MAOIST STANDING TO ADOPT OFFICIAL POSITION TOWARDS GOVT. THURSDAY; OTHER DETAILS

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: Maoist standing committee will adopt its official party position Thursday on an amended 7-point secret and controversial agreement with Prime Minister and UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal who was elected government chief 3 February.
Maoists Wednesday asked UML for further clarifications on the party’s ‘hazy’ amendment to the agreement which Maoists are insisting must be implemented.
Maoists expressed dissatisfaction with the amendment after seeking clarifications from UML Wednesday following changes from within UML.
“Further doubts have been created by the UML central committee decision,” Maoist Vice-chairman Narayan Kazi Shrestha said.
Before the committee meeting, Khanal again held discussions with his counterpart from UCPN (Maoist).
Khanal said after the talks,” Discussions were positive and government will be expanded. I attempted a clarification. I feel they are clarified.”
‘They have attempted to clarify it. Some aspects can be interpreted differently. Our official party position will be clear after the committee meeting,” Prachanda said.
The prime minister is pushing the deal with Maoists amid stiff opposition from a faction in his party led by former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP, Oli amid charges of polarizing national politics between communists and democrats,
UML central committee Tuesday amended the Khanal/Prachanda agreement that propelled the UML chairman to power in Singha Durbar. Amid opposition in UML and Maoist decision not to immediately join government, Khanal hasn’t been able to expand a four-member cabinet in three weeks.
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PRESIDENT LEAVES FOR KUWAIT FRIDAY

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav is beginning a three-day Kuwait visit Friday as revolt against regimes that spread from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and even spread to the Gulf.
The first president is leaving for his third foreign visit on invitation of the emir of Kuwait.
Dr.Yadav will participate in the 50th independence day of the emirate, its 20th liberation day from Iraq and the emir’s accession to the throne.
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PM CONDOLES NEW ZEALAND DEATHS

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal has condoled the deaths of at least 75 persons in a devastating New Zealand earthquake in a message to his counterpart.
More than 300 others are missing, fresh reports said.
Billions of dollars in damage has been reported.
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THREE-PARTY SUMMIT THURSDAY

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: A summit of the Big Three is being held Thursday—the first such meeting between Maoists, NC and UML with the election of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.
A majority communist government is emerging as NC has decided to stay in the opposition.
Maoists have decided to lend the government outside support as they decide
whether to join the government or not.
An uncertain situation prevails amid fears the second 28 May deadline to promulgate a constitution to institutionalize a declared republic may o be met.
The talks are being held at the peace ministry.
The integration of former Maoist combatants, constitution drafting and other issues will be discussed.
The Big Three Wednesday decided to form a sub-committee in the main constitution drafting committee headed by Nilambar Acharya to discuss 80 contentious issues for inclusion in a basic law.
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HOUSES ON ENCROACHED NEPALI LAND DEMOLISHED

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: More than a dozen houses constructed on land encroached by Indians at Maheshpur-4 in south Jhapa have been demolished by Nepal Police and armed Police Force (APF), Radio Nepal sad,
India’s SSB were by notified by Nepal, state radio said.
Indians from across the border encroached and constructed the illegal hutments.
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ASIAN GROUP MEETS 25 FEB. TO SELECT CANDIDATE FOR UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENCY

Kathmandu, 24 Feb. The Asian Group meets in New York 25 February to select its candidate for the presidency of the UN general assembly in September.
Nepal has fielded Kul Chandra Gautam—a retired UN employee.
Government didn’t withdraw his candidacy in favour of Qatar.
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ISRAELI WOMEN TRAFFICKER ARRESTED

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: Cameron Hein, an Israeli woman trafficker, was arrested at Tribhuvan International Airport Wednesday before boarding a flight for Bangkok with contraband hashish.
Eleven kg hashish was recovered from her.
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TRADE, COMMERCE, ECONOMY


