HECTIC EFFORT TO PROMULGATE CONSTITUTION

SUB-COMMITTEE CONTINUES DISCUSSIONS ON JUDICIARY

Kathmandu, 11 March: A sub-committee headed by Chairman Prachanda Friday continued discussions for the second day to hammer out differences on articles to be incorporated in a proposed constitution on a judiciary.
The body under the main constitution drafting committee broadly agreed on an independent judiciary in a constitution that has to be promulgated by 28 May.
Thirty of 75 contentious issues have been resolved by the sub-committee so far.
Previously, a task force again headed by Prachanda and now the sub-committee are discussing contentious issues—in the constituent assembly itself.
An hectic effort is being made to meet a deadline to promulgate a constitution.
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KOSHAL RAJ REGMI DEAD

Kathmandu, 11 March: NC leader and academician Koshaal Raaj regmi died Thursday.
He was ailing for some time.
He contested elections from Khotang and was once a party office bearer..
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NC PARLIAMENTARY PARTY PAYS BHATTARAI TRIBUTE

Kathmandu, 11 March: Nepali Congress (NC) parliamentary party Thursday condoled the death of the only surviving founding member of the party and former Prime Minister Friday Krishna Prasad Bhattarai by passing a condolence resolution.
The party sidelined him after he continued firm support for constitutional monarchy even after the party abandoned its traditional policy and adopted a republican agenda under Girija Prasad Koirala.
But the country’s oldest party embraced Bhattarai after death and honoured him by draping his body with the party flag.
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TRADE, COMMERCE, ECONOMY

NRB STOPS TAKING APPLICATIONS FOR NEW BANKS

Kathmandu, 11 March: Following saturation, Nepal Rashtra Bank (NRB) won’t give operating licenses for new commercial banks in cities.
Governor Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada said this Thursday as Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal launched Century Commercial Bank, the country’s 31st commercial bank in the capital.
Khatiwada said the central has stopped accepting applications for commercial banks, development banks and financial companies and will emphasize consolidation instead.
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NEPSE FALLS TO NEW LOW

Kathmandu, 11 March: Nepse index Thursday fell to a 55-month low of 389.91 points when the market closed on the last day of weekly trading.
The staggering political deadlock hasn’t boosted the stock market.
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CALL TO AMEND RENAL TRANSPLANT ACT

Kathmandu, 11 March: Human Organ Transplant Coordination Committee today submitted recommendations to the Health Ministry to amend the legal provisions on kidney transplant, The Himalayan Times reports..

The recommendations were revealed as the country observed the sixth World Kidney Day today with the slogan ‘Protect Your Kidney, Save Your Heart’.

Dr Pukar Chandra Shrestha, chief of Kidney Transplant Unit at Bir Hospital said they had recommended allowing kidney donations to persons who are not kin.

The present act has it that only close relatives, namely father, mother, uncle, aunt, sister, brother, adopted son and daughter, can donate kidneys.

Shrestha said the limitation has barred many patients from receiving kidneys from non-kin when they are in need. He further said they have asked the government to extend the boundary to as far as maternal uncle and aunt. Dr Shrestha went on to add that they had also recommended that the kidney of a brain-dead patient could be donated.

“The hospital records more than 100 brain-deaths every year. The kidneys of such patients are wasted for want of a more permissible law,” said Shrestha, adding that their organs could be transferred with consent from their close relatives.

Nearly 2.7 million people in the country are estimated to be suffering from kidney ailments and about 2,800 individuals face total kidney failure every year.

“If we amend the act and manage infrastructure, it will be a great relief for renal failure patients,” said Shrestha.

He informed that due to lack of facilities, the Renal Unit has to borrow operation theater from cardiology or neurology department and added that the country is yet to see human leukocyte antigen laboratory.

“We send sample tissues to India for cross-matching, which is costly and takes four to six days for result,” Shrestha lamented. He, however, added that the complication rate is much less in Nepal compared to the international standard. The international mortality rate after kidney transplant is five per cent. In Nepal it is 2.5 per cent. Likewise, infection rate in the country is 4.5 per cent, which is five at the international level.

During two-and-a-half years, the country has successfully transplanted 119 kidneys at Bir Hospital and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.

Shrestha further informed that a kidney transplant costs Rs 3.5 lakhs in Bir Hospital, which is considered the cheapest treatment in the entire world.
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PRO-BHATTARAI WORKERS MEET

Kathmandu, 11 March: The Maoist trade union faction loyal to party Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai is holding a separate gathering of workers in Kathmandu on Friday, Republica reports.

The organizers of the function have stated that they would try to bring an end to the current faction-ridden politics in their All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) at the gathering.
“We are holding the gathering to press the party to take initiatives to solve the problems plaguing the union,” said union leader Lal Dhwaj Nembang, who is close to Bhattarai.

