MAOISTS TO SUMBIT GOVT. LIST WEDNESDAY

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal and Maoist Chairman Prachanda held discussions Wednesday morning on government expansion.
Maoists who decided to join government Tuesday will submit its government likely to be headed by Krishna Bahadur Mahara later Tuesday for cabinet expansion by Wednesday.
As the largest party 11 ministries have been set aside for Maoists, including home and foreign ministries, and eight for UML
Two ministries have been set aside for MJFN.
Both parties were demanding the home portfolio amid opposition from within IML and other parries not to award hom4—called ‘security-related ministry’--- to Maoists.
Khanal was elected 13 days ago with Maoist support 13 days ago; communists will dominate the government with a clear majority in parliament.
But Khanal and Prachanda have asked other parties to join the administration to give it a national character; 14 parties, inclcuding NC, oppose the communist alliance.
A section in Khanal’s UML oppose a secret seven-point controversial agreement between Khanal and Prachanda which secured the premiership for the UML chief.
A faction in the UML led by former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Oli and opposed by the party standing committee are critical of the agreement.
They disagree with a clause to form a separate force in the stats security agency with former Maoists and another clause for a rotational government chief to guarantee a Maoist will succeed Khanal.
Oli was Tuesday denied entry into Baluwatar—the official residence
of the government chief.
Minister Bishnu Puadel was also denied entry.
Including the prime minister—the small cabinet has four members from UML.
Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari—brother of Man Mohan Adhikari—the world’s first elected premier—is also finance minister;Adhikari joined government for the fourth time as chief of the finance ministry.
Minister without portfolio Bishnu Paudel was water resources ministry in the Maoist-led government of Prachanda and another minister without portfolio Ganga Lal Tuladhar is in government for the first time.
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PM, PRESIDENT MEET

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: In his first official meeting with President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal briefed the head of state om the latest political situation.
Khanal briefed Yadav on government expansion as well.
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CONTINUOUS TWO-DAY RAIN

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: Rain continued for the second day in the Valley Wednesday.
The light rain started to fall Tuesday morning and it poured in the afternoon and continued into the night,
The first spring rain continued Wednesday heartening farmers as the mercury fell.
Light rain fell only two days in the winter though the capital recorded its first snowfall in four years in January.
The Valley recorded 14.4 mm rain Tuesday while Jumla recorded 47.9 mm —the heaviest.
The while country is experiencing the wet spell Wednesday.
Heavy snowfall was recorded in the mid and far-West hills disrupting flights.
Heavy snowfall continued in Manang for the second day Wednesday.
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PALPA TRACTOR ACCIDENT KILLS TWO

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: A tractor accident in Palpa killed two persons Wednesday.
Two others were injured.
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DEPOSITORS INSURED

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: Nepal Rashtra Bank (NRB) directed development banks and fiancé companies Tuesday to insure public depositors up to Rs.200,000 with Deposit and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DDGC).
The central bank earlier asked D class financial institutions like cooperatives and micro-finance companies to insure depositors.
The move will partially protect investments of depositors.
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2.82 MILLION TONS VEGETABLE GROWN

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: Altogether 2.82 million tons of vegetables worth Rs. 48.14 billion is grown every year, according to a first survey of its kind by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The results of the survey between mid-February 2009 and mid-February 2010 were made public Tuesday.
Vegetables are cultivated in 232,295 hectares and only 61 percent
of produce is marketed.
Terai is the country’s vegetable belt where 1,437,921 tons is grown.
Cauliflower is the most popular vegetable with a production of
404,580 tons followed by tomato whose production is estimated at
317,657 tons.
Altogether 302,067 tons of cabbage is grown followed by 106,424
tons of potatoes and 164,076 tons of radish.
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22nd INDUSTRIAL FAIR FROM THURSDAY

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: The annual five-day 22nd industrial fair will begin at Bhrikuti Mandap in the capital Thursday.
The 250 stalls at the fair will showpiece produce of all 75 districts.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

‘Why aren’t parties efforting an understanding even though differences have been identified? I ask parties to conduct a dialogue and unite.”

