MAOISTS PLENUM INAUGRATED; OTHER DETAILS

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: After repeated postponements, the 6th Maoist plenum to approve the main opposition party’s programmes and polices amid a prolonged political impasse finally got off amid enthusiasm in Palungtar, Gorkha, Sunday afternoon.
The central committee endorsed a standing committee decision to endorse one common concept suggested by the sanding committee which recommended Chairman Prachanda’s concept and concepts of Vice-chairmen Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Mohan Baidya be discussed at the meeting which will continue for five days.
The standing committee also recommended three representatives each from state committee be permitted to speak at the plenum.
Other parties are following the discussions which will determine the party’s future courts of action.
The party so far has been pushing a communist state afrer joining the mainstream four years ago.
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ANOTHER TEACHER OP BARA KILLED

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: Another teacher of Bara was killed overnight.
Ritur Pandit is the second teacher of the troubled district to be
killed in the district in a fortnight.
Pandit’s body was found at his in-law’s house in Bihar, India, as
he was preparing to return home; his hands were tied behind
his back.
Schools have closed down in Bara as a protest.
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NAXALITE BOMB KILLS SEVEN IN BHAR, INCLUDING
FIVE CHILDREN

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: A bomb planted by Naxalites in Bihar to disturb legislative elections exploded killing five persons, including five
children Sunday, radio reports said.
Twelve have also been injured, five seriously.
Radio reports said police negligence caused the explosion.
The report said police recovered the bomb Saturday on the last day
of legislative elections and abandoned it on a field.
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PRATI KISHORE MADE PUBLIC

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: Prati Kishore Jha, 16, was presented before media in Dharan by Sunsari district police Saturday as the only accused in the murder last week of Raj Acharya, 9,
They were neighbours studying in the same school in the hill
Town.
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MAOISTS PLENUM INAUGRATED; OTHER DETAILS

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: After repeated postponements, the 6th Maoist plenum to approve the main opposition party’s programmes and polices amid a prolonged political impasse finally got off amid enthusiasm in Palungtar, Gorkha, Sunday afternoon.
The central committee endorsed a standing committee decision to endorse one common concept suggested by the sanding committee which recommended Chairman Prachanda’s concept and concepts of Vice-chairmen Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Mohan Baidya be discussed at the meeting which will continue for five days.
The standing committee also recommended three representatives each from state committee be permitted to speak at the plenum.
Other parties are following the discussions which will determine the party’s future courts of action.
The party so far has been pushing a communist state afrer joining the mainstream four years ago.
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ANOTHER TEACHER OP BARA KILLED

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: Another teacher of Bara was killed overnight.
Ritur Pandit is the second teacher of the troubled district to be
killed in the district in a fortnight.
Pandit’s body was found at his in-law’s house in Bihar, India, as
he was preparing to return home; his hands were tied behind
his back.
Schools have closed down in Bara as a protest.
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NAXALITE BOMB KILLS SEVEN IN BHAR, INCLUDING
FIVE CHILDREN

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: A bomb planted by Naxalites in Bihar to disturb legislative elections exploded killing five persons, including five
children Sunday, radio reports said.
Twelve have also been injured, five seriously.
Radio reports said police negligence caused the explosion.
The report said police recovered the bomb Saturday on the last day
of legislative elections and abandoned it on a field.
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PRATI KISHORE MADE PUBLIC

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: Prati Kishore Jha, 16, was presented before media in Dharan by Sunsari district police Saturday as the only accused in the murder last week of Raj Acharya, 9,
They were neighbours studying in the same school in the hill
Town.
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Kathmandu, 20 Nov.: Nepal’s Anuradha Koirala , founder of Maiti Nepal, was selected Saturday CNN Hero for the Year.

Koirala is fighting trafficking and sexual exploitation of Nepal´s women and girls since 1003/
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12 COURTYARDS OF HANUMAN DHOKA TO BE OPENED TO PUBLIC.

