9TH ROUND VOTING FOR PM THURSDAY

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Ninth round voting for prime minister to replace caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is being later Thursday.
NC Vice-president is the sole candidate in the race after Maoist Chairman Prachanda withdrew from the contest.
Thursday’s contest will also be inconclusive after Maoists and UML decided not to participate in the vote.
Paudel can’t get the 301 majority to ensure his victory.
Paudel says he won’t withdraw from the contest until constitution drafting and the peace process are ensured with Maoist cooperation.
The decision of UML to stay neutral has embittered relations with its present coalition partner—NC which fears a communist takeover jointly my Maoists and UML.
Eleven parties, including Maoists and UML, Wednesday asked Speaker Subash Nemwang to intervene and exercise special powers to break the deadlock by beginning a new process even by amending parliamentary procedures.
Nemwang says he doesn’t have such power adding the process will continue until Paudel withdrawn from the contest.
Nnnn

SUSHIL KOIRALA RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Newly elected NC President Sushil
Koirala was released Wednesday from hospital where he was undergoing treatment for pneumonia.
He’s been advised a week’s complete bed rest.
Meanwhile, NC is distributing certificates to 64 elected office bearers and central working committee (CWC) members.
The president will nominate 21 office bearers and CNC members to strengthen his grip over the party.
Nnnn

VERDICT ON PRESIDENTIAL ACTION THURSDAY

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: A special bench of the supreme court is scheduled to give its verdict on a controversial action by ceremonial president Dr Ram Baran Yadav to retain sacked Army Chief Gen. Rukmangud Katawal by the Maoist government led by Chairman Prachanda,
The presidential action was challenged in a writ filed 10 months ago.
The apex court has taken a long time to give its verdict.
Essentially, petitioners claim the presidential action was unconstitutional.
nnnn

ARMY CHIEF VISITING UK

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Army Chief Gen. Chatraman Singh Gurung begins a four-day official visit ot the United Kingdom 3 October.
He will lead a four-member delegation.
Nnnn

THREE JAPANSE, ONE NEPALI MISSING OF DHAULAGIRI

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Three Japanese and a Sherpa guide are missing on Dhaulagiri.
They were caught in an avalanche.
Two Japanese were rescued by helicopter to the capital Wednesday and two others are safe.
Osamu Tanabe, Toshio Yamamoto, Daisukr Honda and their guide went missing soon after they began their assault of the peak from base camp.
nnnn

RADHA KRISHNA MAINALI JOINS MAOISTS

Kathmandu, 30 Sept. Radha Krishna Mainali, a top UML leader who joined hands with then King Gyanendra, entered UCPN (Maoist) Wednesday.
He was welcomed into the main opposition by Chairman Prachanda.
Mainali was education minister in the royal government.
Nnnn

DANISH, UNDP HELP FOR NEW VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Danish embassy and UNDP Wednesday gave the election commission a $2.1 million grant to implement a project to develop a new voter registration system with photos and fingerprints of citizens.
Madesh parties have opposed the drive.
The election commission says the voter’s list for the2008 constituent assembly elections can’t be a basis for the proposed new system as five million fraudulent voters were enlisted.
Nnnn

SHIVANI AIR CHIEF ARRESTED

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Manindra Lal Ranjitkar, chief of Shivani Air
was arrested Wednesday in the capital.
He was arrested following complaints from aspiring pilots who were duped Rs 42.7 million.
Shivani Air promised them pilot training.
Nnnn

JANAMORCHA LEADER HELD LFOR ATTEMPTING TO BRIBE POLICE

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Janamorcha Nepal treasurer Krishna Prasad Jarti was arrested Wednesday from the office of SP Ramesh Kharel for attempting to bribe him Rs 25,000 to get some persons enlisted in Nepal Police.
Driver Sunil Kumar Shrestha was also arrested.
nnnn

HOME MINISTER RAWAL RETURNS THURSDAY

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Home Minister Bhim Rawal returns home Thursday from New York where he led the Nepali delegation to the current UN general assembly session.
He deputized Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala couldn’t attend the session because of her preoccupation with the NC general convention.
nnnn

TRADE, COMMERCE, ECONOMY

SAARC TRADE FAIR 15 DEC.

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: The 15t SAARC trade fair is being held at Bhrikito Mandap from 15 to 18 December.
The fair slogan is: Regional Development Through Trade.
Nnnn

OMAN AIR BEGINS OPERATIONS

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Oman Air Wednesday began direct flights to Kathmandu from Muscat becoming the 27th airline to fly into Nepal.
The airline will operate four weekly flights using a Boeing 737-800.
Nnnn

JUNKO TABEI GODWILL AMBASSADOR FOR NTY 2011

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb the 8848 meters high Mount Everest in 1975, has been appointed goodwill ambassador for Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 by government.
She was appointed during the first launch of a campaign in Tokyo 27 September by Nepal embassy and the secretariat of the campaign.
Japanese Everest climbers Yuchiro Miora, Gora Miura and Mikohito Fujomori were also appointed goodwill ambassadors.
Nnnn

