12 OF 17 CLASS 4 CHILDREN INJURED

Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: Twelve of 17class four children in Parbat were injured Monday afternoon in a building collapse.
Ten children have returned home after treatment.
The four-room building of Buddha primary school at Deurali VDC constructed 20 years ago collapsed.
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BIG THREE DRIVE TO PUSH CONSTITUTION DRAFTING

Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: The Big Three summit Monday agreed to activate the main constitution drafting committee headed by Nilambar Acharya and also agreed to discuss differences on remaining contentions topics to be incorporated in a constitution that has to be promulgated by 28 May.
The parties agreed to daft a constitution on agreements reached so far.
They agreed to officially send points of consensus to the committee charged with drafting a constitution.
Maoists, NC and UML agreed to support the 28 parties currently discussing 87contntious issues.
The parties agreed to pursue talks on constitution in informal talks.
The meeting was convened by Chairman Subash Nemwang.
Constitution drafting committee Chairman Acharya said Sunday a basic law may not be promulgated even in the second deadline if the parties fail to agree on a government.
The constituent assembly (CA) meets after six months Tuesday.
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LOWEST TEMPERATURE OF WINTER RECORDED

Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: The lowest temperature of the winter was recorded in the capital Monday.
The mercury fell to 0.5 degrees Celsius, according to Department of Meteorology.
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MAOISTS, UML TO VOTE AGAINST PAUDEL; OTHER DETAILS

Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: Maoists and UML agreed to vote against the candidate of NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel’s candidacy for prime minister I parliament Wednesday.
Maoist Chairman Prachanda and UML Chariman Jhalanath Khanal came to an agreement Monday.
They agreed to ask NC to withdraw the candidacy before the vote, Maoist Vice-chairman Narayan Kazi Shrestha said.
The two parties also agreed on a mechanism of the Big Three to monitor Maoist weapons in containers after UNMIN leaves 15 January, Khanal said.
The UML chief said a special committee headed by the prime minister can’t undertake such a responsibility.
Meanwhile, NC and UML held second round of discussions following a threat by the NA to withdraw support to government and working relations with UML earlier Monday.
The meeting came after an inconclusive UML standing committee that discussed the election for prime minister and other political issues.
UML stood by its earlier stand even after second round of talks with NC insisting it won’t be threatened.
The standing committee meets again Tuesday.
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UML DISTRICT ELECTION

Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: Nirmal Quikel was elected Sunday chairman of Kathmandu district working committee; he gathered 315 votes.
His rival Lal Bahadur Tamang got 167 votes.
Bidya Sundar Sakya was elected secretary with 285 votes; his rival Sagar Nepal collected 194 votes.
Election was held for working committee members.
Efforts for unanimous vote by party leadership didn’t succeed.
Rivals Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and KP Oli had fielded candidates.
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NO CHANCE OF MAOIST-LED GOVT. SAYS MAOIST LEADER

Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: Maoist Secretary CP Gajurel Monday dismissed a Maoist-led government to succeed a 22-party collation led by Madhav Kumar Nepal.
“We don’t think that the chance is very high. For different reasons, other parties won’t provide support to our candidacy,” he told The Kathmandu Post in reply to a question if a Maoist will be elected,
“Out difficult relationship with India is one reason why we don’t see that a Maoist candidate will be elected. India is involved in Nepal’s day to day politics.
“As you could see in the sixth round of election, there was a rumour that Madesh parties would vote for the Maoists(and the eventually didn’t). In another round some CA members crossed flood and voted in our favour. Soon, the Government of India sent its emissary and the next round went against us,” he said.
Gajurel said this as Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai said he felt India wouldn’t object to a Maoist-led government formed with consensus.
Bhattarai said he ‘sensed’ this after talks with Indian politicians and bureaucrats in New Delhi last week.
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LANDGREN STANDS BY REPORT
Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: UNMIN Chief Karin Landgren said her report to UN security council Wednesday on Nepal was a ‘factual statement of people’s perceptions’.
She stood by her statement at a news conference in the capital Monday despite criticism from some parties and even Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The reaction has been hysterical at times.
“There was a misrepresentation in reports. It is a factual statement of people’s perceptions. It is not the UN warning or UN assessment,” she said.
Landgren asked parties to come to an agreement before UNMIN departs in five days.
She she asked parties to ‘come to a constructive agreement’ at least on ‘monitoring of arms’.
The second UNMIN representative after it entered Nepal three years ago said its tenure can’t be extended further.
She also made it clear UNMIN won’t handover containerized arms and ammunition either to government or Maoists.
UNMIN chief returned to base from New York Sunday to close down operations for departure 15 January.
Maoists, always critical of foreign intervention, has been pushing for UNMIN presence until 28 May when a constitution is be promulgated.
UNMIN is symbol of foreign presence in Nepal—a country that was never colonized.
RPP-Chairman Kamal Thapa Monday said the Landgren report was not baseless.
He said Vice-president Parmananda Jha has hinted at the possibility of presidential rule and added Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal even threatened at an all-party meet to handover power to the president.
‘In the name of democracy, a new autocracy is emerging,” Thapa said.


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POLICE TO BUY APCS FOR SUDAN PEACEKEEPERS

Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: Nepal Police has finally decided to purchase five Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and other logistics on a competitive basis for its unit in the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan, The Kathmandu Post reports.

A meeting of the Policy Coordinating Committee headed by Inspector General of Police Ramesh Chand Thakuri decided to speed up the process to procure five APCs, six vehicles, including two-wheelers, helmets and bullet-proof jackets for the Sudan-based Nepali peacekeeping mission at the earliest.