(Subash Nemwang, Kantipur, 16 Feb.)

‘Although they [foreigners] have penetrated the country, no matter how powerful the are, either they don’t want to or can’t ensure stability.”

(Yabaraj Ghimere, Naya Patrika, Feb.16.)

‘Government’s life span is very short as it was formed on the basis of conspiracies.”

(NC leader Ram Chandra Paudel, The Himalayan Times, 16 Feb.)

‘I told the prime minister that my party will not join the government until the four conditions are met.”

(MJFN Chairman Upendra Yadav, Republica, 16 Feb.)

“Our leaders don’t criticize each other in a room but curse each other from hilltops.”

(UML leader Pradip Nepal, Budhabar, 16 Feb.)
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NEPALI IN QATAR WINS RS. 20 MILLION LOTTERY

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: Jaya Mangal Yadav of Bhairahawa collected one million riyals or 20 million rupees in a lucky draw at Doha in Qatar.ipur reports from Doha.
Another worker Nara Bahadur Basnet of Baglung collect he second price—a Prado.
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PM, PRACHANDA ACCORD





Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: In an attempt to remove misgivings surrounding the much-talked about 7-point pact, Ritu Raj Subedi writes in The Rising Nepal.
Prime Minister and CPN-UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda Tuesday inked another agreement that amends some clauses of the previous deal and sets the stage for cabinet expansion.
Both the leaders expressed their commitment to the spirit of the seven-point deal. However, the complementary accord made changes on some clauses of previous deal that irked opposition the Nepali Congress and some big guns within the UML.
"The main objective of the agreement is to conclude the peace and the statute writing processes through the Special Committee based on consensus among the parties and Comprehensive Peace Agreement," said the joint statement issued following the meeting of top leaders of two parties.
This is a departure from the seven-point deal that envisioned forming a separate force of Maoist combatants, which raised eyebrows of many.
The two leaders said that they were committed to national consensus encompassing all major parties. This corrects the earlier point on ‘rotational leadership’ of the government by the two parties.
NC and other parties had come down heavily on the agreement, stating that it undermined the consensual politics by limiting the leadership of the government to the two parties.
"We call upon all the political parties not to be carried away by any doubt or illusion, and participate in the political process by preserving the republic, federalism, loktantra, secularism, proportionate representation, inclusiveness and social justice," it read.
Earlier, the seven-point deal stressed drafting the ‘people’s inclusive constitution’, which a major faction of ruling UML objected.
Khanal and Prachanda appealed to all parties to join the present government and clarified that they would move ahead on the basis of consensus among the parties.
"The new deal has cleared all confusions regarding the seven-point deal," said Surya Thapa, secretary of UML Publicity Department, talking to The Rising Nepal
Thapa said that the agreement had created an environment to expand the cabinet, which he said, would get a shape in a few days.
Asked about the lobbying of UML central committee members close to former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal and leader KP Sharma Oli against the agreement, Thapa said, "They (disgruntled UML leaders) were not talking about policy but insisted on not granting Home Ministry to the Maoists."
Thapa said that there was no agreement on giving the Home portfolio to the Maoists.
The media reports have that PM Khanal agreed to award Home to the Maoists.
With today’s deal, no leader needs to fuss over the 7-point deal, said Thapa and added, "If somebody continues to protest the 7-point deal, s/he will just be affecting ignorance."




