Last rites of Bal Bahadur Rai in Okhaldungha

Kathmandu, 5 July: The body of the oldest Nepali Congress leader Bal Bahadur Rai was flown by helicopter Monday morning to his home district Okhaldungha for his last rites according to Kirati custom.
Rai, 90, died late Sunday afternoon at TU Teaching Hospital after prolonged illness.
His body was placed for public viewing at the party office in Sanepa for two hours before being flown to Okhaldungha.
He left behind two sons and two daughters.
Rai was deputy prime minister for a record 19 times during
when Girija Prasad Koirala and Sher Bahadur Deuba led Nepali Congress governments.
Rai backed Girija Prasad Koirala when the party split in a tussle between Koirala and Deuba,
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Budget session starts Monday

Kathmandu, 5 July: The delayed budget session begins at the Birendra International Convention in Baneshwor at three in the afternoon Monday.
President Dr Ram Baran Yadav convened the session on the recommendation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal who’s now just a head of a caretaker government after resigning last Wednesday to make way for a national unity government.
But the political gridlock continues even after the resignation.
The fiscal year 2010/11 begins 17 July; the new budget has to be presented by the successor government of Nepal.
Main opposition Maoists and ruling parties Nepali Congress (NA) and UML have agreed to bring a special financial budget not to bring the government to a halt without the passage of the annual budget 2010/10/11.
The Nepal government, under the special financial budget, will be empowered to collect taxes without raising and spend one-third money allocated in the present budget.
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Two killed in Dhanusha

Kathmandu, 5 July: Two persons were killed in troubled Dhanusha Saturday and Sunday in encounters with police.
Madan Yadav of the Youth Force affiliated with UML, leading the government coalition, was killed in a police operation at his home in Matihani.
A pistol and four rounds of ammunition were recovered.
Bambhola Yadav, central member of Ahkil Mukti Morcha, and in-charge of Dhanusha, Mohottari and Sarlahi districts, was killed in a gun battle with police Saturday.

Credentials presented to President Sarkozy

Kathmandu, 5 July: Mohan Krishna Shrestha presented his credentials to French President Sarkozy in Paris Sunday
Career diplomat was chief of protocol before his appointment as ambassador.
Shrestha succeeds former Chief of Royal Nepal Army Gen Prajawal Shumshere Rana who was appointed during the royal regime.
He was recalled after the regime was toppled following a 19-day movement in 2006.
The position was vacant since then.
France didn’t accept the nomination of Maoist women leader Pampha Bhusal and another leader Ram Karki.
Shrestha said Sarkozy was expressed interest in visiting Nepal soon.
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Details of money spent by govt. for Maoist upkeep; hardly any result

Kathmandu, 5 July: Government has spend over Rs 4.5 billion on monthly salary and allowances of Maoist combatants cannoned in different camps following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government and CPN-Maoist, RSS reports.
Currently, the government has been providing Rs 5,000 monthly salary to each of over 19,000 combatants. Similarly, each combatant is getting Rs 60 to Rs 75 daily subsistence allowance depending of the remoteness of the cantonments they are living in.
Accounts officer at the office of the Central Coordinator of the Cantonment Management Committee at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction Bishnu Wagle said Rs 3.13 billion has been released for the monthly allowances while Rs 1.29 billion has been released for subsistence allowances so far.
Rs 92 million were spent on monthly allowances in fiscal year 2006/07, Rs
514 million 2007/08, Rs 1.855 billion in 2008/09 and Rs 938 million in 2008.09.
Similarly, Rs 173 million were spend on subsistence allowances in fiscal year 2006/07, Rs 510 million in 2007/08, Rs 547 million in 2008/09 and Rs 522 million in 2009/10.
Deputy Secretary at the Office Govinda Khanal said a total of R 1.451 billion was released for the allowances till mid-May of he current fiscal year.
[Note: Western countries, mainly EU member states, have been funding the Maoist upkeep through the Peace Fund operated by the government. The rehabilitation and integration which should have been completed six months after the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement has extended into its third year. Maoists are now demanding the creation of an independent security agency with 19,000 combatants.]
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