FRANK PRACHANDA INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TALKS

PRACHANDA, INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEET UPDATE

Kathmandu, 22 April: Maoist Chairman Prachanda said he held ‘open discussions’ on Indian interventionist role in Nepal with visiting Foreign Minister SM Krishna Friday.
The Maoist strongman told this to reporters after discussions with Krishna.
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SIX AGRAWAL BROTHERS SENTENCED FOR TAKING LOANS WITHOUT ENOUGH COLLATERAL

Kathmandu 22 April: A three-judge special court bench Thursday sentenced one-year hail sentences on Subodh Kumar Agrawal, Suresh Kumar Agrawal, Krishna Kumar Agrawal, Narayan Agrawal, Damodar Agrawaal and Mangaturam Agrawal for taking loans from Rashtriya Banijya Bank Biratnagar against inadequate collateral.
The court slapped six-month jail sentences on bank staff Radha Prasad Shah, Chandra Lal Amatya, Shiba Charan Mandal and Bhairav Prasad Pokhrel for causing loss to the wholly owned state bank.
Rs 1.38 billion in fines were slapped.
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NC TO PROPOSE SUSPENSION OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS

Kathmandu, 22 April: NC Chief Whip Laxman Ghimere said his party will propose suspension of parliamentary proceedings when the legislature/parliament meets later Friday.
The party decided to take the extreme step to protest the announcement of a whitepaper of the budget through a news conference while the legislature was in session.
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KIRATI ACTIVIST KILLED

Kathmandu, 22 April: Bibas Bidrohi, chairman of Kirat Janawadi Workers’ Party, was killed 9 April in clashes with cloals at Pangcha VDC in Bhojpur, police confirmed.
Police confirmed the death quoting an activist of the underground party.
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NEPAL POLICE PLAYS BALKAN FC OF TURKMENISTAN

Kathmandu, 22 April: Nepal Police plays Balkan FC of Turkmenistan in the Group C AFC President’s Cup qualifying football match in the capital Friday.
Nepal Police has to win Friday to get into the next round.
The home team lost to Pakistan’s WAPDA in the opening match.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“I worked under eight finance ministers. No other ministers held duplicity and lack of transparency as Adhikary did.”

(Former Finance MINISTER Rameshwor Adhikary in Republica quoting BBC Nepali Service, 22 April)
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INDIA PROPOSES DEPLOYMENT OF OWN SECURITY UNIT AT INDIAN EMBASSY

Kathmandu, 22 April: Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna proposed to Nepali officials deployment of armed unit in the embassy for the security of the ambassador and other employees, Nagarik reports.
The proposal was made Wednesday during a ministerial meeting between the two countries.
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INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER KRISHNA SUGGESTS CONSENSUS ON PEACE PROCESS





Kathmandu, April 21 - Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna Thursday met top leaders of major political parties.
During the meeting Krishna stressed bilateral relations between Nepal and India and inquired about the ongoing peace and constitution drafting processes of Nepal.
He suggested consensus to conclude the peace and constitution drafting processes. Leaders of various parties informed him that they were trying to reach a high level consensus to conclude the tasks before the nation.
Krishna met Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala this evening and discussed the current developments in Nepal.
Koirala told the media that they discussed democracy and ongoing peace and constitution writing processes.
Krishna, however, did not make any comments about the meeting.
Krishna met former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and asked about the possibilities of constitution promulgation within the deadline.
He also inquired about the prospects if the May 28 deadline to promulgate the constitution was missed.
Former Prime Minister Nepal told Krishna that the constitution would not be drafted within May 28.
He said the political parties of Nepal were trying to reach a consensus to form a national unity government to conclude the constitution drafting process.
He said that the existing political deadlock would be resolved by political consensus.
Krishna’s Mantra for Leaders
Meanwhile, Krishna met CPN-UML leader KP Oli and inquired about the ongoing peace process at Dwarika Hotel of Gaushala. During the meeting, Oli informed Krishna of the

progress made in peace process.
Oli said the Maoists were not supporting the combatants management process.
The Maoists were trying to capture the state power, he said.
Meanwhile, Krishna also met the Nepal Army Chief Chhatra Man Singh Gurung and inquired about Nepal Army’s roadmap for combatants’ management.
During the meeting, Krishna said that Nepalese and Indian Armies enjoyed good relationships and added that the Indian government was ready to provide logistic support to the Nepal Army.
Krishna suggested the NA should be careful in the process of combatants management and integration.
The Nepal Army Chief said that the combatants management and integration roadmap was only in its first draft.
He said the final roadmap would be implemented by a high level political consensus.




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MAOIST FLAG FLUTTERS ON CAPTURED LANDS IN KAPILVASTU

Kathmandu, 22 April: Cadres of the UCPN-Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Farmers Federation seized the properties of three villagers of Kopawa VDC-1, Shimalkhor, and hoisted a party flag there today, The Himalayan Times reports from Kapilvastu..

According to the federation member Kamal KC, they seized 10 bighas of land of Bijaya Bahadur Kurmi, Kisan Kurmi and Dilip Kurmi acting on farmers’ complaints that the Kurmis had not bothered to transfer the land ownership even 10 years after selling the land.

“We seized the land upon finding that the complaints were genuine,” KC said.

Federation cadres held that the Kurmis had already sold one bigha to Rajmangal Kalwar, 10 katthas to Buddhanath Tharu, 16 kattha to Bijaya Kurmi, 1 bigha to Ram Prasad Kurmi and 8 kattha to Bhuwan Poudel. Now, they are preparing to sell the land to others, they said.

