POLIO DROPS BENG ADMINISTERED

Kathmandu, 13 Feb.: Altogether 4.4 million children under five years from 68 of the country’s 75 districts are being administered polio drops in a 13th national campaign Saturday/Sunday with the help of 80,704 volunteers.
Nepal has been declared polio free but the national campaign to contain the crippling disease continues with traces still found along in India, south of the open 1,700km border.
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MAOISTS TO MOBILIZE PEOPLE

Kathmandu, 13 Feb.: Maoists will mobilize people and hold rallies nation-wide from 13 February to 7 April the party standing committee decided Friday.
The central committee will decide detailed programmes.
The campaign aim to publicize pro-people government campaigns.
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SHYAM SUNDAR GUPTA’S PARTY MEMBRSHIP ANNULLED

Kathmandu, 13 Feb.: A supreme court bench Friday ruled the nomination of Shyam Sundar Gupta as member of parliament, constituent assembly (CA) by then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was unconstitutional.
Gupta’s membership of the legislature/ CA was annulled by the apex court.
Koirala nominated Gupta without the recommendation of NSP (Ananda Debi).
NSP Chairman Sarita Giri and Khusl Laal Mandal challenged the nomination.
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FORMER MINISTER OUT OF TOUCH

Kathmandu, 13 Feb.: Local Development Minister Rabindra Shrestha in the former government of Madhav Kumar Nepal has gone missing for five days.
UML Secretary Yubaraj Geywali said Laxmi, Shrestha’s wife, reported the disappearance to the party which has briefed Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.
Shrestha defected to UML from Maoists.
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28 COMPANIES UPGRADED TO A CATEGORY

Kathmandu, 13 Feb.: Twenty-eight companies were upgraded Friday to A category by Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) swelling the group list to 117.
A company with a paid-up capital of Rs 20 million, 1,000 general shareholders and recording a profit for three consecutive years are categorized in the list.
Five companies were removed from the list.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“Although people had succeeded in bringing democracy in the country in 2007, the changes did not last long. Similarly, democracy brought in 2046 was also short-lived. It is not that easy to institutionalize the republic as well.’

(President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, Republic, 13 Feb.)
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FORMER PM NEPAL CALLS FOR AMENDMENT IN 7-POINT AGREEMENT

Kathmandu, 13 Feb.: Ata time when UCPN (Maoist) has asked ruling UML to observe the seven-point agreement, Former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal told Nagarik the agreement can’t be implemented without correcting its contents.
“’The seven-point agreement will be endorsed only after correcting its contents,” Nepal said.
“The standing committee has taken a clear decision not to award defence and home ministries to Maoists. There’s no confusion on this ,” he said.
Nepal said a big problem will be created if any party member says the ministries will be given to Maoists.
‘He [PM and party chairman Khanal]
should move ahead confidently.; the entire party will be behind him.” The former premier said.
Nepal said except for points one and five, all five points should be amended.
Another influential UML leader told Nagarik the party won’t endorse the seven-point agreement.
“UML hasn’t endorsed it [seven-point agreement]. It’s won’t be
endorsed. It hasn’t been supported. It won’t be supported,” KP Oli said.
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GOVT. HAS NO TIME TO BRING NEW BUDGET

Kathmandu, 12 Feb.: The government is preparing to endorse the ordinances issued in November to introduce the annual budget for 2010-2011 on Saturday and replace them with new bills, Tirtha L. Bhusal writes in Republica.

Leaders from the ruling CPN-UML and officials at the finance ministry said they are planning to introduce new bills without making any changes in the current budget as there isn´t enough time to endorse new budget through due process.

The government tabled four ordinances -- the finance ordinance, appropriation ordinance, an ordinance to mobilize national debt and the ordinance on loan and guarantee -- on Thursday. A serious financial crisis may emerge if the government fails to replace the ordinances with new bills as the ordinances are expiring on February 15.

The government on November 19 had introduced the annual budget through the ordinances after proroguing the House session following Maoist lawmakers´ assault on the finance minister in parliament.