Kathmandu, 12 21 Nov.: Twelve courtyards of Hanuman Dhoka
will now be opened to the general public, Gorkhapatra reports.
Of 13 courtyards, only two courtyards around Nasalchowl
were open so far.
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MAINLY EUROPEAN CONCERN

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: Mission chiefs of
Australia, Canada, Denmark, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Switzerland and the UK Saturday welcomed progress made thus far for permanent and sustainable peace adding they are concerned with only partial implementation of agreements.
The missions are based in the capital; some aren’t headed by ambassadors.

A joint statement was issued on the fourth anniversary of a peace agreement with Maoists and seven parliamentary parties.
“Our particular concern is the lack of progress in the integration and rehabilitation of former Maoist combatants, and determining the structure of the Nepal Army.

”These remain central elements of the CPA, and have never been more urgent to address as UNMIN prepares to leave on Jan. 15,” the statement read.

“We note that the work of the Constituent Assembly is behind schedule and that, despite recent progress, there is no agreement on the future structure and governance of Nepal.

”With just six months to go, time is running out to produce a first draft of the constitution that meets Nepalis’ aspirations for a more prosperous, equitable, democratic Nepal,” read the statement further.

“Other critical aspects of the CPA remain incomplete despite political parties’ commitments to act. Human rights mechanisms, such as the Disappearance Commission, are still not in place, and impunity persists.

”Political parties should renounce violence and work together for a lasting peace in respect of the rule of law,

“On this anniversary, we urge Nepal’s political parties to focus first on the implementation of the peace agreements. We assure them and the people of Nepal of our continued readiness to support the peace process. Without rapid progress towards a peaceful and stable democracy, Nepal risks missing out on the economic and social development which its people desire,” the statement said.
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NEMWANG’S DILEMMA

Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: -
The parliament has no legal provision to take action against Maoist lawmakers who manhandled Finance Minister Surendra Pandey in the budget session, a senior official at the Parliament Secretariat said on Saturday
The Kathmandu Post reports. .

The statement comes in response to the government’s demand for suspension of Maoist lawmakers involved in attacking Minister Pandey and Energy Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat.

“The protest inside parliament on Friday was a political issue. Our parliamentary rules have no provision for action against a protest staged collectively by lawmakers,” said Tek Prasad Dhungana, legal advisor to the Constituent Assembly. He said no parliament in the world takes action against lawmakers staging collective protest inside the House.

“The relationship between the Speaker and the lawmakers is not like the relationship between master and servant. He only has the role of a facilitator,” said Dhungana. He added that it is the responsibility of the political parties to demonstrate discipline in the House. Officials at the parliament also maintain that there is no requirement to investigate Friday’s incident as everything was open and transparent. “The issue should be sorted out by the political parties themselves,” said another official adding that the disruption of budget was a “collective and institutional” attempt of the Maoist party.

Dhungana said the Parliamentary Rules of Procedures only authorise the Speaker to take action against an individual lawmaker if he or she tries to violate the constitution and disrupt order in the House. “The parliamentary regulation doesn’t imagine a situation where parliamentarians resort to manhandling one another inside the House,” he said adding that there was no possibility of expelling all the Maoist lawmakers involved in the protest during Friday’s session.

Meanwhile, Minister for Constituent Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs Minendra Rijal said the Speaker should take action against the Maoist lawmakers involved in manhandling the ministers. “Those who picketed the rostrum are free, but those who physically attacked the ministers and lawmakers should face punishment,” he said. “There is a visual record of the meeting and the media also published the evidence, so the parliament should consider these as proof.”

Maoist Vice-Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha claimed none of his party lawmakers manhandled anyone in Friday’s House session. “Before talking about action against Maoist lawmakers, this government should be punished for bringing the budget in an unconstitutional manner,” he said.
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Dikshya Singh
KATHMANDU: The budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 has tried to encourage the merger of banks, financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies however the experts find the incentives not being lucrative enough.

As complementary to the monetary policy, the budget has made the provision of taxing assets and liabilities as disposal after merger to make it non-taxable.