CHINA TO EXTEND RAILWAY NETWORK TO NEPAL BORDER

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: China has started the extension of Qinghai-Tibet railway line from Lhasa to the Nepal border, RSS reports from Beijing.
The 253-kmlong railway project that aims to link Tibetan capital of Lhasa to the region’s second largest city, Xigaze, will take about four years to complete, according to Chinese media,
Xigaze, located southwest of Lhasa, lies at the Mount Everest foot and borders Nepal.
China said the extension of the railway is a key project in the country’s long and medium-term railway network expansion and will speed up Tibet’s social and economic development.
A railway project that will link Lhasa to the eastern Tibet city of Niyngchi and another route to Nepal border are currently in the planning phase.
In October last year, Nepal had urged China to extend the Beijing Lhasa railway line till Kathmandu.
Nepal and China share more than 1,400 km of border, The extension of the railway line up to the Nepal-China border will greatly facilitate bilateral trade, tourism and solidify the foundation of bilateral relations.
nnnn

SPORTS

NO EXTENSION FOR ROY LUKE DIAS

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: The tenure of Sri Lankan cricket coach Roy Luke Dias won’t be extended after it ends December.
Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) took the decision Wednesday.
Dias, who came to Nepal in 2001, played a lead role in developing and popularizing cricket in Nepal.
He will coach the Nepali team for the 16th ASIAD in China later this year.
nnnn



MEDIA GOOGLE

“Resignation of the majority government led by UML was not the party’s decision, but a suggestion from foreigners.”

(Bhaktapur communist leader Narayanman Bijukakchaya, The Himalayan Times, 30 Sept.)

“Nepal is not in chaos, its transition may by messy and confusing but they are not anarchic. There is an order within the political change, albeit one that can be mysterious and unappealing to outsiders, the resilience of Nepal’s political process acts against fundamental transformations.”

(Latest International Crisis Group report on Nepal, The Kathmandu Post, 30 Sept.)
nnnn

SC rejects limits imposed by constitution

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: The Supreme Court today [Wednesday] rejected a limitation imposed by the Interim Constitution on it to interpret the constitution with the spirit of Jana Andolan-II in mind, The Himalayan Times reports..

Rejecting the limitation, a division bench of Justices Bala Ram KC and Gauri Dhakal said the apex court cannot be limited within the spirit of the Jana Andolan-II. Rather, it has to exercise its authority within the periphery of internationally accepted judicial standards and norms. “If the limitation remains intact, the judiciary will lose its independence,” the bench stated.

In a bid to bring the judiciary under its control, the parliament had imposed the limitation on SC after the success of Jana Andolan-II. “Verdicts of the court will turn into political decisions if it is to decide disputes without considering the Constitution and law and if it is forced to decide with only consideration of Jana Andolan-II. Such a situation means the judiciary shall lose it independence and impartial and competent character,” the bench observed.

Making the full text of judgment in relation to the recruitment row of army personnel public, the bench said that the apex court cannot be politically biased. The Supreme Court, however said that the judiciary shall take the movement in its judicial notice because the Constitution itself is the outcome of the movement .

“Judges cannot consider the power, authority and influence of any person while deciding a case, but their decisions must be accountable to the constitution and they must keep the oath they have taken in their mind while deciding on disputes,” the bench observed.

Stating that recruitment of Nepali Army personnel is a matter of the Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee (JMCC) as per the agreement on Monitoring of the Management of Arms and Armies, the bench said that it does not hold jurisdiction on such non-judicial matters.

The writ petition

challenging recruitment

in Nepali Army filed by

INHURED international was quashed, stating that the issue of recruitment in the army was not a judicial job. The bench said that the both signatory parties — the government and Maoists — have to seek

solution from the JMCC

as both parties have agreed to settle such disputes through the JMCC if

any arises.

The bench also added that the judiciary always performs its work equally and it cannot evade its duty of providing justice to people by protecting human rights and life and liberty of the public. The bench stated that the Comprehensive Peace Accord is not a part of the Constitution, and anything mentioned in the CPA does not hold the importance of a constitutional provision.

“Though the situation is in transitional phase, the judiciary cannot stop the process of providing justice based on the existing Constitution, law and the accepted judicial norms.”
Nnnn

Nepali students fear double Danish whammy

Kathmandu, 30 Sept.: In the wake of the call of the Danish People’s Party (DP) to the parliament, Nepali students in Denmark are worried that the Danish government will stop free healthcare services offered to immigrants, The Kathmandu Post reports from Copenhagen.

The party recently proposed that non-Western immigrants be denied all social benefits, including free healthcare, for the first seven years that they are in the country. The proposal is currently under discussion.

“If we are to pay for our medical expenses, then there is no way we can pay our college fees,” said Nawaraj Mainali. He fears that the parliament could approve the DP proposal, noting that the party wields substantial influence in the government legislation.

If the benefits are cut Nepali students will be hit hard, an official at the Nepali Embassy said. Unlike immigrants from many other countries, Nepali immigrants do not receive tax waiver.

In other words, Nepali students are paying more tax to the Danish government compared to non-residents from other countries.

nnnn