Bodh Raj Niraula, joint secretary at the finance ministry, said they are preparing to present new bills without making any changes in the current budget.

Chief Whip of ruling CPN-UML Bhim Acharya said the ordinances will be endorsed by the parliament meeting on Saturday and new bills to replace the ordinances will also be endorsed by February 19.

“There will be no problem because we will present the same budget through the new bills,” Acharya told Republica. Acharya believes the Maoist party will support the government to endorse the ordinances on Saturday and also to pass the bills on Tuesday.

But UCPN (Maoist) leaders said they are yet to decide on the matter. Maoist Chief Whip Posta Bahadur Bogati said they will take a decision to this effect on Saturday morning.

The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) will help the new government pass the ordinances as it was a major coalition partner in the previous government that introduced the ordinances.

However, NC leaders said the party will support the government to endorse new the new bills only if the government makes no changes in the current programs. “We have no problems if the government presents a new budget. But the only thing we demand is the new programs and policies must be endorsed through a due process,” NC Chief Whip Laxman Ghimire told Republica.

It takes around three months to endorse a budget after holding a thorough and subject-wise deliberation. Ghimire said the NC is ready to shorten the duration to at least three weeks. But the House through agreement between the major parties would have to suspend some of the parliamentary regulations to shorten the process.

In case, the parties differ and fail to replace the ordinances through the new bills, the government will have no option but to issue ordinances yet again to give continuity to the current budget to ward off a financial crisis. For that, the government will have to prorogue the House session again. “This will be most unfortunate for parliament,” said a top official in parliament.
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EIEHT CASINOS TO LOSE OPERATING LICENSES
Kathmandu, 12 Feb.: Eight casinos, including Casino Nepal -- the first casino of the country, are set to lose their operating licenses, as they did not clear royalty and other dues even on Friday, when the 35-day deadline set by the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) to come clean on tax liabilities expired, Milan Mani Sharma reports in Republica.

Those facing actions for not complying with the DRI´s directive, which was issued as per the instruction of the parliament´s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), include Casino Rad, Casino Venus, Casino Grand, Royal Casino, Anna Casino, Casino Shangri-La and Fulbari Casino, along with Casino Nepal.

“We waited till late, but eight tax defaulting casinos continued to flout tax laws and turn deaf ears to PAC´s instructions to clear dues within 35 days,” said Mahesh Dahal, director general of DRI. He told Republica that the department would write to Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) on Sunday to annul their operating licenses.

Two casinos -- Everest and Tara -- came out clean through the process though. However, sources said even the fate of their operations hangs on the balance because they too are managed by Nepal Recreation Center (NRC) that has not settled due liability of other casinos.

“Besides, its promoters are on most-wanted list of the police for flouting Gambling Law. So, it is not easy to predict how the government will deal with Everest and Tara,” said a source.

PAC had instructed the government on Dec 28 to scrap the operating licenses of casinos that were found flouting existing laws, giving them one last chance of 35 days to settle all their dues. Based on that instruction, the DRI on Jan 9 had issued a stern notice to all casinos defaulting royalty and fines payment, asking them either to clear all accumulated dues within 35 days or face revocation of their operating licenses.

Following the notice, Casino Rad and Casino Grand paid their royalty, but bothered not to clear fines emanating from the delayed payment of royalty.

“Their accounts still show dues of over Rs 4 million each. Hence, going by the, PAC´s instruction, we are recommending MoTCA to annul their licenses as well,” said Dahal.

The managements of Casino Shangri-la and Royal paid both royalty and fines for this fiscal year. But they refused to pay previous years´ outstanding taxes, arguing that the liability was accrued by the previous management (NRC) and it was the responsibility of NRC.

The DRI officials said the department could not accept their argument because the party that took over the management must have known and accepted all assets and liabilities while jumping into the business.

“The dues stand in the name of casinos and clearly the responsibility of clearing it rests on the existing management. It can´t say it had no knowledge of the liability or will not pay it because it was not accrued during its period,” said Dahal.

