NC CENTRAL COMMITTEE TO MEET 29 OCT.

Kathmandu, 21 Oct.: The newly elected NC central committee will meet in the capital 29 October.
The new central committee members were elected by the 12th general convention more than one month ago.
An informal meeting of the central committee took the decision Thursday.
The meeting also decided to pursue talks with other parties to effort an end to a prolonged political deadlock.
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1ST AUTUMN ASCENT OF EVERST IN A DECADE

Kathmandu, 21 Oct.: An American and five Nepali guides made the first autumn ascent of the 8848 meters high Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, in 10 years 15 October, the Ministry of Tourism said.
The peak was last climbed in the difficult and cold climbing season 2010.
Eric Larson, Chiring Dorje Sherpa, Nima Dorje Tamang, Pasang Temba Sherpa, Dawa Gaylgen Dorje Sherpa and Pasang Dawa Sherpa climbed the peak through the nrmal southeast ridge.
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UN ASKS GOVT., PARTIES TO COMPLETE PEACE PROCESS

KATHMANDU, Oct 21: The Security Council has urged the caretaker government and political parties to ‘ redouble’ efforts and ‘compromise’ to meet their commitments.
To complete the peace process by 15 January 2011.

“The members of the Security Council called on the caretaker government and all political parties to redouble their efforts and continue to work together in the spirit of compromise to fulfill their commitments,” Security Council President Ruhakana Rugunda said in a statement issued in New York on Wednesday.


“In this regard, the members of the Security Council underlined the importance of the agreement and implementation of a clear work plan from the Special Committee that includes timelines and benchmarks and arrangements for the management of any of UNMIN’s residual tasks, following its termination,” the Security Council President added in the statement.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe briefed the council while presenting his assessment of progress in the peace process after his latest visit to Nepal.

In his briefing to the 15-member council, Pascoe called for action to overcome political impasse in Nepal in order to meet the January 15 deadline to conclude the peace process.

“There is no doubt that the 15 January deadline for UNMIN’s withdrawal has created a new sense of urgency among the parties, and more focused on thinking on how to end the prolonged stasis taking place,” the UN News Center quoted Pascoe as saying in New York.

“It is too early to conclude that the parties are on a course that would see the four-point agreement of September 13 implemented by the January deadline,” the UN News Center further quoted Pascoe as saying.

“It is still possible for the parties to meet their targets in time but, as I stressed to all those I met during my visit, it will require translating this new-found sense of urgency into decision-making and concrete action,” Pascoe added. “The sooner these decisions are taken the better”



“The members of the Council reaffirmed its support for Nepal’s peace process and underscored the need for continued progress in the remaining three months of UNMIN’s mandate, in accordance with resolution 1939 (2010),” the Council said.
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PROBE ORDERED INTO RACKET AT NEPAL EMBASSY IN LONDON

Kathmandu, 21 Oct.: The disclosure of an incident involving two Nepali nationals who managed to get British visas on fabricated recommendations from the London-based Nepali embassy has sparked a controversy, compelling the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to order a probe, KIran Chapagain reports in Republica..

Worried about diplomatic shame that the incident will bring to the nation, the ministry has asked the mission to investigate how Gopi Krishna Prasain and Hum Raj Lamsal got the British visas from the UK´s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as embassy staffers though they are not associated with the mission. They have reportedly been working at restaurants.

Sources at MoFA and the embassy told Republica that Prasain and Lamsal managed to get the British visas from the FCO after Deputy Chief of Mission Jhabindra Prasad Aryal allegedly wrote letters to the FCO certifying that the duo were embassy staffers. Aryal has denied the charge.

Lamsal had reached London some three years ago to work as a domestic help for Aryal. But he was sacked after getting into a brawl with an embassy staffer some two years ago, an official at MoFA told Republica. British diplomatic security personnel had taken the case as a criminal one after then Ambassador Murari Raj Sharma reported the case to British police. Aryal recommended Lamsal to the FCO for a visa after the police case.

Similarly, Prasain, whose brother Pralahad Prasain is currently deputy chief of mission in Bangkok, reached the UK on a tourist visa some four years ago. Sources said he reached London from Germany where his brother worked at the Nepali Embassy, then located in Bonn.

"Yes, I reached London on a tourist visa," Prasain confessed to Republica over the phone, saying that he now holds the kind of visa that the FCO issues to attendants of officials working at foreign diplomatic missions in the UK.

Asked over the phone on Wednesday how he managed to get such a visa, he first tried to be evasive, saying he was busy at work that afternoon. But he finally said, "You better ask Jhabindra sir [deputy chief of mission] for details."

Aryal claimed that he appointed Prasain as his domestic help after his previous attendant, Lamsal, was sacked following the brawl and a replacement from Nepal had not yet reached London.

However, knowledgeable sources at the ministry and at the embassy said Prasain never worked as Aryal´s attendant and Aryal certified Prasain as an embassy staffer only to get him the visa.

Prasain is not the last one to work as a domestic help for the deputy chief at the Nepali mission in London. Aryal got another man, Nischal Aryal, from Nepal to work at his residence, saying his previous domestic had been sacked.

A foreign ministry official above the rank of gazetted third class is allowed to take along just one attendant during a posting of four years at missions abroad.

After the ministry received the complaint about the embassy´s role in getting visas for Lamsal and Prasain, it directed the embassy on September 10 to probe the incident. Republica has a copy of the ministry´s directive.

The mission is yet to reply to the ministry. A source at the embassy told Republica on condition of anonymity that a probe is underway. The source, however, declined to give any details of progress in the probe.

Meanwhile, the incident has drawn expressions of concern from the British embassy in Kathmandu. Asked to comment, an official at the embassy said, "We take all allegations of visa fraud very seriously."
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