Bhattarai is scheduled to address the gathering.

The Maoist trade union is vertically divided into three factions led by Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya and Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai.

The current union chief Saligram Jammakattel is close to Dahal, while the union Vice-chairman Badri Bajgain, who has recently formed parallel committees in the union, is close to Baidya.

The internal crisis in the union flared up after the conflicting factions declined to abide by the party standing committee decision. The party had decided to downsize the current Central Committee (CC) of the union from 261 members to 93 members and entrust the CC as the committee to hold national convention of the party.

But the Baidya faction and Bhattarai faction are against letting Jammakattel lead the committee to hold national convention. “We cannot accept Jammakattel as the chief,” said Nembang.

Bajgian is scheduled to hold a meeting of the Sanghiya Parisad, a mega gathering of all the central committee members of the Maoist trade union chapters, on Saturday.
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HOPE FOR EX-SERVICEMEN IN INDIA
MAHESH ACHARYA-
Kathmandu, 11 March: A high court in New Delhi has opened the way for Nepali ex-servicemen of the Indian paramilitary wing—Special Frontier Force (SFF)—to fight a legal battle in India regarding their demand for pension and other benefits on par with personnel of the Indian Army, Mahesh Acharya reports in The Kathmandu Post from New Delhi..

Overruling the Indian government’s claim that an organisation registered in Nepal cannot seek legal counsel in India, the Delhi High Court on Thursday established a locus standi on a writ petition filed by the Ex-servicemen Welfare Union on behalf of 825 retired Nepali personnel of the SFF.

“Thursday’s decision has raised our hopes of winning the legal battle against the Indian government,” said SP Sharma, the counsel of the ex-servicemen. A double bench of Justices Pradip Nandrajog and Suresh Kait has scheduled the next hearing on April 26. The Union—an umbrella organisation of Nepali ex-servicemen—had moved the court on November 27, 2010.

“Though we fought for India in difficult conditions, the Indian government discriminated us. Some of our peers even lost their lives,” said advisor of the Union Narendra Sigdel. If the ex-servicemen win the legal battle, they will enjoy pension of INR 9,000, leave encashment, composite transfer grant, children education allowance, special increment for opting small family norms and compensation in lieu of quarters, among others.

In a counter affidavit furnished on behalf of India and other respondents on March 3, Inspector General of the SFF, AK Garg, had demanded outright dismisssal of the petition. In the petition, India’s Cabinet Secretariat, the Inspector General of the SFF and the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) have been made the respondents.

“A body registered in a foreign country, it has no right to seek redressal of its grievances by way of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India in an Indian court,” the counter affidavit states. The Indian government had, however, decided on October 16, 2009 to provide pension and other benefits to the personnel below the officers rank as applicable to the corresponding ranks of Indian army, Group ‘Y’ PBORs, with effect from Janaury 1, 2009.

After the 1962 Sino-India war, India established the SFF by incorporating Tibetan rebels—Khampas— to launch covert operations in border lines with China.
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• OPED
NEPALIS FEARFUL IN BAHRAIN


Kathmandu, 11 March: With political unrest flaring in Bahrain inspired by events in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, thousands of Nepali migrant workers staying there have been worried about their security, Dinesh Regmi writes in The Kathmandu Pos from Bahrain..

So far no Nepali worker has been trapped in the anti-government protests there. Nepalis say they are feeling insecure as they are unaware whom to contact in case of emergency.

“We are safe here till now but fear for security haunts us frequently,” said Ramesh Subba of Jhapa, who has been working in Bahrain International Airport for the past four years. “We do not where to go and whom to contact if the situation becomes worst.”

Bholanath Dahal of Sankhuwasabha, who is also working at the airport for one year, said he does not know whether or not Nepali organisations are working for the welfare of Nepalis in Bahrain.

Subba and Dahal are not alone, fear for safety is the worry of more than 30,000 Nepali migrant workers. Nepal doesn’t have its mission in Bahrain.

The Saudi-based Nepali Embassy had been looking after problems of Nepalis before the government on Nov. 30 assigned the Nepali Embassy in Qatar to take up the Bahrain job. However, the Doha-based embassy has not started its work as Bahrain is yet to send back the agreemo.

“We will start working once we receive the agreemo,” said Nepali Ambassador to Qatar Surya Nath Mishra. He said some organisations working for Nepali migrant workers in Bahrain have asked the embassy to send a letter to them, urging to collect the actual data of Nepali workers. “But we are unable do so as Bahrain has not yet sent the agreemo.”

Labour attaché in Nepali Embassy in Saudi Arab Binod Khanal told the Post over telephone that the embassy is not looking after the situation of Nepali workers in Bahrain after the Cabinet decision.
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