Casnio Nepal, Anna and Fulbari, on the other hand, did not simply response to the DRI´s call.

Dahal said DRI recouped royalty and fines of some Rs 165 million while implementing the instruction. But casinos still refused to pay royalty and fine worth Rs 140 million.

Tax defaulters facing action

Casino Nepal
Casino Rad
Casino Venus
Casino Grand
Royal Casino
Anna Casino
Casino Shangri-la
Fulbari Casino
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STABLE GOVT. NEEDED





Kathmandu, 12 Feb.: Political leaders Friday called for creating a congenial atmosphere to write the constitution and conclude the peace process The Rising Nepal reports.
They were of views that only a stable government would ensure the peace process and the statute making process.
They were sharing their views at an interaction organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal in the capital.
UCPN-Maoist secretary CP Gajurel said that his party would not join the present government until there was a guarantee to implement the 7-point agreement.
He claimed that Home Ministry was to be given to the Maoists as per the agreement.
"The basis of the present government is the 7-point agreement signed by the chiefs of the two parties. And if there is no guarantee of its implementation, the basis will cease to exist, then we will make our strategy accordingly," Gajurel said.
He even claimed that out of 26 ministries, the Maoists were to be allocated 15 including the Home, as per the arrangement.
He said that his party became suspicious of the UML’s intentions when the latter party’s standing committee meeting decided to send its leader to the post of minister for Home Affairs. "The UML created the present problem and the party has to solve it itself."
He, however, clarified that his party was against dismantling the government which was formed with its support.
Saying that the UML was given Home Ministry when there was a Maoist-led government, Gajurel said that his party expected reciprocity from UML now.
He said that there was no dispute in his party regarding the 7-point deal. "The UML leaders express doubt that issues related to army integration, rotational system of premiership and formation of government leadership mechanisms, as mentioned in the agreement, had not been endorsed by our party’s central committee."
CPN-UML secretary Yuva Raj Gyawali said that his party was in the favour of a consensus government.
"We do not to unleash polarization in the country

although the UML-led government was formed on the majority basis but we want to turn it into a consensus one," he said.
The UML leader said that the new PM was elected in line with the 7-point deal. "If other provisions of the agreements are implemented, the country will solve burning problems dramatically."
He claimed that his party planned to bring the Maoists and Nepali Congress in the new government and all three parties would run on rotational basis.
NC leader Bhishma Raj Angdambe termed the 7-point deal as the betrayal to peace, constitution writing and consensual politics.
"This will push the nation towards anarchy."
However, the NC leader said that his party would move to save the government for the sake of peace and constitution if the Maoists pulled down it
Ratriya Janashakti Party co-chairman Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani dubbed the 7-point dead as conspiracy and was against the peace agreement and the Interim Constitution.
The deal shows that the Maoists have not yet got rid of their authoritarian thinking, he said.

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Govt over a barrel on UNGA plum