“We will not leave the land until the three transfer land ownership to the real owners,” said Sherman Tharu, a central member of the federation.

According to a local teacher Arbinda Kurmi, more than 100 cadres led by central member of the federation Dabalsingh GC and Sherman Tharu had hoisted the flag in the land declaring its seizure.

Meanwhile, Bijaya Bahadur Kurmi said they had not taken money from the farmers, nor had they sold it to them.

He also condemned the Maoist act. “Where do I live now?” he wondered, urging the authorities concerned to help him get back his lost property.

Chief District Officer Laxman Kumar Thapa said the seizure is against the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed with the Maoists a couple of years ago. “We will investigate the case and facilitate the return of the seized properties,” he said.

“Seizing private property is unacceptable,” Informal Service Centre Kapilvastu district in-charge Nandaram Poudel said, adding that the dispute can be settled through talks.
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HALF PHARMA COMPANIES DON’T MEET WHO STANDARDS
Kathmandu, 22 April: Half of pharma companies sans WHO-GMP certification are yet to obtain good manufacturing practices (GMP) certification with only a year left before the deadline runs out. As of now, 18 out of the 44 pharmaceutical manufacturers in Nepal have acquired GMP certification, The Kathmandu Post reports..

Recently, four pharma companies have applied for GMP certification to the Department of Drug Administration (DDA). According to the DDA, they are Everest Pharmaceuticals, Florid Laboratories, Genetica Laboratory and Ohm Pharma. “The number of companies seeking to obtain GMP certification has increased with the deadline approaching,” said DDA officer Vijaya Laxmi Shrestha.

Magnus Pharma received the certification recently while Chemidrug Industries is in line to get it. According to Kamal Mishra of Chemidrug, the company is expected to receive the certification by next month. “The company is going through a correction phase as recommended in the GMP auditing by the DDA.”

The DDA made the WHO-GMP registration mandatory for domestic drug manufacturers in 2004. They are required to obtain it by April 2012. GMP certification is an assurance that the products of a certified company are consistently produced and controlled to meet quality standards.

It also permits manufacturers to export their products.

Drug manufacturers have to meet several standards before becoming eligible to get GMP certification. The DDA grants certification after a thorough review of the infrastructure including water treatment system, the number of pharmacists in various departments, heating ventilation, air conditioner, sampling, dispensing room and air compressed system.

According to the DDA, Florid Laboratories is at the final stage of getting the certification. Florid said that it had completed the development of infrastructure including air handling unit, validation and water system. “We are left with the part of internal documentation and quality assurance,” said Rajesh Kumar Shah, production officer at Florid Laboratories. “We expect to receive the certification shortly.” According to Shah, the company has no plans to export its products but is planning to expand its products with the certification. Rajendra Chaudhary, manager of quality assurance at Genetica Laboratory, said the company had completed the construction of required infrastructure to comply with WHO standards. “We have even completed documentation and are waiting for the final stage of the auditing by the DDA.” According to Chaudhary, the cost of constructing the air handling unit is higher than other infrastructure required for GMP certification.

As per WHO, companies manufacturing Ayurvedic drugs also need GMP certification to export their products. However, none of the herbal medicine manufacturers have applied for GMP certification at the DDA.

Umesh Lal Shrestha, president of the Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal, said the main reasons for delay in receiving GMP certification by pharmaceutical companies were the huge investment requirement for restructuring factories as per the GMP standards and long procedure of DDA.

“Shortage of manpower at DDA is also delaying the GMP auditing process,” he said, adding that a total of 35 companies are expected to receive the GMP certification by mid-April 2012.
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NEPAL,CHINA TRADE TAKLS IN MAY

Kathmandu, 22 April: The second meeting of Nepal-Tibet Trade Facilitation Committee (NTTFC) -- a bilateral talks forum -- is being held in Kathmandu from May 8 to 10. The main focus of the talks will be to cut the ballooning trade deficit with China by taking maximum advantage of the zero tariff on imports from Nepal offered by China, Republica reports.

China has offered zero tariff to 4,721 goods to be imported from the Least Developed Countries including Nepal. However, Nepal has failed to benefit from the provision as Nepal exports only few items to China due to some non-trade barriers. Nepal had a couple of years back asked China to waive tariff on 496 Nepali export items.

“Given the widening trade deficit with China, the upcoming NTTFC meeting will mainly focus on exploring new ways that would drive up the exports of Nepali goods to China,” said Toya Narayan Gyawali, joint secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS).

Gyawali also said how to take maximum benefit from the zero-tariff facility will also be discussed during the talks.

According to Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC), trade deficit with the northern neighbor has jumped to Rs 42 billion during the year 2009/10 from Rs 12 billion recorded during the fiscal year 2005/06. Nepal has been exporting refined flour, handicraft items and noodles, among other things to China.

Nepal and China had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on September 9, 2009 to constitute the NTTFC with the aim to facilitate bi-lateral trade. The first meeting of NTTFC was held in Lhasa, Tibet in April last year. An eight-member Chinese delegation led by deputy secretary general on trade of Tibet autonomous region is scheduled to participate in the meeting.

Similarly, issues related to improving infrastructure and facilities at Tatopani customs and minimizing non-tariff barriers in the trade between the two countries will also be discussed during the meeting. Nepali traders have been complaining that they are harrassed at customs points by Chinese security personnel and customs officials.
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