SUSHIL KOIRALA ASKS MAOISTS NOT TO OBSTRUCT PARLIAMENT

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: Newly elected NC President Sushil Koirala Wednesday asked Maoists not to obstruct parliament and support the candidacy of Ram Chandra Paudel for prime minister in the 8thround voting 26 September.
“I request Maoists not to obstruct parliament and support Ram Chandra Paudel to move ahead,” he said after his victory.
“I request Jhalanatah Khanal to support NC,” he added.
Sushil said the party will move ahead in unison after the vote.
“I was acting president. We three contested. We’ll move ahead in unison,” Sushil said adding youth will be handed over responsibilities.
“Party will be mobilized to go to the village. Youth will be given responsibility,” he said
Meanwhile, Sushil Koirala went to TU Teaching Hospital Wednesday for a medical check-up.
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DENGUE EPIDEMIC IN CHITWAN

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: Dengue has hit 76 persons in Chitwan in the last one month, district health officials reported Wednesday.
Altogether 265 persons came down with viral fever.
Schools in the western district of Baglung have been shut for three following an outbreak of viral fever.
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INDRAJATRA CELEBRATIONS WEDNESDAY

Kathmandu, 21 Sept:: Indrajatra is being celebrated Wednesday by pulling the chariots of Kumari, the Living Goddess, Ganesh and Bhairab through the city streets.
Rajan Maharjan, President of World Youth Hindu Federation (WYHF) threatened Tuesday to obstruct the visit of President Dr Ram Baran Yadav to Kumari Ghar in Basantapur to receive tika from Kumari Wednesday.
Govenrment stopped former King Gyanendra Tuesday from visiting Basantapur to offer felicitations to nine former Living Goddesses curbing the fundamental right of a citizen to more freely and perform religious and cultural functions
Government declared Wednesday a public holiday in the capital Wednesday to observe Indrajatra
Government sanctioned one million rupees for the festival celebration.
Protests spiraled when Maoists in government stopped the dole citing the country had been declared secular.
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PM NEPAL ENCOURAGED


Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: Prime Minister Mahav Kumar Nepal said Tuesday he was encouraged by recent agreements with Maoists and said integration and resettlement of combatants can be completed in four months.
‘If Maoists are sincere on the last four-point agreement with Maoists, integration and resettlement processes, I feel, can be completed before four months.
“If they are sincere on pushing the peace process, we can have tangible progress on integration and resettlement in one-and-a-half months..
‘I’ve been encouraged by the possibilities following the last agreements,” Nepal said.
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FRENCH DRUGS TRAFFICKEER ARRESTED

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: French national Muhammad Hydhycham Douteball was arrested during a security check at Tribhuvan International Airport Tuesday trying to traffic seven kg hashish.
He was arrested while boarding a Qatar Airways flight for Doha en route to Manchester, UK.
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Ministry, KMC rift widening on many issues

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: The tussle between the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) and Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has worsened after KMC staff barred three government officials from entering the civic body. A meeting today [Tuesday] between MoLD and KMC representatives failed to sort out the problem, Bishnu Prasad Aryal reports in The Himalayan Times..

KMC staff blocked three officials assigned to the metropolis by MoLD, about a month ago. Joint-secretary Ganesh Rai, officer Deepak Koirala who was assigned as deputy executive chief in KMC, and clerk Dhurba Karki have neither been called back to MoLD nor allowed to work at KMC.

Rai was assigned acting executive chief at KMC before secretary Ananda Raj Pokhrel took charge in May. Earlier, governments used to assign a joint secretary as the KMC chief until the Maoist-led government decided to assign the secretary as chief of KMC. Koirala said he had neither been attending the ministry nor the civic body. “The ministry has asked us to attend our office at KMC, but KMC staffers have rejected us,” he said. “We are in a mess now,” he added.

A cabinet meeting decided to assign three officials to KMC about two decades ago after the restoration of democracy in 1990.

However, KMC employees have challenged the cabinet decision as going against the Local Self-Governance Act 2055 BS, which provisions a government staff be assigned to each local body.

“When law provisions one government staff to be assigned here, it will be illogical to station more than one staff here,” they claimed.