Kathmandu, 12 Feb.: With the election of the 66th president of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) approaching fast, Nepal's candidacy for the coveted post faces a tough challenge at the hands of another candidate with deep pockets and powerful friends, Qatar. The finale is likely on Feb. 25 in New York. In the meantime for a last-leg lobby, the Qatari Prime Minister's special envoy is arriving here on Feb. 15 to ask Nepal to withdraw in its favour. Nepal is likely to withdraw, officials say, Aniliri writes in The Kathmandu Post..
The UNGA is the highest policy making body at the UN that consists of 192 countries. The outgoing government announced Nepal's candidacy for the UNGA presidency for 2011-12 and named former executive director of UNICEF Kul Chandra Gautam as the nation's candidate without adequate homework, elevating him to Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Peace in order to groom him for the UNGA presidency.
Nepali diplomats privy to the development in New York said West Asia is favoring the Qatari candidate, Nassir Abdul Aziz al-Nasser while East Asian countries are likely to support Nepal. Some Asian giants like China, Japan, South Korea have given positive hints about Gautam. "We have been lobbying hard for the PGA election and feedback is quite encouraging," SAID Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Spokesperson Durga Bhattarai. Gautam, who is currently in New York, has just completed his lobbying with India, Pakistan, Pakistan and other countries. He is expected to meet Permanent Representatives of Asian Group next week.
According to MoFA officials and Nepal's Permanent Mission at UN, New York, the Asian group is expected to take a decision on PGA by Feb. 25. Before this, both the candidates will be given a chance to speak to the group. The Asian group is of the view that adequate consultation should be held to settle the issue, failing which will a secret ballot will be held to select the candidate. It appears that many countries have not yet decided their position. "The situation will be clearer towards the third week of February. Many countries appreciate Nepal's rationale for candidature," said one MoFA official.
A close aide to Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal told the Post that Gautam's stature as the PM's special envoy for peace remains intact as he represents the country in the elections. Now, Qatar has opened up its diplomatic front with Nepal and is sending its special envoy to Kathmandu. Qatar's Minister of State for International Cooperation Dr. Khalid Bin Mohammad Al Attiyah is arriving here on Feb. 15 with a congratulatory message from the Qatari Prime Minister to PM Khanal. Officials said the government has already asked Qatar to withdraw candidacy and lend support to Nepal. "We will reiterate our stand," a MoFA official said.
Earlier, when Gautam tried to visit Qatar to lobby for his candidacy, the Qatari Government declined to give him an appointment with senior officials. As one of the major troop contributors to the UN peacekeeping mission, Nepal had announced its candidacy for the post a decade ago.
Qatar has been played key role in UN as a member of UN Security Council, UN Human Rights Council, UN's ECOSOC and others. On the other hand, Nepal is the Chair of Least Developed Countries ( LDCs). According to the elections procedure forwarded by the Chair of the Asian group, Fiji each candidates will be asked to withdraw their respective candidacies. If no candidates withdraw their candidacy both will meet in for an Asian Group's consultative meeting to arrive at a conclusion. If this option does not work, the Group will meet on Feb. 21 and both candidates will be given another chance to lobby in favour of their candidacy. Then the Asian Group will meet again on Feb. 25 for a final decision which will be a last attempt at reaching a consensus. "If the Feb. 25 meeting fails to arrive any conclusion, it will go to the kitty of General Assembly and will hold elections in September," officials familiar with the development told the Post.
With its immense oil and gas reserves, Qatar is an emerging economic powerhouse in Gulf region which recently won the 2022 - world cup football bid, a major boost to its diplomatic credential. This time Asian group has given the rotational choice for the UNGA presidency and if there is no consensus within the Asian group by the end of February, the General Assembly will hold an election by mid- September.
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With or without conscience

Kathmandu, 13 Feb.: Retired General Vivek Kumar Shah, military secretary to King Birendra and his successor Gyanenedra, nurses a grudge against former boss, King Gyanendra for having compelled him to resign. His book, "Maile Dekheko Durbar" [The Palace I Saw], supposedly based on diary notes, has come out with his version of observation and interpretation of events, with the key theme focusing on the royal massacre that wiped out King Birendra and his entire family, writes Trikal Vastavik in People’s Review. .

The very limited first print was sold out, inviting a quick second printing. It is to be seen whether there will be a new edition with additions and deletions or simply more explanations. Shah goes around boasting of receiving commendation and condemnation, including threats.

"Kantipur" daily's editor Sudhir Sharma secured an advance copy of the book and used some of the excerpts for his paper's main news. Sharma, believed to have been privy at also the scripting process, wanted to make the opportunity so exclusive that he did not share it even with his own sister publication editor Akhilesh Upadhyay of "The Kathmandu Post".

Upadhyay had hard time explaining to his many acquaintances at international agencies and Western embassies as to why his paper did not carry the story. For the embassy interests on the book had been immense for obvious reasons. But TKP boys were reluctant to have the excerpts from "Kantipur" translated a day after the story hit with a bang.