Also, special arrangements have been made in the context of share holders, managers and employees, according to the budget.

Earlier, this fiscal year’s monetary policy had also supported and presented the idea of merger and acquisition as an alternative of establishing new financial institutions. The experts have been voicing the opinion that the financial sector is already over-crowded but unable to increase the outreach thus merger of two financial institutions might be more sensible in the present economic and financial circumstance.

The central bank has encouraged the merger saying it will facilitate the capital requirement of the financial institutions and reduces their operational costs as well; moreover, it will be creating space in already crowded financial sector.

The bankers had expressed time and again that the idea of merger is definitely better however the complications regarding tax emerged as the discouraging factor.

Bankers are not pleased with the incentives provided by the budget to encourage merger. “The incentive for merger is not enough,” said Sashin Joshi, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA). “If provisions such as, reduction of tax rate of the merged institutions should have been reduced by 20 per cent for three years, then the BFIs would have more interested in merger,” he pointed out.

The government has decided to restructure Department of Revenue Investigation as ‘Department of Revenue and Money Laundering Investigation’. The decision will also draw flak as it might create more problems in the liquidity starved financial sector. Since the implementation of Anti-money laundering Act, the deposits have been declining as many depositors hesitate to disclose the income source suspecting the government’s ulterior motives.

Now, the depositors might feel more insecure to deposit bigger sums as they do not want revenue department to pry into their income sources.

“The merging of revenue and money laundering investigation should have been avoided,” he added, adding that the concept of the rating agency floated by the budget is a welcome one.

The budget has assured to make the legal provisions to set up the much needed credit rating agency and to promulgate law for the effective regulation and supervision of futures and commodities’ markets.

Likewise, the budget has also extended the coverage of Small Deposit Guarantee Programme for the deposits up to Rs 200,000 to ‘B’ and ‘C’ class financial institutions – development banks and finance companies, as well. The programme was initiated last year for the ‘D’ class financial institutions – microfinance service providers.

The government has also planned to invest additional Rs 250 million in the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Corporation to increase its authorised capital to Rs 2 billion.

The absence of both credit rating agency and deposit insurance agency has been considered accountable for the lack of interest of international banks to come in Nepal.

Similarly, the decision to allow NRNs to invest in Nepali capital market that is being haunted by excessive supply can be expected to be salvaged by the involvement of NRNs. “The provisions of framing laws regarding credit rating agencies, commodities market regulations and deposit insurance is commendable,” said economist Dr Chiranjibi Nepal. “However the question is whether or not they will be implemented,” he added, citing the example of mutual fund regulation that took longer than budget had planned.

The financial statement for the current fiscal year also informed that the government has also allocated the necessary capital contribution to establish Infrastructure Development Bank with the participation of the private sector.
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A person died and 16 other passengers including Assistant Minister for Physical Planning and Works Kalawati Paswan were injured in separate road mishaps Saturday.
The deceased whose identity is yet to be ascertained breathed his last when a jeep en route to Kathmandu from Butwal hit him.
The jeep knocked down the person aged around 50 this morning while he was walking along the street, police informed.
Assistant Minister Paswan was injured in a road mishap while she was heading towards her home town in Bara from Kathmandu. Her hand got fractured in the accident.
The vehicle she was traveling met the accident in the area between Jeetpur and Parwanipur while giving a pass to a three-wheeler coming from the opposite direction.
She is undergoing treatment at Birgunj-based Advance Medical Centre. Police have arrested the driver and have taken the three-wheeler under their control.
Meanwhile, fifteen persons were injured in a bus accident at Sirdi of Byash Municipality-8, Tanahun district this morning.
Three persons among the injured sustained severe injuries when the bus with registration no. Na 2 Kha 4508 bound to Birgunj from Pokhara met with the accident. All the injured are undergoing treatment at Damauli Hospital, Tanahun District Police Office said.
Police have carried out the search operation for the absconding bus driver.
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