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GOVT,HEALTH SERVICE HAMPERED BY MUSHROOMNG MEDICAL COLLEGE





Kathmandu, 16 Feb.:- Mushrooming medical colleges in Kathmandu Valley would affect the government’s medical services, health officials said, Gita Sapkota writes in The Rising Nepal.
These colleges hired doctors working in the government hospital as teachers and this hampered the services, Dr. Kedar Narsingh K.C, chairman of Nepal Medical Association said.
The government provided licenses to several medical colleges, which were lucrative businesses in Nepal, while the services at the government hospital suffered.
Each new education minister issued licenses without regard to the quality of medical colleges, they said.
Attractive salary offered by medical colleges lured doctors away from government hospitals, Dr. K.C said.
According to Dr. K.C., a doctor who received Rs. 20,000 a month in a government hospital, for example, got Rs. 100,000 in a medical college.
Ironically, six new medical colleges were in the offing even though the existing ones were running out of students.
Norvic Hopital, Manmohan Memorial Hospital and Model Hospital of Kathmandu are planning to transform themselves into medical colleges.
These new colleges were sure to draw in doctors from outside the valley where the government health institutions would face their shortage, Dr. K.C. said.
Chitwan Medical College, running in the second year, roped in Dr. Aananda Regmi, and Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, from Narayani Zonal Hospital.
Eight others followed suit.
Dr. Suresh Kumar Kanodia, president of Association of Private Medical and Dental Colleges of Nepal, said the government should carry out a need analysis before issuing licenses to establish medical colleges.
"The National Planning Commission never analyses the ratio of medical colleges and population," Dr. Kanodia said.
Nepal’s medical study is regarded to be better than many places abroad.
"But if licenses are issued without adequate homework, the products of the new colleges will not be different from those returning from study in China, Russia and elsewhere," Dr Govinda Sharma, surgeon and former VC of the Tribhuwan University, said.
Currently, 16 medical colleges and four dental colleges are in operation in the country.
Among them, 12 are private medical colleges. The private sector started opening medical colleges from 1993.
Several colleges ran classes without meeting basic conditions like human resources, buildings and labs.




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NEPAL ASKS QATAR TO QUIT PRESIDENTIAL RACE
Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: Nepal has officially made a request to Qatar to give up its presidential candidacy for the 66th UN General Assembly (PGA 2011-12), Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.
However, both countries are adamant on the PGA post and they have agreed to continue bilateral consultations in this respect in the coming days.
In meetings with visiting Sate Minister for International Cooperation Dr. Khalid Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah on Tuesday, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari made separate requests, stressing that Nepal has the greater claim to the post for various reasons. Nepal and Qatar are vying for the UN’s top post this time from the Asian group.
The Nepali side conveyed that Nepal announced its candidacy nine years back, it played an important role in UN after joining the global body in 1955, was elected twice to the UN Security Council and is among the sixth largest troop contributing country to the UN’s various peacekeeping missions.
Both sides maintained that formal consultations have begun in respect to the candidacy but agreed to contest the election in a very friendly way and based on fair play. “The PGA election should not bring mar the excellent political and economic bilateral relations that exist between the two countries,” the prime minister’s Foreign Relations Advisor Milan Tuladhar told the Post.
The Qatari minister, here as a special envoy of the Qatari Prime Minister, said the Emir of Qatar is keen on seeing Qatar lead the UN general assembly. “We are friendly countries, and there is no need to make a ruckus over the claim,” he said. He added that Qatar is investing more than US $ 150 billion on execution of various infrastructure projects within 2020 where vast opportunities for foreign employment exist. The official guest returns home Wednesday morning
“We both agreed that the election dynamics and bilateral economic relations are two different issues. Whoever wins, it will not affect bilateral relations,” said Tuladhar.
If the Asian troika—Fiji, Pakistan and Iran—fail to reach a conclusion by Feb. 25 on a common candidate, the UN will hold a secret ballot in September.
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DISQUALIFIED COMBATANTS LEFT HIGH AND DRY

Kathmandu, 16 Feb .: Parwati Bohara, a disqualified combatant, who arrived from Baitadi to Dhangadhi to receive training as part of rehabilitation, has run out of money to return home. She also doesn´t have money for food and lodging. Dil Bahadur Chatyal writes n Republica from Dhangadhi..

