UML POLITBURO MEETS THURSDAY

UML POLITBURO MEETS THURSDAY

Kathmandu, 4 May: Politburo meet of the UML that is heading the government meets Thursday.
The politburo meets ahead of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal’s departure Saturday for Istanbul to attend a conference of least developed countries in the Turkish capital.
Khanal is also party chairman.
Secretary Yubaraj Geywali said the politburo will discuss the agenda and date for a central committee meeting.
Khanal abruptly called off the central committee scheduled meeting last month following criticism against the government and party chief by a faction led by form3r Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Sharma Oli
The politburo will discuss official party position on the extension or otherwise of the constituent assembly term which ends 28 May without the promulgation of a basis law by the second deadline in two years.
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SUGAT RATNA KANSAKAR HASN’T BEEN REINSTATED INNAC AS YET

Kathmandu, 4 May: Sugat Ratna Kansakar hasn’t been reinstated as chief executive in Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) as yet, an announcement said.
A court cleared Kansakar and four top executives of CIAA charges the NAC team irregularly advanced $350,000 to Airbus to purchase two long and medium haul aircraft for the corporation; the money was refunded when the charges were leveled against the Kansakar team.
Tourism Ministry Secretary Kishore Thapa continues to be chairman of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) board.
He was appointed by government and continues in the post, an announcement of placed in newspapers said.
Thapa will continue until another government decision, the announcement said.
Reports that Kansakar has resumed old responsibilities in the corporation are false, the notification added.
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DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL OF SAARC PROPOSED

Kathmandu, 4 May: SAARC Secretary General Uz. Fathimath D. Saeed has proposed creating a post of deputy secretary general in the South Asian regional body, Chandra Shekhar Adhikari reports in Annapurna Post.
Saeed, who hails from Maldives, has made the suggestion to facilitate her work. She’s not from the diplomatic service.
She has also started lobbying.
The secretary general left Tuesday for Vienna.
She discussed her idea with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi recently.
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200 VEHICLES STRANDED IN BIRGUNJ

Kathmandu, 4 May: The dipping automobile sales, importers have halted clearing their vehicles that have arrived at the Birgunj Customs Office. Around 200 vehicles have been stalled at the Birgunj customs for the last five months, Ramesh Shrestha, Shankar Acharya report in The Kathmandu Post reports from Kathmandu and Birgunj.

.According to importers, their orders are also stuck in Calcutta Port of India, Rani Customs of Biratnagar and Sunauli Customs of Bhairahawa apart from Birgunj Customs. They said as the demand has dropped by over 30 percent, dealers are reluctant to clear customs and bring vehicles to their showrooms that are already packed with un-sold vehicles.

Sales of both motorbikes and four wheelers have come down following the budget presentation in November last year that increased the excise duty and other taxes, making vehicles dearer.

Of late, importers, who normally place orders three months in advance, are cancelling their orders. “Dealers already have a massive stock of unsold vehicles,” said Saurav Jyoti, president of Nepal Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA). He added that vehicles are stalled at customs offices as dealers do not want to clear them paying heavy taxes amid low business.

Four wheelers gathering dust at the Birgunj Customs Office—the biggest customs office from where a majority of vehicles enter Nepal—include cars, jeeps and vans. About half of them have been imported from third countries, while rest from India. Most of the autos awaiting customs clearance are manufactured by Hyundai, Volkswagen, TATA, Maruti Suzuki and Toyota.

Customs officials said another reason behind auto dealers not clearing their vehicles is the talks of the introduction of a new transport policy. “Dealers also have a habit of getting their vehicles cleared only after finding buyers,” Harihar Poudel, information officer at the customs office.

The price of imported vehicles ranges from IRs 250,000 to IRs 7.5 million. Customs duty on imported motor cars stands at to 213 percent. Usually, the customs office allows importers to keep their imported vehicles on the customs premises for a week without charge. After that, they have to pay a demurrage of Rs 0.20 per kg per month for up to one month and Rs 0.40 per kg per month thereafter.