INFLATION TOUCHES 11.3 PERCENT

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: Inflation touched 11.3 percent in six months of the current fiscal year 2011/12 ending mid-January with increased transport, petroleum and food costs, according to Nepal Rashtra Bank (NRB).
“Prices of vegetables, meat and food products have risen pushing overall inflation by double digit,” central bank Spokesman Bhaskar Mani Geywali said.
Vegetable process soared 67.4 percent as fruit spice prices increased 26.7 and 22.6percent respectively.
Prices of cereal grains and related products, meat and fish and milk and eggs increased 15.5, 9.5 and 14 percent respectively.
Wholesale price of petroleum and coals jumped 17.9 percent.
Overall balance of payment (BoP) deficit in the review period was Rs 4.43 billion compared to Rs. 15.64 billion the same period the previous year.
The current account deficit was Rs 3.53 billion compared to Rs 25.07 billion in the same period last year.
Freight on board (FoB)-based merchandise trade deficit dropped 3.3 percent to Rs 147.99 billion—deficit grew by 60.7 percent in the same period last year.
Service account deficit declined 28.5 percent to Rs.5.26 billion compared to 6.8 percent last year to Rs. 7.35 billion.
Net transfer account registered a 12.8 wroth to Rs 146.71 billion.
In the period under review, Rs 4.46 million direct foreign investment was recorded compared to only Rs 966 million the same period the previous year.
Merchandise exports increased 5.9 percent to Rs 32.63 billion while merchandise imports declined 1.6 percent to Rs 185.83 billion.
Exports to India jumped 9.7 percent compared to a 4.1 fall last year.
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CONSTITUTION DRAFTING COMMITTEE MEETS

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: The main constitution drafting began meeting Thursday under chairmanship of Nilambar Acharya,
The meeting is expected to form a sub-committee to iron out differences on 80 contentious topics to be included in a proposed constitution.
The Big Three agreed to form such a sub-committee Wednesday.
Constituent assembly Chairman Subash Nemwang has said even if a constitution is drafted, there’ll be no time to take it to the people for discussion as envisaged.
The process has to be shortened, he suggested.
Eight weeks was set aside for public discussion; suggestions from people were to be incorporated in the final draft of the basic law.
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NESPE INDEX FALLS BELOW POINTS

Kathmandu, 24 Feb. Nepse index fell below 400 points and market closed at 398.5 points at the end of trading Wednesday.
The sensitive index fell 0.74 points and float index dropped 0.25 points.
Except hydropower subgroup, share prices of companies of all subgroups fell.
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SPORTS

NEPAL MEETS HONG KONG

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: Nepal plays defending champion Hong Kong in the semi-final of the ACC T20 women’s cricket championship in Kuwait Thursday.
Nepal toped Group B defeating Thailand, UAE, Malaysia add host Kuwait.
Hong Kong beat Nepal in the last edition of the championship.
China will play Thailand in other Group A semi-final after beating Singapore in the last group match Wednesday.
The second semi-final is also being played Thursday.
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MEDIA GOGGLE

“The present administrative structure of the judiciary and its working procedure should be maintained. If it’s changed, an independent judiciary can’t be kept alive.”

(Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha, Nagarik, 24 Feb.)

“In the present context, nobody but communists can be the biggest patriots.”

(UML leader Pradip Nepal, Annapurna Post, 24 Feb.)
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KP OLI BOYCOTTS PM RECEPTION

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: UML leader KP Sharma Oli didn’t attend a dinner meeting organized by Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal at Baluwatar for UML leaders Wednesday, Annapurna Post reports.
Oli was denied entry to the official residence of the prime minister the day he was installed.
The dinner was organized after the meeting of the party central committee and as central leaders prepare to visit districts.
Former Prime Minister MAdhav Kumar Nepal was present.
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500 NEPALIS RESCIUED FROM LIBYA





Kathmandu, Feb. 23 - The government has made preparations to rescue about 500 Nepali citizens from Darnah of Libya after disturbances there intensified. Details of Nepali nationals, reported to be around 3000, were being collected, Ram Prasad Dahal writes in The Rising Nepal.
Deputy spokesperson Harish Chandra Ghimire of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) informed The Rising Nepal Wednesady that the Foreign Ministry of Egypt has assigned its liaison officer to facilitate the rescue process.
"I just got the information that the Foreign Ministry of Egypt has given this responsibility to its officer to help us in the rescue," he said.
The Cairo-based Nepali mission is taking necessary steps to bring back Nepalese affected by the ongoing unrest in Libya.
The Foreign Ministry of Egypt has also given a positive response the Nepali mission in Cairo to issue temporary entry visas based on travel documents to Nepali citizens who would come back to Egypt from Libya.
Earlier, the Nepali mission had requested to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry for help in issuing temporary entry visas to Nepali citizens.
Libya and Egypt share a common border and it takes nine hours to travel form Libyan capital Tripoli to the Egyptian capital Cairo by road. The travel costs approximately US $ 500 per head.
MoFA also directed its Cairo mission to send details of budget needed to rescue the 500 citizens as soon as possible.
"Tomorrow, the mission would send the details. Soon after that, we will arrange the budget," Ghimire said.
"As soon as they come to Cairo, they will be airlifted to Kathmandu." Nepalese in Libya are mostly working as construction or industrial labourers. MOFA also informed that the government was concerned over the violent protests taking place in Libya, and said as of now, no casualty of Nepali nationals has been reported yet.
"We are constantly receiving feedback from our Cairo based mission and other sources about the condition of Nepali citizens. We have already initiated shifting affected Nepalis from Libya to secure places, particularly Egypt," Ghimire said, adding, "MoFA, Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, foreign employment agencies, Libyan employment agencies and the Nepali mission in Cairo are working closely."