Big shots in Nepali society rarely take the trouble of jotting down their opinions and narrating their experiences. It is a malaise that has deprived generations after generations of Nepalis of some valuable sharing of expertise and perceptions with individuals who rose to important positions through a variety of networks, commendable or otherwise.

Vivek Shah proved to be among the exceptions, his book coming after a decade of his enforced resignation. However, this does not mean that whatever he has written is removed from distortion and is the ultimate truth. He has been austere and calculating in parting with the information he possesses.

Austere, because he has used information sparingly covering a very small canvas whereas he was privy to many issues, events and developments because of his position at the Narayanhity Royal Palace. Calculating, because he mentions names with which he does not see eye to eye on many issues or he feels he can afford to do so with indifference. Such approach dilutes the authenticity and flavor of spontaneity needed for enhancing the authenticity and quality of a record he apparently hoped to establish.

Sudhir Sharma might not have accorded the excerpts a large headline across the front-page top the way he did if the book had carried contents highly critical of, for example, the Maoists. Maoists were spared from many embarrassing mention. Also a score of civil society leaders and journalists were spared in a calculating move. According to several retired generals, at least seven journalists and writers were involved at various stages of the scripting process. Two of them had close connections with the Panchayat Policy and Analysis Center in the bad old panchayat years.

Four of them write regularly for Kathmandu newspapers, according to a retired general who obtained information from two of these writers. The seven assistants, one of them heading a prominent TV channel, each convinced Shah to drop certain names, a dozen of them those of journalists. Interestingly, not all the assistant writers met together.

The final product thus came out as a compromise of what Shah had originally set out to do. Visitors at his comfortable residence find him happy with the reactions from quite a few Nepali Congress and Maoist leaders who seem to have heaved a great sigh of relief for leaving their organizations and senior members unscathed. The tactical move was designed to leave many gaps so that certain political figures would not train their attack on the author and the eventual content would attract appreciation for the effort at concealing much vital information and seeming to reveal only a little with meticulous calculation.

He portrays women as a weak spot for as Crown Prince Dipendra who, according to Shah, perpetrated the tragic, perplexing and horrendous deed. It is like the proverbial pot calling the pot black. Shah's former colleagues can narrate an array of escapades attributed to Shah. Could it be envy or the fact that he was kept at a distance by Dipendra who had brilliant academic records that prompted the retired general to make the conclusions he made about the late Crown Prince in print?

It needs a vast moral strength and personal integrity to comment fairly and critically on especially those who are no longer living and hence cannot make any defense on their own. The retired general's approach of not displeasing powerful political leaders regarding their overtures to the palace for funds and support put a big question mark on the overall content of the book.

Shah served as a consultant at the Carter Center in Kathmandu. Those who rate the Carter Center as the epitome of impartiality, integrity and credibility, his association with the institution might evaluate him as someone with high credentials. This writer has nothing much to say about Shah and his past except for the book he has crafted and published. But this writer can, with extensive knowledge, assert that international foundations, too, are known for hiring the services of individuals with specific information that suit their purposes without necessarily the knowledge of the hired hands.

Shah's ebullient well-wishers are learnt to have advised him to publish the book in other "international" languages, beginning with an English version. The full team of men with ink who assisted Shah is strangely silent but they have been quietly going around dropping good words for the retired general who was "unceremoniously" removed" by King Gyanendra.

What one concludes about the book is that Shah has still miles to go in terms of coming clean of his conscience and information in his chest. He could bide his time and yet come up with something much better and historically more informative and perceptive. But then that needs a well-nursed spine. Or it could prompt another retired general, Sadip Shah, to spill the beans, including those Vivek Shah left out or chose to leave out. Or former army chief Rookmangud Katawal, who used to write prolifically under penname in "The Kathmandu Post", could come out clean if he dares to.

Such narrations are, however, to be taken with a pinch of salt. The statements are the writer's words for or against someone else when those portrayed dimly deny the insinuation and those left off the hook relish in the discomfiture of others not so fortunate.
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