KRISHNA PRASAD BHATTARAI GIFTED CAR

Kathmandu, 1 Jan. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Saturday handed over a key to a car provided by the government to Krishna Prasad Bhattarai on his 87th birthday at his ashram in Bade Gaon.
Top party leaders including wished Bhattarai.Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala wished Bhattarai who has quit the party.
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MAOIST STANDING COMMITTEE MEET AGAIN RESCHUFFLED

Kathmandu, 1 Jan.: A Maoist sanding committee that was to meet Saturday has again been rescheduled until SUnday.
The main opposition in facing intra-party disputes.
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ONE DEAD IN HEAVY SNOWFALL

Kathmandu, 1 Jan. One person has died in heavy ssnowfall on the Muju-Jumla border, Radio Nepsl said Saturday.
Several mules also perished.
A cold wave has hit the far-West hill districts.
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UNWTO CHIEF TO ATTEND LAUNCH OF NTY 2011

Kathmandu, 1 Jan.: Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), seven SAARC Tourism Ministers, and Secretary of the Cambodian Tourism Ministry have confirmed that they will attend the inauguration of Nepal Tourism Year-2011.

The NTY-2011, scheduled to be formally launched on January 14 at the Dasrath Stadium, aims to attract one million tourists into the country in a year. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav will inaugurate the yearlong campaign.

Tourism ministers from China and Japan have also expressed their interest to participate in the function, but they have not confirmed. Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the nodal agency for the campaign, expects over 28,000 people to participate in the three-hour-long inaugural event.

The government has invited Tourism Ministers of 24 Asian countries to attend the inaugural function.

SAARC tourism secretaries are scheduled to arrive on January 11. There will be an extensive joint-secretary level meeting of the SAARC Tourism Working Committee on January 12-13 where discussions will focus on the problems and barriers confronting tourism promotion, an NTB official said.

On January 13, Tourism Ministers from the SAARC countries will endorse the meeting’s declaration and on January 14, NTY-2011 will be inaugurated at a function in Kathmandu.

The SAARC inter-government body will discuss the possibility of joint-marketing, softening the visa regime, giving access to cross-border driving licenses, making Indian currency more flexible, and increasing inter-SAARC movement by more flights by the national flag carriers of member countries, a government official said.

NTB has proposed giving a public holiday to government staff on January 14. All the districts would organise the NTY-2011 launching programme under the coordination of respective chief district officers of NTB.

Similarly, tourist destinations like Pokhara and Chitwan, among other places, are aggressively preparing for their own special functions.

According to the NTB data, Nepal received more than 500,000 tourists in 2009 and the numbers is expected to cross 700,000 in 2010.

After a gap of almost 12 years since Nepal celebrated the Visit Nepal 1998, the country’s tourism sector is expected to revive with a huge thrust to tourist arrivals in 2010.

The Maoist-led government had announced the campaign in October 2008. The campaign’s objective to host one million visitors in a year intensified search for new opportunities in the country, bringing in investments and reinvigorating businesses, which were paralysed for a long time.

Massive investments are being made in refurbishing existing hotels and establishing new ones with NTY-2011 round the corner, say analysts.

This is for the first time such large investments are being made in the hospitality sector after the opening of the Hotel Hyatt Regency a decade ago, the NTB official said.

Currently, there are 10 five-star hotels including Hotel Radisson, Hotel Everest and Fulbari Resort that are under renewal process, two four-star hotels, 24 three-star hotels, 45 two-star hotels, 36 one-start hotels, 358 tourist standard hotels and resorts making it to a total of 475 licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.
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NHRC RATING MAY FALL

Kathmandu, 1 Jan.: Chances are the international accreditation of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) may be downgraded for “failing” to meet standards set for national human rights institutions (NHRIs) of UN member states, Kamal Raj Sigdel writes in The Kathmandu Post .

