V17th ROUND VOTE FOR PM MONDAY; BIG THREE ALSO MEET

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 15 Nov.: Seventeenth round voting for prime minister in more than four months to choose the successor of Caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is being held Monday.
Monday’s parliamentary vote will also be inconclusive.
NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel is the only candidate in the race after Maoist Chairman Prachanda withdrew from the contest after the fourth round vote.
Monday’s vote will also be inconclusive because Maoists and UML, the biggest and third largest parties in parliament, will boycott the election in the 601-member parliament.
Paudel needs to muster 301 votes to win.
NC joint meeting of the central committee and parliamentary party Sunday demanded Paudel should be declared unopposed.
“Political outlet is the announcement of the election of Paudel unopposed, ”Nabindra Raj Joshi, Spokesman of the NC parliamentary party said.
Parliament’s business advisory committee is meeting to discuss the inconclusive vote ahead of the parliamentary vote.
A meeting of seven parties convened by Speaker Subash Nemwang Sunday find an outlet to the unending process was inconclusive as participating maintained their rigid positions.
Supreme court division bench Wednesday asked the speaker to find an alternative to the unending process.
UML and Maoists demanded procedures in parliament for lection of government chief should be amended for an outlet.
Madesh parties rejected the demand.
The third round meet of the Big Three- Maoists-- NC and the UML—is being held Monday as well.
The first two meetings in Chovar and Gokarna to discuss power sharing, budget presentation, constitution drafting and completion of the peace process were inconclusive.
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NO BAN ON PARTIES ON BASIS OF IDEOLOGY

Kathmandu, 15 Nov.: Major parties in the constituent assembly (CA) Sunday agreed political parties shouldn’t be banned in a proposed constitution to institutionalize a declared republic.
The issue was discussed Sunday in the high-powered task force coordinated by Maoist Chairman Prachanda to discuss 230 contentious issues on which parties differ.
“Parties shouldn’t be banned on the basis on their ideology,” UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari said after the meeting of the task force.
“Any party that is against multi-party system based on pluralism and tries to establish totalitarian regime .one-party dictatorship, establishes military or paramilitary structures, launches insurgency against the state and works against the principles of human rights should be banned,” a NC concept said.
Different perceptions on eight of 11 themes have delayed constitution drafting.
The elected two-year mandate of the CA was extended one year 28 May 2010.
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3 KILLED, 36 INJURED IN PASSENGER BUS ACCIDENT

Kathmandu, 15 Nov.: Three passengers died and 36 were injured
Sunday in two vehicular accidents in Dharm and Surkhet.
Two women died and 36 were injured Sunday at Bedetar, near Dharan, is a passenger bus accident.
A soldier died when he was overrun by a tractor in Birendranagar, Surkhet, Sunday.
Som Raj Giri was guarding Radio Nepal transmission tower in the town.
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TRADE, COMMERCE, ECONOMY

NEPSE GAINS 8.53 POINTS

Kathmandu, 15 Nov.: Nepse gained 8.53 points on the first day of five-day weekly trading Sunday to close at 490.97 points,
Commercial bank shares gained 12.25 points.
Altogether 51, 554 shares valued at Rs 15.07 million were traded in 312 transactions.
Total market capitalization reached Rs 376.31 billion,
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LOAD-SHEDDING LIKELY TO BE INCREASED

Kathmandu, 15 Nov.: The 70MW Mid-Marshyangdhi in Lamjung was closed down Monday for repairs for three weeks.
Two-hour daily load-shedding is likely to be increased by two hours by Nepl Electricity Authority (NEA)
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