PM NEPAL APPEARS PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: Prime Minister Madha Kumar Nepal Tuesday told a parliament’s public accounts committee government has no intention to influence the CIAA.
He appeared before the committee Tuesday
The prime minister was earlier charged for attempting to interfere in CIAA investigation of a purchase of an aircraft by the state airlines Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC).
The committee Tuesday decided to summon CIAA secretary.
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UML CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEET

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: UML central committee meets Tuesday amid a continuing national political crisis.
The committee will discuss a resolution of the prolonged national political stalemate and allocation of responsibilities in the party.
The committee will discuss election for prime minister and a possible change in party policy.
The party is considering opting for electing a government chief by majority vote in parliament.
A standing committee meeting Monday set the agenda for Tuesday’s meet.
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MAOISTS STUDENTS ELECTING NEW LEADERSHIP

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: The 18th national convention of AKHILR—a student wing of Maoists-concluded Tuesday with the election of a new leadership.
The convention is being held at Tribhuvan University at Kirtipur where normal classes were disrupted to conduct the meet.
Other student unions protested the forced suspension of classes.
It’s certain Himal Sharma will be elected will head the new leadership, Nagarik reports.
A joint meeting of party headquarters, student leaders and student in-charge Netra Bikram Chand decided to elect Sharma.
Following the decision, contenders Ramdip Acharya, Yubaraj
Cholagain and Kanchan Khanal opted out of the committee.
Prachanda’s supremacy in the student wing will prevail.
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FORMER COMMERCE AND SUPLIES MINISTER DEAD

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: Commerce and Supplies Minister Dambar Bahadur Basnet of the panchayat-era died Monday following a cardiac arrest.
He was 72.
Basnet was Vice-chairman of rashtriya panchayat, legislature of the then era.
Basnet was a chronic diabetic and suffered blood pressure.
He left behind a wife, a son and six daughters.
He was associated with Rashtriya Janashakti Party.
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40,000 BHUTANESE REFUGEES RESETTLED

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: More than 40,000 Bhutanese refugees from camps in east Nepal have been resettled in western countries since a programme was launched in November 2007, UBHCR and International Organization for Migration said.
The USA has accepted 34,129 refugees.
Another 2,333 refugees have been resettled in Canada, 2,168 in Australia, 498 in New Zealand, 373 in Norway, 326 in Denmark, 229 in Netherlands, and 111 in United Kingdom.
Altogether 72,733 refugees remain in seven camps in Jhapa and
Morang.
Another group of 55,000 refugees of Hindu Nepali ethnicity forcibly
driven out from the Buddhist kingdom have expressed interest in resettlement and they could be trans-located in the next four years.
The western countries have implicitly cooperated in Bhutan’s ethnic cleansing drive by accepting refugees.
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ADDITIONAL LOAD-SHEDDING FROM WEDNESDAY

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: Weekly load-shedding will be increased to 56 hours a week from Wednesday—up from 38 hours a week, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said.
Power outage was increased as winter peaks with the onset of nim pachas or 50 days of the winter season that began 6 December.
NEA said water level in rivers had receded forcing the
Authority to increase load-shedding hours.
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EC PLEDGES 60 MILLION EUROS

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: The seventh session of the Nepal-European Commission Joint Commission was held in the Nepalese capital Monday with the EC pledging 60 million in assistance.
The meeting was co-chaired Dhananjay Jha, joint secretary at the foreign ministry, and James Moran, director for Asia European Commission (EC)
‘The whole gamut of issues in Nepal-EC relations, including political, economic and trade, among others were discussed during the meeting. Views were also expressed on related international and regional issues.
‘They stressed on strengthening the multi-party democracy, rule of law, human rights, promotion of inclusive development, strengthening civil society and promulgation of the new constitution within the stipulated time,” foreign ministry said in a statement.
European Commission pledged 60 million euros to Nepal for 2011/13 for the second multi-annul indicative programme. The money will be channeled through the government’s annual budget.
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CONTOVERSIAL JUDGE RESIGNS

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: Biratnagar appellate court justice Hari Bahadur Basnet resigned Monday.
He cited health reason for his resignation.
Basnet has been dragged into a controversy along with supreme court justice
Rana Bahadur Bam.
Action has been recommended against Basnet and Bam for their alleged faulty decision when they were at Patan appellate court to free three abductors.
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BASANTA KUMAR GAUTAM NC CHIEF SECRETARY

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: Basanta Kumar Gautam has been appointed nC chief secretary with immediate effect, the party said.
He succeeds Ram Chandra Pokhrel.
Gautam has been nominated for the second time.
Girija Prasad Koirala appointed him chief secretary from Falgun
2054 to 2062 Magh.
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BEARISH TREND IN NEPSE CONTINUES

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: Bearish trend continued for the 18th consecutive day Monday—the second day of weekly five-day trading—with the
index closing at 394.04 points.
Altogether 50,365 shares were traded in 877transactios for Rs. 17.54 million.
Nepal Telecom shares gained Rs 5 per share.
Shares of commercial banks, insurance companies, development
banks and finance companies lost 0.96, 0.82, 0.76 and 0.71 points respectively.
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UN FOR SPECIAL CELL AFTER UNMIN QUITS
Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: As the United Nations Mission in Nepal’s final tenure draws to a close — with just a month remaining — the United Nations has begun consultations with the government regarding setting up of a special UN unit in Kathmandu to fill the void in the peace process in the post-UNMIN phase, Lekhnath Pandey reports in The Himalayan Times.