The International Coordination Committee (ICC) of NHRIs warned NHRC in March it would be downgraded to B from status A for failure to address major weaknesses, including financial autonomy. A denotes full compliance with the Paris Principles adopted by the UN General Assembly. B denotes noncompliance.

NHRC said the ICC action follows OHCHR Nepal’s biased report about it, a claim OHCHR refutes. “OHCHR Nepal gave biased information about us to ICC portraying us as nonfunctional for getting its own term extension,” said an NHRC member. “We have explained to ICC we are wrongly depicted. We are confident we won’t be downgraded.”

In March, ICC’s Sub-committee on Accreditation had warned NHRC over four main weaknesses: non-transparency in board members’ appointment, the board’s non-inclusive nature, lack of independent status in its new draft legislation, and incapability of partnership with civil society.

NHRC officials trashed all charges. “Members’ appointment is transparent, which includes a parliamentary hearing. Ours is a five-member board, and there is little chance of making it more inclusive,” said NHRC Spokesman Gauri Pradhan. “Also, NHRC is very much capable of partnership with civil society.” Pradhan said the charges, such as on autonomy, are comments on the draft NHRC bill pending with the House. “An organisation can’t be judged according to a law that is yet to be enacted,” he said. The new bill does not recognise NHRC as “independent and autonomous”. It proposes NHRC’s recommendations be not binding on government bodies and that it should not accept foreign funding without government consent.

Officials in the know of accreditation say that the internal war among members has enervated NHRC’s defence and it might be downgraded. OHCHR, a key force influencing ICC decisions, has reported that NHRC has not improved. “We urged the government to implement ICC’s recommendations, including those on the adoption of legislation in full compliance with the Paris Principles,” reads the OHCHR report to the Universal Periodic Review where Nepal will be reviewed on Jan 25. Nowhere does it mention that NHRC has implemented the recommendations.

Anthony Cardon, Officer-in-Charge of OHCHR-Nepal said ICC’s decision is mainly based on the draft NHRC bill, which, according to ICC, is not fully compliant with the Paris Principles. “OHCHR considers the draft legislation inadequate and has said so to NHRC. OHCHR will keep advocating a draft legislation in line with the Paris Principles for a strong and independent

NHRC,” said Cardon.
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TWO SOUTH KOREANS DEPORTED; HELPED NORTH KOREAN DEFECT TO SEOUL
Kathmandu, 1 Jan.: The government has deported two South Koreans from Nepal for violating immigration laws of the country and their involvement in suspicious activities such as helping a North Korean asylum seeker defect to South Korea, The Kathmandu Post reports.
Shesh Narayan Bhandari, Legal Officer at the Department of Immigration (DoI), confirmed that Son Hak Dal was deported on Thursday night while Choi Won Sup was deported on Friday morning. The police had arrested and handed them over to the DoI in connection with violation of immigration laws. The duo landed in the soup after the revelation that they had taken a North Korean to the South Korean Embassy in New Delhi via Raxaul on the Nepal-India border without a visa or other valid documents. The duo helped Ryang Hyok Jae, 40, who was operating Kung Gang Sang restaurant on Durbarmarg reach New Delhi on Nov.23. Investigation found that the two assisted Rae flee Nepal and defect to South Korea after he incurred losses to the tune Rs. 4 million in Nepal. “It is a clear violation of immigration laws. One South Korean was staying on a family visa while the other was on a tourist visa,” Bhandari said. “South Koreans have been restricted from travelling to Nepal for one year in accordance with the law.”
The DoI also found the Koreans to be doing a vegetable business in Hetauda under the alias of Hari Chand while Choi exported honey to South Korea.
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PMO TO RETRIEVE GURLI LAND
ATHMANDU, Jan 1: Suspecting that only one-tenth of total Guthi (religious trust) land remains intact across the country, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (PMO) has decided to retrieve and restore Guthi lands from those who possess such lands illicitly and to that end expedite investigations against them, Bimal Gautam writes in Republica.
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According to government data from 2022 BS, the Nepal government has 1 million ropanis of Guthi land in hill areas, 100,000 bighas in the Tarai and 60,000 ropanis in Kathmandu Valley.
A meeting held at Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal´s offices and attended by ministers, secretaries and Guthi representatives last Tuesday decided to retrieve Guthi lands seized by individuals.

