government to stop ‘unauthorized entry while being alert.
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Monsoon ends 23 Sept.

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: The monsoon ends this year 23 September, according to Rajendra Prasad Shrestha, senior meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) in The Kathmandu Post.
“.. this year’s monsoon was drier with less rainfall in various parts of the country,” Shrestha said.
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Controversial land reforms minister levels charge against home minister

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: Controversial Land Reforms Maoist Minister Matrika Prasad Yadav charged Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bamdeb Gautam from CPN-UML was interfering in his domain.
“The home minister interfered in my work without prior information,” Yadav said Thursday. “My action is hundred percent justified.”
Yadav justified reinstatement of what he called landless people in Siraha this week after they were evicted by police on orders of the home minister.
Yadav’s action has created a controversy and main opposition Nepali Congress leaders said they will gherao the rostrum after budget presentation Friday.
Gautam evicted persons from land belonging to a former Maoist who joined the MJF in Saptari.
“The Forum is a party of feudal landlords,” Yadav charged.
Forum has been holding transport strike in the district demanding the return of land seized by Maoists forcing the local administration to open the movement of vehicles by declaring a curfew.
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Congress deputes teams for integration

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: Nepali Congress Thursdays deputed teams to all districts to unity units from region to villages, Bimarsha reports.
Two central leaders have been sent to each district.
During reunification, only central and district working committees were unified.
Senior party leaders were reluctant to go to remote districts where junior workers have been sent, Nepal Samacharpatra reports.
Gobinda Raj Joshi has been deputed to Lalitpur, Bal Bahadur KC to Jhapa, Chitralekha Yadav to Ilam, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and Krishna Prasad Shitaula to Morang; these districts are easily accessible.
Mahesh Acharya has been sent to Bhaktapur.
Central leaders haven’t been deputed to hill districts in the east, mid-West, Karnali or other remote districts.
This demonstrates the lust for convenience in Nepali Congress.
The teams have been told to reach districts in the next two weeks to activate the party.
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50,000 Bhutanese refugees apply to resettlement in third countries

Birthamod, 18 Sept: More than 50,000 Bhutanese refugees have applied for resettlement in third countries, including the United States, Lila Baral reports in Kantipur.
This is about half the number of refugees in camps in Jhapa and Morang, according UNHCR Information Officer Bimal Khatri.
There are approximately 106,000 refugees in the camps.
Altogether 4,211 refugees have already been resettled so far.
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Demand for release of Muslims arrested for cow slaughter

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: Muslim Liberation Front has demanded the release of 13 Nepali Muslims arrested for killing a cow to be laid on the table in Nepalgunj, Janadisha reports.
Central Chairman Husain Fharuki made the demand in a statement saying the arrests had drawn the Front’s grave concern.
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Land reforms minister Matrika Prasad Yadav resigns (BREAKING NEWS)

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: Controversial Maoist Land Reforms Minister Matrika Prasad Yadav resigned to the prime minister Friday.
Yadav armed with Maoists
“UML and MJF are anti-people parties. They demolished houses of people. CPN-UML has appointed an Indian citizen minister,” he charged in an interview over Radio Nepal..
“ I cannot continue. Allegations are true,” Yadav said. “I had no pressure from the party.”
He added: “I resigned voluntarily without pressure. My actions are justified. What I did is correct.”
Yadav resettled people on land from where police on orders of home minister Bamdeb Gautam this week evicted land-grabbers.
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Shaym Sundar Gupta expelled

Kathmandu, 19 Sept: Shyam Sundar Gupta has been expelled from the NSP(D).
The former minister was expelled by a party meeting chaired by Ananda Debi in Jankapur Thursday.
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