A highly-placed source confirmed that UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal, Robert Piper, floated the idea of establishing such a special UN unit during his meeting with Peace and Reconstruction Minister Rakam Chemjong this afternoon.

Since the matter is at nascent stage, the size, mandate and term of the ‘proposed’ UN unit are far from being discussed at this point of time. An official source informed that it

was likely that it would be established under the UN country office.

“We briefly discussed the concept (of setting up a special UN unit). He (Piper) floated the idea for discussion. We are yet to reach the stage of deciding on it,” Minister Chemjong told The Himalayan Times. He informed that he told Piper that it was the matter to be decided through consultations among the parties.

During his visit in Nepal early this month, UN political chief Under-Secretary-General B Lynn Pascoe had said the Security Council would ‘be closely monitoring the developments in relation to the peace process in Nepal even after UNMIN’s departure’.

An official privy to this concept argued that ‘UN wishes to keep its presence in Nepal to show the world its involvement in peace-making efforts in Nepal even after its specially designated mission leaves’.

Piper told this daily he held discussions with the peace minister but the agenda mainly revolved around issues of integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants. He added that the Security Council was keen on helping the peace process.

On the heels of his meeting with the peace minister, Piper later today called on Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. US Ambassador to Nepal Scott H DeLisi accompanied Piper during his meeting with Nepal. But Piper said the issue (setting up a UN unit) was not the topic of discussion.

Maoist PLA Deputy Commander and a Maoist member in the Secretariat formed to bringing PLA combatants under government command and control, Chandra Prakash Khanal, said they would accept the idea of a UN unit in post-UNMIN phase. “We are not against the idea,” said Khanal. A non-Maoist member at the Secretariat, however, argued that the motive behind setting up a UN unit was to ensure that monitoring of the Nepali Army too continues even after UNMIN’s departure.
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PASSPORT RACKET UNFOLDS

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: Kuwaiti authorities recently arrested 34 Indian and Bangladeshi nationals for possessing fake Nepali passports, Anil Giri reports in The Kathmandu Post.

A letter to the Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mukti Nath Bhatta, from Nepal’s Ambassador to Kuwait Madhuvan Poudel on Monday said many Nepali and some Bangladeshi brokers are operating inside and outside Kathmandu valley running passport rackets for people wanting to sneak into Gulf countries.

“The Kuwaiti authorities drew our attention to the racket as the place of origin of the passports was Nepal but the holders were not Nepali nationals. Those apprehended were found working in organised and unorganised sectors under visa categories 18 and 20,” the envoy said.

An arrestee told the Kuwaiti authorities that a Bangladeshi national named Karim and a Nepali broker have been running the fake passport racket. The seized passports, which will be cancelled, originated from Jhapa, Kathmandu, Kapilvastu, Morang, Sunsari, Chitwan, Sindhuli, Udhayapur, Ruphandehi, Gorkha, Nuwakot, Kavre and Sarlahi districts while one was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in October. Two passports were found issued by P. Ghimire from Jhapa and Udayapur districts.

Details show that Kumari Tamang (Indian) forged Laxmi Tamang’s passport, Pabitra Rai (Indian) forged Lakhi Kiskh’s passport, Sushma Chhetri (Indian) forged a passport in Buddha Kumari Limbu’s name. Nitu BK (Indian) was found in possession of Basanta Budhatoki’s passport while Ramdhani Barai (Indian) obtained a passport from Kapilvastu district.

“Most women who come here do not submit passport details at the Nepali mission. We have received information that each day 10-12 Nepali women sneak in from the western points of the Nepal-India border and later fly from Indian cities to the Gulf,” envoy Poudel wrote.
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FUND FOR MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEM

Kathmandu, 14 Dec.: Nepal is selected among three countries in the world to pilot an ecosystem-based adaptation project in the mountain region, The Kathmandu Post reports.

Germany has announced a fast-track funding of Euro 10 million (over US $ 13 million) for the implementation of the adaptation projects for vulnerable mountain communities in the world.

Nepal, representing Asia, Uganda and Peru from East Africa and Andes of Latin America are selected for the project, said the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the technical partner for the implementation of the project, at a press conference organised on Dec.9 in Cancun, Mexico.

The announcement to provide fast-track funding by donor countries to

developing ones contributes towards the goal of US $ 30 billion, pledged

by developed economies during the global climate meet held in Copenhagen, Denmark last year.

According to Ganesh Raj Joshi, secretary at the Ministry of Environment, the announcement was made in Cancun during a meeting held between the donor agencies and the vulnerable mountain countries including Nepal.

“A team of consultants from UNEP will be visiting the country soon to discuss the issue further. The discussion will also help identify other potential donors to work on adaptation projects for the vulnerable mountain communities,” said Joshi.

Ecosystem-based adaptation is a concept which seeks to create a win-win situation between adaptation measures and biodiversity conservation.

Meanwhile, the German-financed programme is aimed at sparking off a larger fund for ecosystem-based adaptation measures in developing countries. The programme, to be carried out by the UNEP, the UN Development Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, will assess, for example, increased vulnerability among communities and farmers to droughts and floods linked with rising regional temperatures and the loss of glaciers and ice.
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