Nominations for PM election to be filed Tuesday; other details

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 20 July: Nominations will be filed for seven hours from 10 in the morning to five in the afternoon Tuesday for Wednesday’s election of prime minister through majority in the 599-member parliament.
No party has a majority in the legislature where Maoists are the largest political party.
Nepali Congress, the second largest party, is fielding the candidature of Vice-chairman and parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel.
Maoists and UML are contesting but haven’t decided on their candidates yet.
Maoist politburo will take a final decision Tuesday while UML central committee has been empowered by the standing to take a decision Tuesday as well.
Maoist Vice-chairman Narayan Kazi Shrestha said Monday the party decided to back UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal—a claim immediately denied by another Vic-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai.
“The politburo meeting will take a final decision Tuesday on whether to field a candidate or support Khanal.
Chairman Prachanda and Bhattarai, both aspirants for prime minister, held a crucial meeting ahead of the politburo meeting.
Khanal’s candidacy is opposed by a sizeable section in the UML leading the present caretaker government.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Sharma Oli oppose a Maoists government led by Khanal and instead back a coalition led by Nepali Congress.
The two top UML leaders oppose a communist coalition; Maoists and UML can form a majority government
A front of four Madesh parties Tuesday began discussions in whether to support a democratic or communist from amid opposition of the MJFL headed by Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar opposing a communist-led government.
A clear frontrunner to succeed caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal hasn’t yet appeared.
Maoists forced the ouster of Nepal after 14 months in office even though his government enjoyed a majority.
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Another shooting death in Siraha

Kathmandu, 20 July: Kalim Khan was shot and killed by an unidentified group Monday at Kalyanpur in Siraha.
Khan died en route to hospital
Siraha is one of the most violent districts in the terai where an insurgency is raging.
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Rains create havoc in Kanchanpur

Kathmandu, 20 July: Incessant rains for two displaced 300 falilies inundating l300 houses in three villages in Kanchanpur in the far-West, reports from the district said.
The displaced have been provided shelter in schools.
Landslides triggered by monsoon killed two persons in Gulmi and Rolpa this week.
Movement of vehicles has come to a halt on the Surkhet/Jumla highway.
Rising rivers have inundated farmland and entered settlements in the east and central terai districts.
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Bankrupt NOC announces huge dividend

Kathmandu, 20 July: Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) the insolvent state-owned petroleum supply monopoly that still relies on loans and price hike to finance import has decided to disburse Rs 198.8 million as bonus to its staff for fiscal year 2008.09, Republica reports
The amount is equal to the cumulative staff salaries and perks for over 17 months. NOC has not yet distributed the bonus though.
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• LETTERS Maoist military chief clears Kham
KATHMANDU, July 20: -
Maoist PLA Commander Nanda Kishor Pun said on Monday that PLA Fifth Division Commander and UCPN (Maoist) Central Committee member Kali Bahadur Kham ‘Bibidh’, whom the police have accused of robbery and running an illegal trade in Himalayan Viagra, yarchagumba, is “innocent”, The Kathmandu Post reports
He said Kham is working according to the usual position in the party and is in constant touch with the party.

Talking to journalists at his residence in Kapan, the PLA commander said the party’s preliminary probe has found Bibidh innocent of the charges and that the police allegation was fabricated and meant to tarnish his image. “There were no bullets or stamps or fake documents in Bididh’s room. It seems it was a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of PLA. Bibidh is doing his duty in the party as usual,” said Pun.

Maoist Spokesman Dinanath Sharma had claimed on July 13 that Bibidh was “not not in touch with the party since a long time” after the police investigation held Bibidh guilty of the crimes.

Pun further said that fake documents and stamps seized by police from Bibidh’s apartment were placed there deliberately to defame him and the party. The Maoist party, according to Pun, has been carrying out an in-depth study of the case and will assist the police in the investigation. “The party is always ready to assist the police,” he said.

Pun also said the party has already given a clean chit to Bibidh over his alleged involvement in the murder of Koteshwor-based businessman Ram Hari Shrestha. He informed that the party had suspended Kham on suspicion of his involvement in the murder for sixth months and allowed him back as a PLA commander and CC member.

OHCHR Nepal and other rights defenders have long been urging the Maoist leadership to hand over Kham.