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SPECIAL COMMITTEE SECRETARIAT PKAYS ACTION PLAN

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: The UCPN (Maoist) has finally agreed to part of a plan of action that enables the secretariat under the Special Committee to seek a budget from the Nepal Peace Trust Fund (NPTF) and acquire the required human resources, Republica reports.

According to Dr Dipak Prakash Bhatt, a secretariat member, the secretariat on Monday unanimously endorsed the plan of action, excluding a proposal on setting up a situation center, and forwarded it to NPTF, a government-managed multi-donor fund.

The situation center is a mechanism conceived to serve as a focal point to which arms and army monitors deputed at the cantonments are supposed to report.

Though prepared some months ago, the plan had been in limbo after Maoist representatives at the secretariat said they needed a directive from their leadership for its endorsement. NPTF is also unable to release the budget it is supposed to provide to the secretariat, for lack of a consensus plan of action. As a result, the secretariat is without a budget even to pay salaries to the arms and army monitors deployed at the cantonments and to cover day-to-day expenses for monitoring work.

With the latest development, the secretariat will have a staff of 23, including a joint-secretary and two under-secretaries, and will set up a fully functioning office.

The plan could not be endorsed in its totality as the Maoist representatives continued to have reservations on establishing a situation center that will remain open round the clock to receive reports from the cantonments.

"We maintain that a decision on the kind of mechanism for reporting should be taken before setting up a situation center," said Chandra Prakash Khanal, a Maoist representative on the secretariat.

The Maoists have also floated an alternative to the situation center. "We are discussing personal assistants for secretariat members and they will also work as a focal point for reporting. The situation center may not be needed," said Khanal

PLA not getting salary

The Cantonment Management Office has not been able to pay the salary of most PLA members due to lack of an independent observer to monitor salary distribution, following the departure of UNMIN on January 15.

"The existing guidelines on distribution of salaries to the PLA require us to pay salary to the PLA in the presence of an independent observer. Before its withdrawal, UNMIN used to play that role. A ministerial decision is needed to designate another observer but we do not yet have a minister at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction," said an official at the Cantonment Management Office.

Government officials have already reported this problem to Maoist representatives at the secretariat of the Special Committee, a government-formed body in command of the PLA.

"The PLA in some cantonments have not been paid their salaries for the past two months while the entire PLA has been without salary for the month of Magh," said Khanal.


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CA EXTENSION DATE IRREVOCBLE
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Kathmandu, 24 Feb.: Delivering its verdict on the row over legality of the decision to extend tenure of the Constituent Assembly (CA) by a year, the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that the Interim Constitution has not set any mandatory deadline for the completion of constitution drafting process, The Kathmandu Post writes..

A special bench of SC justices Balaram KC, Girish Chandra Lal and Prakash Wasti said since the endorsement of the “document of compromise” from the 601-member assembly was not an easy task, the term extension should not be taken otherwise. The verdict is in response to a writ filed last year claiming that CA had a fixed two-year deadline and its the last minute extension by amending the constitution was illegal.

“The two-year deadline for drafting the new constitution mentioned in Article 64 is not a mandatory provision, but a directory one,” states the full text verdict released last week. “If we accept the petitioners’ argument, the process of constitution writing will come to an end. Such notion will not only backpedal the constitutional development process, but will also create chaos in the state affair.”

Critics of CA extension, however, have registered their reservation about the court’s ruling maintaining that the decision was “out of context”. “It is a wrong verdict because we can’t just simply say the Constituent Assembly should continue as long as the earth exists in the universe,” said Constitutional Lawyer Bhimarjun Acharya. “The parties should have taken people’s consent through an election or referendum if they want to extend the Constituent Assembly deadline.”

Lawyers Bijay Raj Shakya and Kamlesh Diwadi had filed the petition demanding nullification of the term extension and return of allowances and salaries drawn by the lawmakers within the extended duration. The court, however, rejected this demand maintaining that there is no alternative to drafting the new constitution through CA. The court said the constitution drafting can’t be completed in haste without give-and-take on key issues like forms of governance and state restructuring.