"Preliminary investigation shows that only one-tenth of total Guthi land remains intact. Rest of the land has been encroached by locals, politicians, CDOs, police chiefs or high ranking government officials," said Manoj Kumar Shah, chairperson of Dhanusha District Guthi Operation Support Committee. Shah was present at Tuesday´s meeting.

The meeting prioritized areas for retrieving seized Guthi land, mainly in Janakpur of Dhanusa and various places of Kathmandu. According to Shah, more then 200 bighas of Guthi land in Janakpur Municipality has been captured by politicians and high-ranking government officials.

The meeting decided to first collect details across the country from those who allegedly possess Guthi land. "The Ministry of Land Reform and Management and other agencies concerned are instructed to collect and furnish details about encroached Guthi lands within 15 days," reads the PMO decision, adding, "The Land Reform Ministry and agencies concerned should first conduct investigations against those who illegally possess such lands."

Suspecting that high ranking government and police officers have also captured Guthi land since years back, the meeting has decided to seek Guthi land details from CDOs, police officers and high ranking officials who worked in Dhanusha in the course of the past 10 years. PMO has asked them to furnish details within 15 days.

According to the PMO decision, the government will start destroying houses found built illegally on Guthi land in Janakpur and Kathmandu. "PMO hereby instructs local administrations to destroy houses and sheds built on encroached Guthi land," states the decision paper.

PMO has also directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and local police to cooperate with officials of the Ministry of Land Reform and Management and other agencies in the campaign to return captured Guthi lands across the country.

PMO has asked the Ministry of Land Reform and Management to furnish the exact figure on Guthi land across the country within 15 days.

"What should be the exact figure for Guthi lands and what is the current status. PMO hereby asks the Land Reform Ministry to furnish Guthi land details within 15 days," reads the decision.
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DR BHATTARAI NOT BEING EXPELLED: MAOISTS





Kathmandu, Dec 31 - UCPN-Maoist vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha Friday dismissed media speculations that the party was preparing to take disciplinary actions against another vice chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai, The Rising Nepal reports.
"The Central Committee (CC) meeting is not called for taking actions against Bhattarai as reported in media. No action is taken in our party against any leader simply because she or he presents a different view on ideological issues. Communists parties acquire ideological clarity from ideological struggle within the party," Shrestha said speaking at the Reporter’s Club.
He clarified that the CC meeting was called for bringing some reforms within the organization.
The Maoist vice-chairman stressed on a Maoist-led consensus government arguing that his party was the largest and that it, as a half stakeholder of the overall peace process, would be able to materialise the people’s aspiration for peace and new constitution. "Nation should not be kept without a government anymore. Our party is open to all alternatives" he said.
Elaborating on the party’s stance, he said that his party would also support a consensus government led by any leader of the other parties who came up with acceptable programmes

to conclude peace and constitution process.
"If both of our alternates fail, we are ready to sit in opposition and pave way for forming a majority government," he said, adding, "But the nation cannot be held hostage to uncertainty anymore."
He further said that the adoption of people’s revolt was not the party’s priority and that it would be the last resort of the party when all efforts to secure peace and statute drafting process failed. He said people’s revolt would be aimed at foiling the efforts of regressive and counterrevolutionary forces against peace and constitution. "When efforts for peace and constitution fail, even the other parties will have no alternative but people’s revolt for the same. The difference is we have spoken about the possible political development while they are keeping mum."
On the issue of extension of the tenure of the UNMIN, Shrestha argued sending UNMIN back without resolving core issues to peace process would endanger the peace process itself. He stated that sending UNMIN back would also create constitutional complexities.

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