SOUTH ASIAN MICROFINANCE MEET BEGINS

Kathmandu, 30 Nov.: A two-day first SAARC-level conference of microfinance began in the capital Tuesday.
The meet was launched by Finance Minister Suredra Pandey.
Altogether 290 participants, including 70 international delegates, have assembled for the meet.
‘During the conference key issues like sustainability and regulation of the microfinance institutions are likely to come to the fore. The conference will act as a learning forum where inter-country experience sharing will help policymakers and practitioners create significant guidelines for the sector,” an announcement said.
Nepal’s Microfinance Development center (MDC) and Institute of Microfinance (IoM) of Bangladesh are sponsors of the meet.
nnnn

PRADIP BIKRAM RANA APPOINTED MAJOR GENERAL
KATHMANDU: Pradip Bikram Rana was promoted to major general of Nepal Army Tuesday by the cabinet.
The tenures of Brigadier Generals Binod Basnet, Purna Chandra Thapa, and Umesh Kumar Bhattarai was extended by three years.
nnnn
THREE MORE HONOURARY CONSUL GENERALS
Kathmandu, 30 Nov. The cabinet Tuesday approved the appointments of three more honourary consul generals.
Sarika Khetan is the honourary consul general for Romania, Bhola Bikram Thapa of Bulgaria and Ameer Pratap Rana of Croatia,
Nnnn

VEHICLES VANDALIZED IN KAILALI
Kathmandu, 30 Nov.: A one-day strike by transporters of Karnali disupted normal life in Kailaili district Tuesday.
Strikers were demanding route permits for vehicles.




Nearly a dozen vehicles were vandalized.
Nnnn

REPORT BIASED SAYS AGGRIEVED JUSTICE
Kathmandu, 30 Nov.: Supreme Court Justice Rana Bahadur Bam today [MoOnday] termed a Justice Balram KC-led inquiry committee’s report ‘biased’, Ananta Raj Luitel reports in the Himalayan Times.

The KC-led panel was formed to probe Justice Bam’s alleged involvement in releasing abduction accused on bail—had indicted him for incompetence, and recommended action.

“This (report) is clearly biased and has crossed the terms of reference laid down by the Judicial Council,” Justice Bam told THT. “I’m not bound to accept this report, nor do I deserve the action the report has recommended.”

Bam’s remark came immediately after Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha today declined him the bench to hear cases. “This report is not acceptable as the committee was not authorised to initiate action against me as I am a sitting SC justice and a single judge’s inquiry cannot recommend any action against his equally competent counterpart,” Bam added. “This report is against the principle of natural justice.”

Justice Bam added that a committee under a justice who is equally competent to him could not test his competence and honesty. “This was also against the tradition of conducting inquiry,” added Bam, claiming that a three-member inquiry committee—comprising Justices Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Khil Raj Regmi and Anup Raj Sharma—had investigated the controversial case of releasing drug peddler Robinson six years ago, and the case of releasing the dope peddler by then Justice Paramananda Jha (now the Vice President) was also investigated by the three member panel.

Justice KC has recommended termination to Bam and appellate court judges Hari Bahadur Basnet and Tej Bahadur Karki from services, charging them of incompetence as per Section 4 of the Judicial Council Act-1990.

“The investigation was beyond the jurisdiction as it was only given the authority to investigate Judge Karki’s involvement,” Bam clarified. He added that he was ready to face impeachment by a two-thirds majority in the parliament if there was any mistake on his part. But he claimed that JC does not hold the jurisdiction to punish him based on such a ‘biased inquiry report’. “I am ready to face a high level inquiry of a multi-member commission and even to test before the parliament,” he claimed. “It even did not give me chance to put forth my clarification.”

Stating that JC had formed the panel on July 15 giving it a mandate to investigate into Karki’s decision of releasing abduction accused, Bam said that the inquiry committee was not authorised to investigate his judgments. “The report is illegal,” Justice Bam added.
nnnn