LIBYA RESCUE MISSION ENDS

LIBYA RESCUE MISSION ENDS

Kathmandu, 18 March: A 23-day Libya rescue mission ended Wednesday by evacuating 1,747 Nepali workers.
Government, employment agencies and employers lent support.
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COURT AGAIN ORDERS PRADHAN-LED NOC NOT TO CONDUCT BUSINESS

Kathmandu, 18 March: Patan appellate court Thursday issued a prohibitory order against Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC), whose Chairman is Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan and Secretary General is Jiban Ram Shrestha, not to engage in any work, Annapurna Post reports.
Earlier 11 March, the court has issued an order not to conduct any business.
But within 24 hours of the order, the committee’s general meeting approved an financial report.
The court took the decision saying the committee flouted law.
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HUSBAND SELLS WIFE FOR RS. 30,000

Kathmandu, 18 March: A youth has sold his wife for Rs 30,000 in India, Nagarik reports from Dhangadi.
Police have arrested Shiba Raj Joshi, 25, of Numala-8.
He sold his 22-year-old wife Maheshwori Joshi to Seturam Bhatiya in Rajasthan.
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NS DEMANDS SEVEN-POINT DEAL BE SCRAPPED
Kathmandu, 18 March: Nepali Congress leaders Thursday demanded that the seven-point deal inked by CPN-UML chairman Jhala Natha Khanal and UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ should be scrapped, The Rising Nepal reports.
Speaking at a foundation stone laying programme organized by Nepal Students Union to construct a statue of saint leader late Krishna Prasad Bhattarai at Swoyambhu, they said that the NC would launch a movement if the two chairs of the two parties ignored NC’s demands.
NC President Sushil Koirala said that his party would never accept the seven-point deal.
He said that the deal was against peace and constitution drafting processes and also against national unity, reconciliation and consensus politics.
He further said that after joining the government, the Maoists started exhibiting their non-democratic activities and added that NC would not be a mere spectator to the anarchic activities of the Maoists.
Koirala laid the foundation stone to construct a statue of Bhattarai, who was the founder leader to set up Nepal Students’ Union.
Leader Sher Bahadur Deuba said that his party was not ready to accept the provision of constitutional court under parliament and added that NC would stand for independent judiciary.
He said that the non democratic forces were trying to attack the judiciary.
He also urged the leaders to respect and follow Bhattarai’s vision and sacrifice.
NC Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel said that the communist extremism was a threat to democracy and added, "Democracy and freedom are in danger due to the communist extremism."
He said that the Maoists were trying to establish extremism and feudalism in the name of democracy and socialism and added that his party would fight against extremism.
Leader Poudel said Bhattarai had always fought for democracy and the country.
Similarly, chairman of NSU Pradeep Poudel said the statue was being built at the same place where the first convention of NSU was held.
Meanwhile, Nepali Congress leader Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat claimed that the country was on the brink of a crisis due to the UCPN-Maoist.
"The Maoists are not honest towards the peace process. Therefore, the country has been in crisis," he said while speaking at a press meet in Rajbiraj today.
"The Maoists were trampling each and every agreement and accord thinking that they will launch a revolt if the new constitution misses the extended deadline," he said.
The Maoist intention to keep its army with a separate identity was against the peace agreement, he said. "The tendency to ignore pluralism even after the end of the conflict is totalitarianism. This will kill democracy."
Meanwhile, NC leader Mahesh Acharya said that without political consensus the new constitution would not be drafted.
Speaking at a tribute paying programme in Biratnagar, Acharya said that the high level consensus among the parties was a must to accomplish the national task.
He said that if all parties moved ahead treading the path shown by NC founder leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, the political deadlock would be over.

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WHO TO ESTABALISH BIO-SAFETY LAB.

Kathmandu, 18 March: Avian Influenza Control Project has signed an agreement with the World Health Organisation to establish Bio-safety laboratory (BSL)-II and isolation wards, The Himalayan Times reports.

Dr Anand Kumar Shrestha, coordinator of AICP, said the laboratory would be established within three months at National Public Health Laboratory and other four isolation wards outside the Valley.

The objective of laboratory is to give sophisticated isolation service at the government-owned hospital. Following its establishment, the country will be able to classify and isolate the viruses to find out possible remedies to curb diseases, added Shrestha.

The wards are designed to have maximum safety for lab technicians.

The laboratory would also help end the trend of sending samples to Bangkok and United Kingdom which usually takes more than two weeks to get test results.

The World Bank had earlier refused to support the BSL laboratory in Nepal citing it would be difficult for the government to operate it.

The World Bank funds the establishment of wards where it plays crucial role in monitoring the activates, said Shrestha. In Nepal, major challenges in pandemic response include transportation of specimens, shortage of trained staff, and limited budget, added Shrestha.
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UNUSED RAILWAY CORRIDOR BEING USED

Kathmandu, 18 March: Following the latest agreement with the Indian Oil Corporation to jointly construct the cross-border oil pipeline, the government is considering adopting less-costly approaches for acquiring land for the project, Sangam Parsain reports in The Kathmandu Post.

The government is planning to use its land, which was earlier allocated to a railway corridor, for the Raxual-Amlekhgunj pipeline project. The railway corridor links Amlekhgunj with India’s Raxual via Birgunj. The corridor has so far remained unused.

Nepal Railway owns 400 bighas of land in Birgunj, Amlekhgunj, Raxual, Janakpur, according to Nepal Railway.

“As acquiring land from the public is problematic and costly, we are considering to the use the land allocated for railway,” said Purushottam Ojha, secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies.

However, the government is unaware about the condition the land and it plans to identify the real status of land soon. The government hopes that it will have to acquire little land from the public for the project if the railway corridor is used for the pipeline project. Of the 41 km pipeline, 39 kilometers lies on the Nepali side of border and the rest falls in India.

The two sides have agreed in principle that Nepal will bear the cost of the pipeline to be built in its territory and India will bear the cost of the project falling in its side.

During the bilateral talks between the Nepal Oil Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation in Mumbai on March 2, the two sides had agreed to form a joint committee to carry out works related to tender calling and procurement of construction materials for the project.

During the talks, the two sides had agreed to implement the project under separate ownership-joint operation model, dropping the previous idea of a joint venture.

The pipeline is expected to reduce transportation cost by 40-50 percent, control leakage and ensure hassle-free transfer and quality of petroleum products.

As per the detailed project report (DPR) compiled by the IOC, the NOC should lay down the pipeline 1.5 meters below the ground. For this, the DPR says NOC will not have to purchase land from individual land owners, but has to take the ‘right of way’ permission. However, owners should be compensated for the use of their land.

Land owners should be restricted from constructing permanent constructions within five meters on the either side of the pipeline alignment. They however, can till their land. However, as the government is planning to use its own land, it should not face many hassles in laying down the pipeline.

“We are not sure when the project will start,” said Secretary Ojha. He, however, said the project will be completed within one year of the beginning of construction work. The estimated cost of the project stands at Rs 1.6 billion, as per a survey carried out of by the IOC.

The IOC had first proposed the cross-border pipeline project in 1995. Following IOC’s proposal, the first MoU for the project was signed between NOC and IOC on September 1996 at junior executive level. In 2004 another agreement was reached at chief executive level.
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