ICRC recommendation to Nepal govt.
Kathmandu, 25 Dec: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has recommended to theGovernment of Nepal to amend where necessary the draft "Bill on enforceddisappearance of persons" to bring it in closer compliance so that thefamilies of those who disappeared in the conflict can apply to the MissingPersons Commission and have their needs addressed, a ICRC announcement said.
The proposed commission is yet to be formed.During the 10-year conflict in Nepal between 1996 and 2006 thousands havebeen killed and over one thousand families still have no information on thefate or whereabouts of their loved ones.nnnn

Army no to govt. directive to stop recruitment

Kathmandu, 25 Dec: The Nepal Army Wednesday rejected the Ministry of Defence’s instruction that it stop recruitment additional soldiers, confirming perception about mounting tensions between the two state organs, Prakah Rimal reports in The Himalayan Times.
According to Defence Ministry sources, Chief of Army Staff Rokmandgud Katawal have told the Defence Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal that the army would go ahead with the fresh intake to fill the vacant posts and that the recruitment cannot be stopped at this stage. “A written reply will be sent to the ministry on Friday,” another source said.
Th army is on a nationwide campaign to recruit some 2,600 personnel at lower ranks, ‘mostly non-combatants’, a source said.
UNMIN Special Representative Ian Martin Tuesday wrote to the Ministry of Defence Tuesday wrote to the Ministry of Defence saying recruitment by Nepal Army or PLA would be a breach of the ceasefire code of conduct, the comprehensive peace agreement and the agreement on monitoring of the management of arms and armies.
“If the government wanted to stop the recruitment, it should have done so before the applications were invited on November 2 and 3. The army cannot go back in its decision, which is well within the guidelines of the recruitment process,” the source said.
“It is a regular process. The Minister should take back his decision by allowing the recruitment process to continue.”
Army sources said the recruitment campaign had been started to make NA inclusive, as per the interim constitution. The army sources said the recruitment followed the PSC guidelines in keeping with the constitution.

[Note: A Maoist commander said Maoists will also start recruitment even though their combatants are in camps watched by UNMIN.]
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Govt okays thermal plant

Kathmandu, 25 Dec: The cabinet meeting Wednesday decided to bear a yearly loss of more than Rs 5 billion and go for installation of a 200-MW thermal plant, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The plant will generate power for eight hours a day for 240 days year.
The meeting endorsed ‘National Energy Crisis Reconciliation Working Plan 2065’ which comprises short-term, mid-term and long-term programmes to deal with the energy crisis.
According to the cabinet decision, either Nepal Electricity Authority to the private sector can install the plant. The government will provide a grant of Rs 9.6 billion to the party that decides to install the thermal plant.
[Note: Prime Minister Prachanda said load-shedding will be increased to 18 hour5s everyday from March/ April while declaring a power emergency for the first time in Nepal. Critics say load-shedding isn’t a solution and other measures should be adopted charging a thermal mafia is behind efforts to push the thermal idea.]
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CA member Bishwanath Prasad Agrawal expelled from

Kathmandu, 25 Dec: Bishwanath Prasad Agrawal has been expelled from ordinary membership of Nepali Janata Dal and the CA for anti-party activities Wednesday.
The decision has been conveyed to the CA officially.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“There’s no possibility of the present government collapsing; it will continue until the new constitution is drafted and the completion of the peace process.”

(PM Prachanda, Gorkhapatra, 25 Dec.)

“The foreign minister is now being called an international beggar. My work is to extend a begging hand wherever I go.”

(Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav, Jandisha, 25 Dec.)