“I was making myself useful at home taking care of cattle. They invited me for training, and now I am stranded here,” said Bohara.
She had come to Dhangadhi carrying just travel fare, as she had been told that food and lodging expenses would be taken care of.

The United Nations was supposed to start the training on February 9. But the training has still not started. Nearly a dozen disqualified combatants who arrived in Dhangadhi from various hilly districts in the far-western region are now stranded here with little money at their disposal.

“I had arrived here carrying just Rs 4,000 that I had borrowed, as I had been told that I would receive food and lodging allowance during the training period. I don´t have any money left now,” said Dhan Singh Dhami, who came from Shankarpur of Darchula district. “There is no one we know here. We are marooned,” he added.

The disqualified combatants arrived here from districts including Darchula, Baitadi and Dadeldhura to receive cell phone repair training.

They are staying in two rented rooms at Motipur Chowk of Dhangadhi.

“The owners of the house where we have rented the rooms are also asking for money,” said Himal Karki, who came from Dedeldhura. “Even the eateries are not willing to feed us as we don´t have money,” he added.

The disqualified combatants alleged that UN staffers have not shown any concern for them despite communicating their problem.

“Raju Aryal, a UN staff told us to return home and said information about the training will reach us by February 27,” Karki said.

Bhoj Bahadur Bam, another disqualified combatant, said he was not too keen to participate in the training. “But they made phone calls, and even sent people to request me to participate. And now, I have been left on my own,” he said.

The term “disqualified” has made these people susceptible to social ostracism. They also face problems supporting their family as they have no source of income. This has led to a deep sense of despair in them.

They say training does not attract them so much as there is no job guarantee after training.

The scheduled training was suspended indefinitely in Dhangadhi on February 9 after some disqualified combatants vandalized the UN office there. One of the disqualified combatants is in police custody for suspected involvement in the vandalism.

Disqualified combatants claim the vandalism resulted after the training did not start on time, and they were made to wait for hours outside the office gate while trying to talk to UN staffers about allegations of misuse of funds.

UN staffer Raju Aryal could not be contacted for comments.
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GARBAGE LAW IN DISTBIN

Kathmandu, 16 Feb.: KATHMANDU: Though the Local Self Governance Act, enacted 12 years ago, provisions a fine of Rs 15,000 and three-month jail to people throwing waste at public places, breachers are seldom brought to book, The Himalayan Times reports. .

Pashupati Shrestha, businessman at Old Baneshwor, said he had never heard of any action taken against violators. “Pollution is on the rise with waste dumped on streets or public places. However, authorities are indifferent to the issue,” he said.

“If action is taken, people will be forced to change their behaviour,” he added.

“Neither the municipality collects garbage from the streets nor they act against breachers,” said Ganga Chaulagai, resident of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)-34. “The ones who throw waste at public places should not be allowed to exercise their municipal rights,” she said.

Dr Sumitra Amatya, General Manager at Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre (SWMRMC) under Ministry of Local Development admitted that there was no effective implementation of the law. “The law is unclear,” she said, adding, “The ministry makes rules and municipalities should execute them.”

According to KMC, there is no record of action taken against violators. However, KMC officials claimed they had taken action in recent months, after KMC placed more than 1,000 bins at busy centres of the city.

“We have charged Rs 3,000 each from about 50 persons and kept two persons in two-day custody with the help of Nepal Police, besides a fine of Rs 10,000 for violating the rule,” said Rabin Man Shrestha, Deputy Chief at Environment Management Department, KMC.

About 7,000 metric tonnes of waste is produced daily in Kathmandu Valley, according to SWMRMC.

SWMRMC had prepared a draft of Waste Management Act about five years ago, which was presented to the parliament last year. “If this bill is approved, it will be easier to take action,” said Dr Amatya.
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