The decision follows the government directive to purchase the APCs and other logistics and get quotations from national and international suppliers within 15 days. "Attended by all the Additional Inspector Generals, the meeting decided to speed up the procurement process as specified by the UN peacekeeping mission," said Police Spokesperson Nawa Raj Dhakal. "Technical and financial committees of the police will look after technical and financial aspects to ensure transparency in the process." It is learnt that around Rs. 300 million will be taken from the Police Welfare Fund (PWF) as loan to speed up the process.

Nepal Police was dragged into a controversy when a probe found that over Rs. 350 million belonging to the PWF was misappropriated in the earlier procurement of APCs and other logistics for the mission. Police sources said the meeting did not discuss the issue of the misappropriation since IG Thakuri's role has been questioned. The issue of the scam involving senior police officers, ministers and top bureaucrats is under CIAA scanner although the corruption watchdog has put it in the backburner.

Nine months ago, the State Affairs Committee of the parliament had submitted a report mentioning that the APCs, among other logistics sent to the mission, were sub-standard and unfit for use, putting lives of the Nepali peacekeepers at stake.

Parties concerned are in a hurry to initiate the procurement process after the UN warned to repatriate the Nepali unit if the APCs and logistics do not reach Sudan by Jan. 9. As police officers said Nepal may not meet the UN deadline due to cumbersome laws, the officials are considering asking the UN for a deadline extension.

The UN in New York and UNAMID in Sudan had repeatedly corresponded with the government about the sub-standard logistics but it went unnoticed for months.
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ILLEGAL BYPASS CALLS DOWN AFTER CRACKDOWN
Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: The illegal operation of voice over internet protocol (VOIP) call bypass has come down drastically in recent weeks. According to telecom operators, around 90 percent of the international calls received in Nepal are made legally, thanks to the crackdown by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police, The Kathmandu Post reports.
Till four months ago, only around 50 percent of the calls were legal, resulting in losses to government revenue amounting to millions.
The four major telecom service operators were suffering a loss of over Rs 600 million in revenue each month because of the use of illegal call bypass by racketeers. Monthly losses have declined to around Rs 150 million.
Telecom giant Nepal Telecom, through which 60 percent of all the VOIP calls received in Nepal come, has seen remarkable growth in recent days. According to telecom operators, calls amounting to 180 million minutes are received in Nepal each month.
“We have witnessed a growth in incoming traffic by 30-40 percent,” said Surendra Prasad
Thike, spokesperson of Nepal Telecom. He added that they had blocked around 150,000 NT
SIM cards involved in illegal call bypass through VOIP and they were committed to curbing this illegal practice. Ncell has also blocked around 100,000 SIM cards since September 2009. “We also took action against those sales agents who were found to be irresponsible while selling SIM cards,” said Sanju Koirala, corporate communication manager of Ncell.
After May 2007, police have raided operators in 25 locations and nabbed 23 Nepalis and 9 Bangladeshis involved in the racket. Similarly, police have seized various equipment and 6,189 SIM cards. Among which, 1,854 were of NT, 4,128 of Ncell, and 207 of United Telecom.
“Following our action, the income of the operators has gone up by around Rs 500 million in recent months,” said CIB chief Rajendra Singh Bhandari. “I talked to telecom operators today as well. They said that now 160 million minutes of calls were coming legally.” Each month, an average 180 million minutes of calls are made to Nepal through the use of VOIP, in which now nearly 90 percent come through the legal way. “Earlier, only around 100 million minutes of calls used to be legally terminated by telecom operators,” said Bhandari.
The CIB has urged telecom operators and internet service providers to help and coordinate with the police to find out the remaining places where the illegal practice of VOIP is still taking place. It said that based on the report of telecom operators, there are some three-five locations active in the Kathmandu Valley.
“The main reason is distribution of SIM cards without proper documents,” said Bhandari.
He added that the practice
of illegal call bypass can be eliminated totally by greater vigilance at the customs through which the equipment is imported, access to the multi router traffic grapher (MRTG) of internet service providers that clearly shows the rate of internet uses by customers, capacity building of the CIB and setting up trackers having the capacity to track the locations easily by telecom operators.
“We are planning to form a technical committee to conduct an investigation with the help of the MRTG graph,” said Bhandari.
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INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION OF STREET CHLDREN BANNED
REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Jan 9: Amidst concern from various quarters that the process of inter-country adoption of street children is subject to widespread abuses, the government has banned the adoption effective from January 5.

According to Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, the decision is taken in the wake of media and various diplomatic missions raising issue that many street children sent for inter-country adoption could have their biological parents in Nepal searching for them.

Diplomatic missions have also raised questions about the credibility of documents prepared for the inter-country adoption of the street children.

In a public notice, the ministry said street children registered in orphanage and children´s home by police would not be sent for inter-country adoption henceforth. “It is informed to all concerned that the ministry will start a special campaign for street children found by police,” the notice said.

The government had recently introduced an amendment in the conditions and procedures related to inter-country adoption to address the concerns raised by various international communities. As per the existing rules governing adoption, the government recognizes a child as orphan if he/she is found unattended at a hospital or found unattended by police or left with no one to care after the death of all kin including parents.

There are concerns from various quarters that many of the street children found by police and subsequently registered with children´s home or orphanage for inter-country adoption actually have their parents. There are also complaints that in many cases children are sent for inter-country adoption using forged documents.
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