MAOISTS CALL SPECIAL SESSION OF PARLIAMENT

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: Altogether 187 lawmakers of six parties, including, submitted a petition to President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav Saturday demanding a special session of parliament.
But Parti Thapa, a leader of a splinter group, said eight of 27parties parliament support the call for a special session.
The president told lawmakers who called the session he’ll hold consultations
before convening a session.
A special has been called to elect a prime minister and
amend parliamentary rules to adopt new procedure for electing a government head.
According to a provision in the interim constitution, the president has to convene a session within 15 days after the call for a special session by at least 125 members of parliament.
Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of MJF Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar said Saturday the attempt was a Maoist effort to invite clash with other parties.
The special session has no meaning at a time when efforts were being made by government to calla normal session through consensus, he said in Biratnagar.
Government asked the president to prorogue a session of parliament to enforce a budget through ordinance after Maoist obstruction of parliament while presenting a budget.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has convened a meeting Monday morning to discuss the politics and legality of the call for a special session.
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SUSHIL KOIRALA CLAIM

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: NC President Sushil Koirala claimed Sunday Maoists were ready to stay in the opposition.,
Koirala said while talking to reporters at Reporters” Club.
He said Prachanda told this to party Vice-Chairman Ram Chandra Paudel.
“We are ready to stay in the opposition. You be the prime minister ad talk to UML,” Koirala quoted Prachanda as saying.
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MAOIST CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEET POSTPONED

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: A Maoist central committee meet scheduled for Tuesday has been rescheduled for Friday, party Spokesman Dinanath Sharma said.
The meeting was rescheduled after Chairman Prachanda’s confinement to bed.
He’s suffering typhoid.
The party’s just concluded 6th plenum in Gorkha empowered the committee to hammer out differences in the UCPN (Maoist) between three factions headed by the chairman and Vice-chairmen Mohan Baidya and Dr Baburam Bhattarai.
They suggested strategies the party should adopt.
The plenum meet was inconclusive.
The differences will be taken to the general convention is the central committee meeting is inconclusive.
The central committee meeting was postponed for the third time.
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VICTORIA CROSS RECIPIENT DEAD

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: Lacche Man Gurung, a recipient of the
Victoria Cross, Great Britain’s highest award for bravery, died Sunday
at a London hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia since November.
He received the award for fighting invading Japanese forces in India in World War II.
Gurung was 95.
He’s survived by three sons and a daughter.
Gurung migrated to Great Britain in 2008 after a long public battle with the British government for right of residence in a country for which he fought in World War 11.
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MRPs TO BE DISRIBUTED FROM 26 DEC.

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: Foreign ministr6y will begin issuing
Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) from 26 December replacing
traditional and-written passports in a delayed international effort to
curb terrorism.
The MPRs were printed in France.
A French company received the government contract through international bidding.
Government, amid criticism in parliament and supreme court,
first awarded first directly the contract to an Indian government security press without calling an international tender.
The controversial delayed the printing of MRPs that should have been distributed earlier in the year on request of ICAO.
Indian embassy lobbied for the contract through a letter and Foreign
Minster Sujata Koirala supported the Indian effort.
The embassy objected to the publication the letter soliciting the
contract in a newspaper.
The embassy called the letter a secret document.
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27 PARTIES MEET AGAIN

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: Twenty-seven parties in the constituent
assembly (CA)/parliament meet for the second time Monday in
two days to discuss a report of a Prachanda-led task force which discussed narrowing differences on 230 contentious issues to be
incorporated in a constitution.
The drafting has been delayed one year.
The meeting of parties convened by Speaker Subash Nemwang will discuss whether or not to tend the tenure of the body.
The task was formed two months ago by the 27 parties.
Progress report was presented by the task force Sunday ad Monday’s
meeting will decide whether to extend the force’s tenure or adopt other procedures.
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TWO MISSING IN BAITADI ATTEMPTING TO CROSS MAHAKALAI

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: Two youths have gone missing in Baitadi while attempting to cross Mahakali river.
Three others swam to safety.
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STOP AIR ARABIA

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: Parliament’s international relations and human
rights committee Sunday asked government to stop Air Arabia of
UAE from beginning direct Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur flights.
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has a monopoly on the
money-spinning sector.
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