MAOISTS WON’T JOIN GOVT. BUT WILL SUPORT IT

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: Maoists said Thursday they won’t join the government of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal who assumed office last Thursday.
Khanal hasn’t assembled a government even eight days after assuming office.
But the party will support it from outside.
Without a government, two sessions of parliament have been postponed through notices on the board; a third meeting has been scheduled Thursday.
According to legislative regulation, at least one minister has to be present when parliament is in session.
Maoists decided not to join the government after an inconclusive meeting between Khanal and Maoist Chairman Prachanda Thursday morning.
They were assisted by aides.
But UML decided to install its government team in the council of ministers Thursday even as Maoists decided not to join government.
Bharat Mohan Adhikari will be deputy prime minister and finance minister while Bishnu Paudel and Ganga Lal Tuladhar will be ministers without portfolio.
UML has previously set aside the home ministry to Paudel.
Maoists sought clarification from UML on the secret seven-point agreement between Khanal and Prachanda that propelled Khanal to power ending seven months of uncertainty.
Madhav Kumar Nepal continued for seven months as caretaker
Premier after Maoists forced his to resign.
Political uncertainty continues even after the election of Khanal who has under heavy criticism in the party and from other parties for the
deal.
Khanal agreed with Prachanda to create a separate and
independent force with former Maoist fighters in the state security agency and share premiership with Maoists on a rotational basis.
The return of Maoists to government as head of the administration was ensured with the agreement; the party control over an armed state security agency was ensured with the agreement as well.
The creation of a separate security agency with Maoists only would create a serious problem in the future.
UML standing committee demanded the agreement be redefined
Both Maoists and UML sought control of the home portfolio.
“The pact has pushed the country toward leftist polarization, “Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala said.
RPP Wednesday opposed the seven-point secret agreement between Prime Minister Khanal and Maoist Chairman Prachanda through a statement.
Saying it’s against the spirit of the interim constitution.
“When the Maoist fighters have come under the special committee for their management, it’s against national understanding and the spirit of the interim constitution for two parties- UML and UCPN (Maoist)—to decide separately on the fighters,” a statement said after a meeting of the party central business committee.
The 19,000 plus former fighters were brought under the chain and command
of a special committee headed by the prime minister for their integration resettlement.
Maoists have renegaded of the issue.
Following a meeting between UML and Maoists, Narayan Kazi Shrestha charged Khanal’s party for ’taking back’ its support for the
seven-point agreement.
“Serious questions have arisen,” the Maoist vie-chairman said. ”UML is not committed.:
Shrestha said some in the UML have sought amendments in the agreement.
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UNOFFICE VANDALIZED
Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: Seven former Maoist fighters were arrested Wednesday after vandalizing the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights in Dhangadi in Kailali.
The fighters broke into the office and smashed widows and smashed three parked vehicles.
They charged the UN agency for failing to rehabilitate them.
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BANGLADESH FOREIGN MINSTER ARRIVING

Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni is holding discussions with Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal and former Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala.
Dr. Moni is returning home through Nepal after attending the conference of the council of ministers of the eight-nation SAARC that ended in Thimpu, Bhutan, Wednesday.
Khanal hasn’t assembled a government even after assuming office eight days ago.
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GLAZED CARS ONLY FOR PRESIDENT, PM

Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: The supreme court Wednesday directed the
government to provide glazed cars only to the prime minister and the president.
A government directive banning blazed vehicles wasn’t being implemented a government
A bench of Balaram KC and Bharat Raj Uprety issued the verdict.
The bench noted the directive should help curb such as abduction and rape that are on the rise.
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HEART DISEASE, OBESITY ON RISE IN NEPAL


Kathmandu, 8 Feb.:—A new World Bank report warns that Nepal is facing a health crisis with rising rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which disproportionately affect poor families, with possible side effects of disability and premature death, and worsening poverty as people pay for medical treatment out of their own pockets.

