GHODE JATRA BEING CELEBRATED

GHODE JATRA BEING CELEBRATED IN VALLEY

Kathmandu, 3 April: Ghode jatra is being celebrated in the Valley Sunday
mainly by the Newar community.
Nepal Army is organizing a function at Tundikhel.
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NEPALI GUARDS BRAVELY FOUGHT OFF ATTACKS BY AFGHANS

Kathmandu, Four Nepali guards fought valiantly against an armed mob that stormed a UN compound in Afghanistan but were overwhelmed and died along with
those workers whom they were protecting, AFP reports from New York.
United Nations leaders and governments paid tribute to the seven staff
killed in what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called an
‘outrageous and cowardly attack’ to the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif.
The attackers broke away from a demonstration to the city against
the burning of a Koran, Islam’s holy book, by a US pastor.
“Some of them were armed when they stormed the building,” and set it on
fire, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told reporters on Friday.
‘The Gorkha security guards tried their best but the number was so high
that they were unable to prevent it.”
UN officials said the Gurkhas, security mainstay of many world
trouble spots, are believed to have killed a umber of assailants, before they
were overcome. An Afghan provincial governor said least four Afghans
were killed in the compound,



SWEEPING POWERS FOR ELECTRICITY COMMISSION
Kathmandu, 3 April:: The draft bill to tackle energy crisis in the country gives enormous power to the to-be-formed three-member commission, Ram Prasad Bhusal writes in The
Himalayan Times .

As per the draft, members of the commission will have power to order security forces to fire on those obstructing hydropower development work or monitoring and inspecting illegal use of electricity.

Clause 26 of the bill says, “The member of the high powered commission will have the power to order shooting at anyone obstructing the development of hydro projects or monitoring or inspection of unauthorised use of the electricity.”

Members of commission, to be appointed by the cabinet, will have the mandate to end the energy crisis by generating 2,500 megawatts of electricity by 2016.

The commission will have the right to issue the survey license, deal directly with companies for power purchase agreement and recommend issuance of power generation license to the cabinet.

However, sources familiar with the bill allege the government intends to seize licences issued in past, rather than gear up development of projects.

Clause 19 of the bill says licences will be scrapped if developers fail to show proof of work started within fifty days of receiving generation licence; but what proof is required has not been mentioned.

“It mentions that licences will be scrapped if there is lack of transmission line to connect to the grid , but constructing the transmission line is the responsibility of the government, not the producers. So it is clear that the government is more interested in scrapping licences rather than developing hydro projects,” said a source .

Major points

• Survey License to be scrapped if developers fail to approach the commission for power purchase agreement within two weeks from the date, the act becomes effective

• Twenty per cent increase in power purchase rate from NEA, only for developers receiving license after the act till 2016.

• The commission has the right to fix electricity price for consumers

• Army or armed police to be deployed, if needed, for security of hydro projects

Hydel projects up to 3 MW not to be connected to national grid system
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NO GOVT. EXPANSION EVEN IN TWO MONTHS
Kathmandu, 3 April : It has been two months since Prime inister Jhalanath Khanal was elected to the post on February 3, yet there is not a single reason for the Khanal government to celebrate, Tirtha L. Bhusal writes..

Here is a series of Khanal´s failures: he has failed to give full shape to his cabinet let alone deliver governance, advance the peace process and maintain law and order.

While the prime minister, who is also chairman of the CPN-UML, has been unable to nominate new ministers from his own party due to deepening intra-party feuds, largest coalition partner UCPN (Maoist) has also failed to pick new ministers for the same reason.

Leaders from Khanal´s own party have attributed the delay in giving full shape to the cabinet and the sluggishness in governance delivery to the prime minister´s indecisiveness.

"Prime ministers faced disputes, controversies and dilemmas in the past, but they took decisions. This prime minister, however, has shown utter inability to settle issues on his own," said a UML leader preferring anonymity. "The country shouldn´t have to bear the cost of factional, intra-party or inter-party disputes because of personality clashes."

Some party leaders also blamed the prime minister for not maintaining consistency in his commitments and policies, his action plan and the future course of the government.

UML leaders working in coordination with the prime minister concede that the government leadership has wasted two months when they should have been able to create a good image for the government.

"We admit that we failed to show decisiveness; we have very limited time left to prove our efficiency and we must endeavor for that," Ghanshyam Bhusal, one of the UML leaders working with the prime minister told Republica.

In his first address to the nation on February 19, Khanal had challenged his opponents not to take his patience and his efforts to forge consensus as weaknesses.

Alhough some other political parties also including Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF), Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party, CPN (Samyukta) and CPN-ML have, in principle, agreed to join the government, Khanal has so far failed to bring them on board and settle the row over sharing of ministerial portfolios.

Unable to settle the Maoist-UML row over the home ministry, Khanal had earlier decided to look after that portfolio himself. But he is being criticized for his inability to appoint a home minister even as law and order is deteriorating day by day, with some unidentified armed outfits setting off a series of bomb blasts in recent days.

The resignation of Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal has come as the latest blow for the new government as the surprise move by the popular top bureaucrat triggered unprecedented uproar among opposition parties and society in general.

While the extended deadline for the new constitution is expiring on May 28, the government has not made any significant progress with the peace process.

"The only positive decision this government has taken so far is introducing a policy to address the energy crisis, though the decision is limited to paper," said the UML leader.

The prime minister´s press advisor, Surya Thapa, said the situation would not be prolonged much further. "The prime minister is all set to give the cabinet full shape. He will do it within a couple of days," he said. Thapa claimed that once the cabinet is given full shape, the prime minister would focus on delivery.
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