Three parties meet

Kathmandu, 6 July: Maoists, Nepali Congress, Maoists and UML leaders met for the second time Tuesday to draw up a schedule to draft a constitution o institutionalize a republic within the remaining 11 months.
They first agrees to finalize a schedule after the 28 May tripartite agreement to extend the two-year elected mandate by another one year until 28 May 2011.
No progress of drafting a constitution has been made 39 days after the 28 May tripartite agreement between three major parties.
The three parties are also discussing forming a state reconstruction commission already agreed in principle.
A scheduled meeting Monday was postponed after the death of the oldest Congress leader Bal Babahdur Rai.
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Two blasts in terai

Kathmandu, 6 July: Two blasts rocked the terai injuring two in Saptari Monday.
Five persons, including Khagari Devi Mahato and Indrajit Majato, 18, were injured in bomb blast at the GOlthi VDC office in Saptari.
Nobody was injured when a terai rebel group bombed the Inarawua municipality building in Sunsari Monday evening.
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Managing editor Jashuda Pradhan dead

Kathmandu, 6 July: Jashuda Pradhan, managing editor of People’s Review, died Monday night of a heart attack.
She was 50.
She left behind her husband, son and daughter.
Your blogger, associated with the weekly newspaper for several years as its editor, condoles her untimely death.
She died of a heart attack at a hospital where she was rushed when she suddenly fell sick.
Pradhan was born in Ilam and had settled down in the capital.
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Dog killed in capital bomb blast

Kathmandu, 6 July: There was a bomb blast Monday night in front of New Road in the capital, Nepal Samacharpatra reports.
A dog was killed in the blast; the bomb was hidden in a container in front of gudpak bhandar.
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Parties issue whip to boycott Dalai Lama birthday celebrations

Kathmandu, 6 July: Major parties have issued whips to lawmakers not to attend birthday celebrations of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, Annapurna Post reports.
The whips were issued Monday following a circular from parliament secretariat.
The whips were issued by Maoist Chief Whip Post Bahadur Bogati, Congress Chief Whip Laxman Ghimere and UML Chief Whip Bhim Acharya.
Foreign ministry Sunday wrote a letter to the secretariat; parties’ leaders and lawmakers have been asked not to attend birthday celebration functions.
Lawmakers were invited to celebrations Tuesday at the Tibetan refugee camp in Jawalakhel.
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Indian rebel leader handed over to New Delhi after arrest

Kathmandu, 6 July: Nepal Police recently arrested a leader of an Indian ‘terrorist’ outfit and handed him over to the Indian police, sources said, according to Republica.
But Nepal Police denied any such arrest.
Police had apprehended Niranjan Hajoi, a leader of Dima Halim Daogah 9DHD) which is active in some parts of Assam state in India, upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport from Singapore on Friday evening.
Hajoi was taken back to India by the Indian officials after a special task force of Nepal Police handed him over to the Indian officials immediately after his arrest, the sources said.
According to media reports from Assam, Indian prosecutors presented Hajoi at the Guwahiti Special Court on Monday while the DHD supporters called a general strike in the state headquarters demanding this release.
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Special budget passage only on 12 July

Kathmandu, 6 July: The fixed businesses of parliament have been rescheduled because of the preparations for the expanded meeting of the central committee of UCPN (Maoist), Nagarik reports.
Following Maoist request, the programme to approve the special budget 9 July has been rescheduled by three days.
Chief Whip Post Bahadur Bogati said a request was made because of the party’s programme.
‘In discussions with us, we’re told the bill [special budget] would be approved only on 14 July. That’s why we fixed our party programme,” Bogati told Nagarik.
The economic survey report will now be presented in parliament 11 July and the special budget will be approved 12 July.
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TRADE, COMMERCE, ECONOMY

Banks record profit despite economic turmoil

Kathmandu, 6 July: Commercial banks are expected to see a rise in their profit this year despite an acute liquidity crunch seen in the second half of the fiscal year, The Kathmandu Post reports.
Nepal Rashatra Bank (NRB) concluded on the basis of statistics collected as of June that bank profits would exceed Rs 15 billion. They raked in Rs 14.14 billion during the last fiscal year 2008/09.
A senior central bank official said that banks would be witnessing a rise in total profits as a result of their massive lending during the first half of the current fiscal year. There are 27banks in the country.
The banks issued loans amounting to Rs 70 billion from mid-July 2009 to mid-January 2010. They could keep their profits up as they also increased the interest rate. Their profits as on mid-April 2010 amounted to Rs 10.31 billion. During the third quarter of the fiscal year, profits had gone up by Rs 3 billion.
“As the banks could recover more loans in the fourth quarter and the interest rare also went up, they are likely to make a profit of Rs 5 billion in the fourth quarter,” said the NRB source.
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Zero garment export to USA

Kathmandu, 6 July: Nepali garment export is literally on deathbed, The Himalayan Times reports.
In June, no garments were exported to the US- one of the largest markets of Nepal.
Lack of proper export facilitation, regular labour unrest and political instability has brought Nepali Readymade Garment industry to such a pass that the total garment export to US in June was nil, reveals the Garment Association Nepal.
‘Nepal garment industry, with a history of more than a decade, is on the verge of extinction,” said Uday Raj Pandey, first vice-president of GAN.
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