According to the new report "Capitalizing on the Demographic Transition: Tackling Noncommunicable Diseases in South Asia" heart disease in the region is now the leading cause of death in adults aged 15-69, and that South Asians suffer their first heart attacks six years earlier than other groups worldwide.
Nepal is also susceptible to risk factors of NCDs including smoking and alcohol consumption. Tobacco use among women is the highest among South Asian countries at 28 percent while smoking prevalence among youth is among the highest at 13 percent for boys and 5 percent for girls. The prevalence of hazardous and harmful drinking is also high.
“This unfair burden is especially harsh on poor people, who, after heart attacks, face lifelong major illnesses, have to pay for their medical care out of their savings or by selling their possessions, and then find themselves caught in a poverty trap where they neither can get better nor work,” says co-author Michael Engelgau, M.D., a World Bank Senior Public Health Specialist on secondment from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the report, with average life expectancy in Nepal now at 67 years and rising, people are getting older without better living conditions.
According to Consultant Cardiologist at Bir Hospital, Dr. Prakash Raj Regmi, NCDs have now been shifting from aged people to younger, from wealthy people to poor. Statistics show that 10 years ago, NCDs used to be a mere 20 percent of the whole disease spectrum, when communicable diseases used to exceed 80 percent. But now, NCDs stand to be 49 percent, while communicable disease stand to be 51 percent.

“Figures show that NCDs have been increasing dramatically in the country. If preventive measures are not taken now, NCDs will become epidemic by 2020,” said Dr. Regmi. He added that the main cause of rapid increase in NCDs was unhealthy lifestyle. If NCDs are to be controlled, there needs to be reduction in risk factors like smoking, imbalanced diet, obesity and mental stress so as to curb NCDs by 90 percent.

Sound the alarm, another physician at Kathmandu Model College, Dr. Arpana Neupane said, “The government has to give high priority to contain NCDs by allocating budget and making special separate programmes if it wants to prevent the worst situation in future,” said Arpana Neupane, a physician at Kathmandu Model College.
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SPORTS

NEPAL PLAYS AFGHANISTAN

Kathmandu, 10 Feb. Nepal plays Afghanistan in the final of the ACC
U-19 Elite Cup cricket tournament in Bangkok Thursday.
Nepal earlier beat Afghanistan in a group match during the
Tournament.
Rahul Kumar Viswakarma is the stand-in captain.
Nepal qualified for the final beating Qatar in the semi-final.
Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first, latest reports from Bangkok said.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“We were just working to form a network or alliance of Madeshi communist leaders in order to strengthen our voice. The reports of a new party
are baseless.”

(UCPN- Maoist politburo member Prabhu Shah, The Kathmandu Post, 10 Feb.)

“I would wound have won [election for prime minister] confidently had I been nominated. But nobody listened. The party [NC] made la mistake by not nominating me.”

(Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nagarik, 10 Feb.)

“In UML politics, Bishnu Paudel and Ganga Lal Tuladhar [proposed ministers] are leaders of two groups. If groupism and nepotism
continues to prevail in the party, I’ll quit as politburo and central committee member and remain only as an ordinary member.”

(Ramchandra Jha, Annapurna Post, 10 Feb.)
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MoHA TO USE EC DATA FOR NID

Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: National Identity Card (NID) Centre operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has decided to use data to be collected by the Election Commission (EC) during its voter registration on the basis of citizenship certificates, Bimal Gautam writs in Republica..

A Supreme Court (SC) verdict has paved the way for both the NID Centre and the EC to move ahead simultaneously. Details about individuals and the documents needed for the electoral roll and for the NID -- also know as smart card -- are similar.

Therefore, the government has decided to introduce the cards in coordination with the ministries concerned and the Election Commission.

According to officials at MoHA, the ministry, with the support of the NID Centre, will start introducing the NID after completing work on the new electoral roll, which will be developed electronically with photos and fingerprints of the eligible voters.

Ending a long-standing dispute over whether or not to make citizenship documents mandatory in the voter registration process, the SC on Monday ordered the EC to register voters only on the basis of the citizenship certificate.

“The newly drafted bill on NID requires one to produce a Nepali citizenship certificate to claim the NID. Following the SC verdict, the EC is expected to register voters on the basis of documentary evidence of citizenship. And we will use EC data for that purpose,” Under Secretary Pralhad Pokharel at MoHA informed Republica.