Sanat Kumar Thapa, chief at the Financial Management Department, KMC, said the civic body had taken its stand on the basis of the provision of the Act. “Though another decision was taken to call back the five KMC peons stationed in MoLD about five years ago, it has not been implemented yet,” he said. “The government act should be implemented as per its words.” However, MoLD has claimed that the local body has no right to nullify the government decision. “The KMC has no right to return the staff assigned by the government or to bar them from attending their office,” said Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, spokesperson for MoLD. “If the government wants, it can assign necessary staff anywhere,” he said. “It was as per the rules and regulations.”

Thapaliya said the government decision should be implemented at any cost. “Until they are transferred somewhere, they must not be prevented from attending office and signing on the book,” he said. It was reported that MoLD had warned KMC that it had not realised government grants of about Rs 150 million provided to KMC every year.

However, KMC staffers argued that MoLD would not stop providing grants. The MoLD asked KMC authority about a week ago for clarification regarding the decision to prevent government staff from attending their office.
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MANISHA KOIRALA RETURNS TO KOLLYWOOD

Kathmandu, 21 Sept: Nepali politics seems to have been stuck in the same mire that it was in earlier. Leaders are busy in their pursuit of power, and the country remains without a functioning government, while corruption has become deeply entrenched. It is on these themes that Manisha Koirala has decided to return to Nepali films, choosing a project that aims to highlight these issues, writes Manisha Neypane in The Kathmandu Post..

Dharma, directed by Dipendra K. Khanal, has been in the news ever since it was announced that Koirala would be making her comeback in Kollywood with the film. Now, the film has got even more hype because it pairs Koirala with the one and only superstar of Nepal—Rajesh Hamal.

Koirala is very excited about her comeback. After her first Nepali film Pheri Bhetaula almost two decades ago, she got busy with her Bollywood projects and hasn’t worked in another Nepali film since then. “It was fun to work in a Nepali film after so long. I was very happy to know that the Nepali film industry has grown so much and has developed the capability to compete with any film industry.” Though Koirala has worked in an industry that is technically more adept and much more financially secure, she doesn’t find a huge disparity when she compares Kollywood to Bollywood. “We might lag behind in terms of the finances but we have equally-talented people here.”

Koirala plays a simple housewife in Dharma whose character prepares to avenge her husband’s murder. In the film, Hamal plays an honest forest officer who gets killed because of his anti-corruption stand. “It was a great experience to work with him. He is dedicated, very hard-working and a great human being,” she says. She also added that Hamal was very supportive of her. “I had heard that

the Nepali film industry lacks professionalism but I was wrong. Everyone involved in this film was professional and great to work with.”

After Dharma, Koirala has not signed on any other film but is interested in doing features that might help her grow as an actor. In the near future, she might be directing a Nepali film as well. “There are some concepts in my mind but I haven’t decided on anything yet. But I will make a film which will be truly Nepali and will narrate our stories,” she says.

The film has also gained attention because of its producer, Durga Pokharel, who is also a politician. “I was fed up with the political situation and I wanted to present the experiences I have gone through. I didn’t find a better option other than a film to express it.” Pokharel says her film is a commercial prospect, and thus has all the requisite masala. “It is a total action film which includes all political masala as well.”

Pokhrel claims that her film isn’t part of the current trend in Nepali film industry of ‘being inspired’ by Bollywood films. “It’s a story of our own and describes the current state of Nepali society and politics,” she says. She added that her next film Khagras will focus on political issues as well.

When asked how she convinced Koirala to act in her film, she says it was not very difficult. “My relationship with her is very old. But she agreed to the film because she liked the script and her character as well.”

The films’s director, Dipendra Khanal, is equally excited as well. His second directorial venture after The Yug Dekhi Yug Samma, he has also worked on the screenplay of the film and is thrilled to have worked with Koirala. “I grew up watching her films. When I got the chance to work with her, I was truly honoured,” he says.

The comeback of Koirala and her pairing with Hamal will probably make any Nepali film lover throng the theatres once the film is released. Dharma is a production by Aasma films and also stars Nikhil Upreti and Rejina Upreti. The film is scheduled to be released during Tihar.
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