Last July, OHCHR Nepal had formally requested the Maoist leadership “to direct Kham to surrender himself to the police”. An arrest warrant issued by the Chitwan District Court against Kham for the murder of Shrestha in 2008 is still in force.

About the suspicious deaths of two Maoist combatants of the Krishna Sen Memorial Brigade in Saina Maina of Rupandhi district on July 15, Pun said they are investigating the case. “We have handed over two PLA members to the police for their suspicious role in the murder and police are investigating,” said Pun. Chandra Bahadur Bohora and Bishnu Neupane were found dead in the Charpala Community Forest. Locals who had gone to collect firewood in the jungle had seen the bodies and informed the Maoist cantonment.
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Record foreign aid commitment

Kathmandu, 20 July: At a time when the government’s absorption capacity is under doubt, the country received Rs 92,288.48 million foreign aid commitment — including loan and grants from bilateral and multilateral agencies — in the fiscal year 2009-10, whereas it was Rs 47,975.23 million a fiscal year ago, according to the Foreign Aid Department at the Finance Ministry (MoF). “Though, it can not be compared, the foreign aid commitment is huge,” said Lal Shanker Ghimire, chief of Foreign Aid Department at the Finance Ministry.

However, the experts are seriously concerned over Nepal’s capacity to utilise the aid. “Nepal has been unable to utilise foreign aid in the past few years,” said former member of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr Posh Raj Pandey.

Out of the total commitment, Rs 25,823.24 is loan from multilateral agencies — World Bank (Rs 13,492.33 million) and ADB (Rs 12,330.91 million), whereas the remaining Rs 66,465.24 million is grant. “Nepal needs to develop absorbing capacity for the maximum utilisation of the aid,” he added.

“For the maximum utilisation, foreign aid has to be utilised on the projects Nepal owns,” he said adding that this commitment could help government plan resources for the new fiscal year.

However, the foreign aid commitment in the fiscal year 2008-09 has registered a dismal growth of 2.5 per cent compared with 32.9 per cent in its immediate preceding year.

In monetary term, committed foreign aid was limited to Rs 47,975.3 million in 2008-09 from Rs 49,186.2 million in 2007-08. “Of the total foreign aid commitment for 2008-09, bilateral assistance constituted Rs 27,196.5 million, whereas the multilateral assistance totalled to Rs 20,778.8 million,” according to the MoF.

Similarly, bilateral assistance constitutes Rs 36,001.41 million, whereas multilateral assistance constitutes Rs 56,287.07 million in the fiscal year 2009-10.

While classifying the foreign aid into grant and loan components for the year, grants amounted to Rs 43,095.7 million and loans to Rs 4,879.5 million in 2008-09.

Foreign grants have increased by 4.9 per cent whereas loans have decreased by 39.9 per cent compared with a fiscal year ago. Foreign loan has been playing vital role in the Nepali economy.

The net outstanding foreign loan totalled Rs 249,965.4 million in the fiscal year 2007-08, which further increased by 10.8 per cent reaching Rs 277,040.4 million in 2008-09.

The budget for the fiscal year 2009-10 has targeted Rs 78.51 billion in foreign assistance — including grant and loan. It is 27.45 per cent of the total budget of Rs 285.93 billion for 2009-10.
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British Gurkha soldier decapitates Taliban head

Kathmandu, 20 July: A Gurkha soldier in the British Army has been removed from duty in Afghanistan after he beheaded a dead Taliban commander with his ceremonial khukri knife, Dan Newling reports in www.dailymail.co.uk.
The Nepali private decapitated he dead man with the intention of returning to base with the head so the Taliban fighter could be identified by senior officers as a ‘high value target’.
The soldier’s 1st Battalion, Royal Guards unit had intended to remove the target’s entire body from the battle-ground, near Bahaji in central Helmand. But the soldiers came under heavy machine gunfire while trying to do so-prompting the soldier to take his extreme action.
Desecrating a dead man’s body is considered offensive in Afghanistan, where local custom dictates that the entire body is buried, even if body parts have to be retrieved to do so.
It was announced Sunday that the Girkha private, who is believed to be in his twenties has been suspended from duty and flown back to the UK. He is understood to be confined to barracks in Shorncliffe Garrison near Folkstone in Kent.
The incident comes during a period of especially high tension for the Gurkhas fighting in Afghanistan. Just last week a rogue Afghan soldier turned on his supposed comrades to murder three British troops from the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles.
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