The court has also upheld the Article 82 of Interim Constitution that says the work of the Constituent Assembly will cease once the new constitution is endorsed. In doing so, the special bench has said Article 64 of the constitution should be analysed after the “constructive, purposive and harmonious interpretation” of the preamble, Article 82 and Article 33 (d). The apex court has stressed the need for urgency to complete constitution drafting and has cautioned that the dissolution of CA would bring in constitutional void and chaos in the country. “The death of the Constituent Assembly is not the solution of the problem. So initiative and pressure from all the quarters for drafting of the constitution will be positive step.” The court can’t scrap the CA’s extension and end the current constitutional regime, adds the verdict.
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JUDICIARY TO ISSUE BLACKLIST OF ABSCONDERERS

Kathmandu, 24 Feb.To address rising impunity, the judiciary has come up with a plan to crack down on the estimated 300,000 convicted criminals who are still on the loose. Officials said that the names of those eluding justice along with the fines and prison terms fixed for them would be posted on the Supreme Court’s (SC) website by mid-July, Kamal Raj Sigdel writes in The Kathmandu Post.
All courts across the country are currently working with SC’s Judgment Execution Directorate (JED) to prepare a database of court judgments that are awaiting implementation. “Around 40,000 names have been registered so far, which means we are almost halfway through,” said JED Director General Mahendra Nath Upadhyaya. “We are hopeful of publishing the list by mid-July through different outlets,” added SC Registrar Ram Krishna Timilsena.
Over 100,000 court verdicts are unimplemented, leading to impunity for an average of three lawbreakers in each case and around 300,000 in total. Of them, only 300 have been arrested and sent to jail while around Rs. 200 million in fine has been collected in the last one year, according to JED’s latest statistics. SC’s annual report released on Monday stated that it is yet to raise Rs. 3.99 billion in fines and implement a total of 79,879 years of prison sentences issued against thousands of convicts.
Officials are hopeful that there will be significant progress in addressing impunity issues once the database is prepared. JED plans to make two types of blacklists: a simple list of defaulters which will be accessible to everyone, and an advanced list of defaulters containing detailed information to be made available to a certain number of government offices that serve or deal with a large number of clients. According to the plan, government offices with access to the database will refuse services to those clients who appear in the blacklist. “This will hopefully help us collect unpaid fines and arrest absconding convicts,” said JED Director Rajendra Kumar Acharya.
For the last one year, JED has been “manually” sharing the list of defaulters with certain government offices which have cooperated with the court in arresting absconding convicts.
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DEFORESTATION PROBE PUTS 100 UP A TREE
Kathmandu, 24 Feb. “There can be neither civilisation nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe,” Anton Pavlovich Chekhov had said way back in 1888. To save us the horror, a commission formed to investigate into reported rampant deforestation and corruption has recommended the government to initiate action against more than 100 officials, Ramesh Prasad Bhusal writes in The Himalayan Times.

Following mounting pressure in the wake of media reports and estimation by the parliamentary committee on natural resources on means that the country witnessed the worst deforestation in the last 30 years in 2010, the government had formed a Judicial Commission headed by former Judge Govinda Prasad Parajuli on July 12.

According to sources, the Parajuli-led commission has recommended action against more than 100 people — ranging from forest guards to high-level officials at the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and the community forest users’ groups.

In a confidential report handed over to Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal today, the commission has recommended action against district forest officers from Panchthar, Bara, Dadeldhura, Kailali, Surkhet, Ilam, Udayapur, Sarlahi and Sindhuli districts, which were said to have witnessed the worst deforestation.

However, members of the commission refused to disclose the content of the report. But sources said more than 200 people — ranging from forest guards to former forest minister Deepak Bohara — were interrogated during the investigation and about 100 names have been recommended for action.

“The prime minister has expressed his commitment to implement the commission’s recommendation,” said PM Khanal’s press adviser Surya Thapa.

The 360-page report has tried to find out lapses in policy, system, legal aspect and irregularities in tree felling, wood trading and distribution.

“It is a very a sensitive issue as involvement of even high-level authorities has come to light. The chain of corruption is very strong, which needs to be broken at the earliest to save the forests,” said a source seeking anonymity.

The five-and-a-half months investigation was carried out by conducting on-field visits in more than 12 districts. “Bureaucrats’ involvement in corruption has been seen in many cases and almost all actors in the forestry sector are directly or indirectly involved in irregularities,” added the source.

“We have submitted the report to the prime minister and the ball is in the government’s court,” said Parajuli.

Officials at the ministry said the document has not been disclosed to anyone at the ministry. “I don’t have any idea about the content of the document, as it was not shown to me, but I was invited to the Office of the Prime Minister during the handover ceremony,” said Yubaraj Bhusal, Secretary, MoFSC.
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