Following the EC´s decision some four months back to accept documents other than citizenship certificates in the voter registration process, MoHA had decided not to accept EC data for the NID.

The government will start distributing the NID after the EC completes the new electoral roll and the bill is approved by parliament.

The cabinet already gave its nod to introducing the NID Act when it endorsed a bill floated by MoHA.

According to Under Secretary Pokharel, the decision to use EC particulars for the NID will also save dual costs, human resources and technical equipment.

Those 16 years old or above will be eligible for NID cards, as per the newly drafted bill.

“Data to be collected by the EC is expected to be factual and we will have no problem in using such data,” Pokharel added.

As per the commitment expressed in the annual budget speech in July, the cabinet had endorsed a plan to introduce the NID.

“Only personal details and particulars based on evidence of citizenship will be used for the NID. Those failing to show citizenship will not be eligible for NID,” Under Secretary Pokharel said.

According to him, the electronic smart cards will include photos and biometric data of the card holders.

The card, which will gradually replace the traditional citizenship cards, is to be machine-readable, similar to an ATM card.
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PM’S POLICY PAPER READIED
Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: Amid friction between CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) over the seven-point deal and portfolio allocation, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s team has completed a draft of the policy statement outlining the government’s position on peace and constitution-drafting processes, Bhadra Sharma writes in The Kathmandu Post. .

The statement, which will be presented in the parliament, calls on the Nepali Congress (NC) to participate in the government and commits to completing the integration and rehabilitation of PLA combatants, controlling the price hike and mitigating the power crisis. A copy of the draft has been provided to the Maoists for inputs and approval.

The statement has been drafted by Khanal’s trusted aides, including Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Ghanashyam Bhusal, Rajendra Gautam and former National Planning Commission member Bhim Neupane. The document will be refined after the Maoist leaders approve it.

The draft statement finalised on Wednesday has proposed completing integration and rehabilitation of the PLA combatants within 45 days of government formation. The statement, according to a leader involved in preparing it, has sought to clarify that former rebel fighters’ integration and rehabilitation would be carried out on the bases of the Interim Constitution, Comprehensive Peace Accord, Special Committee, other peace pacts and understanding among major parties—a move intended to allay concerns expressed by the NC. The document expresses confidence that statute drafting will be completed by the May-28 deadline. Highlighting the settlement of around 130 disputed issues by the high-level taskforce headed by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the draft underlines that the constitution can be delivered within deadline if the parties resolve a dozen crucial issues including forms of governance, state and judiciary restructuring.

The paper will form the basis of the government’s policy and programme, said UML leader Gautam. Prime Minister Khanal had planned to address the House session on Wednesday, but postponed it due to delay in announcing the Cabinet.

The statement reiterates the government’s commitment to maintaining law and order and upholding human rights.

The House session was postponed until Thursday afternoon after the ruling coalition could not reach an agreement on power-sharing. Prime Minister Khanal wants to invite the NC to join his government in his House address, said a UML leader.
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PM’S ADVISORS

Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: UML state management department
Wednesday recommended the names of the prime minister’s advisors and members of the private secretariat, Kantipur reports.
A chief advisor hasn’t been recommended.
Yubaraj Shangraula, is attorney general or the government’s chief legal advisor.
Purusottam Paudel and Nirmal Bhattarai are political advisors.
Paudel is a former legislator while Bhattarai was secretary at the
office of UML Chairman Khanal and Valley coordination committee member.
Milan Tuladhar has been recommended as foreign advisor and journalist Surya Thapa press advisor.
Tuladhar works at ICIMOD and Thapa is secretary of party propaganda department.
Private secretaries are
Dipak Amatya and Rambabu Adhikari.
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PRITHVI NARAYAN SHAH’S STATUE REMOVED FROM HANUMAN DHOKA

Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: After a month-long spat between local residents of Hanumam Dhoka and the government, the oldest statue of Nepal unifier Prithvi Narayan Shah has finally been shifted to Nuwakot Wednesday, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The quarrel over the issue of shifting the statue was settled after
government officials convinced locals that the sculpture will be kept
safely at the museum which will be opened soon in the seven-storey Nuwakot palace built by Shah (1723-1775).
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