“We are placing orders as per bookings only because of low demand,” said Rupesh Sharma Bhatta, senior manager-business development and planning at Laxmi Intercontinental. He said increased excise duty and lack of financing facility to buyers have hit the business hard this year.

As Birgunj customs is the major entry point, taxes collected from auto import make up 40 percent of its total revenue. Customs officials said the import of both small and large vehicles through the customs office has declined compared to last year.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, import of small automobiles through the Birgunj customs dropped to 5,407 units worth Rs 3.3 billion from 6,818 units worth Rs 3.45 billion during the same period last year. The revenue collection target for the office has been set at Rs 51.9 billion for the current fiscal year and so far it has been able to achieve only 93 percent of the goal.

The import of trucks and mini trucks also fell to Rs 860 million from last year’s Rs 1.63 billion and that of loaders and excavators decreased to Rs 1.44 billion from Rs 4.31 billion. Similarly, traders imported 533 double-cab pick-ups worth Rs 485.9 million compared to 665 units worth Rs 555.7 million during the same period last year.





NADA demands cut in excise duty

Nepal Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) has demanded that the government cut down the import excise duty on vehicles. The association has asked the Ministry of Finance to bring the excise duty down by 15 percent each in four-wheelers and two-wheelers segments. The government, through the budget, had increased the excise duty by 10-60 percent in four wheelers and 10-40 percent in two wheelers. “We asked the government to cut the excise duty in next year’s budget,” said Saurav Jyoti, president of NADA.
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ICC MAY DOWNGRADE NHRC

Kathmandu, 4 May: The fate of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) hangs in balance with the government making no tangible progress in implementing its own commitment made at the UN forum in Geneva four months ago, Kamal Raj Sigdel writes in The Kathmandu Post.

If the government does not amend the “toothless” draft NHRC bill in line with the recommendations of the international human rights community or “do something concrete” towards that direction within the next couple of weeks, chances are that the rights watchdog could be downgraded from A to B status, according to rights defenders.

The International Coordination Committee (ICC) of the national human rights institutions is all set to decide whether or not to downgrade NHRC during its annual meeting on May 17-19, in Geneva. Any decision by the meeting will have a prestige issue for Nepal and if the NHRC is downgraded, that will also reduce the commission to an “observer” status at UN forums.

ICC had warned the government and NHRC in March 2010 that the commission could be downgraded if certain corrections were not made within 12 months to make the watchdog meet the international standards spelled out in the Paris Principles. The UN General Assembly adopted the Paris Principles in 1993 as international standards for all national human rights institutions of UN member states.

The ICC had asked Nepal to amend the NHRC bill to ensure its financial and operational independence in line with the Paris Principles, clear the allegations of mismanagement, financial irregularities and divisions within NHRC and improving cooperation with other human rights stakeholders.

In response, the government expressed commitment during the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva in January that it would, among other things, amend the draft NHRC bill to make it compliant with the Paris Principles.

The ICC now awaits government’s response before taking a final decision at its May 17 meeting.

“The May 17 meeting in Geneva provides the last opportunity for NHRC to address the international body’s concerns,” said NHRC Spokesman Gauri Pradhan. “We have clarified some of the issues from our side but what matters is the government’s response.”

OHCHR-Nepal Chief Jyoti Sanghera, however, is hopeful that the NHRC could retain its ‘A’ status. “I am hopeful and I certainly wish NHRC will not be downgraded for reasons which are not under its control,” said Jyoti. She said it would be “unfair” to punish NHRC on that account. If the House fails to pass the bill before the ICC meeting, an assurance from the government to pass it within a fixed time should also avert the downgrading, she said.

The NHRC draft bill tabled at the House in August 2009 is under review at a three-member sub-committee headed by lawmaker Radhe Shyam Adhikari. The committee is not sure when the bill will move forward.

“We are aware that the NHRC fate depends on this draft bill. But what can we do? This has been delayed for the last two years,” said Adhikari. “Let’s see what we can do next week.”

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that made the commitment in Geneva is almost cut off from the whole issue. “Once the bill is tabled in the House, it becomes the property of the House and we can do nothing,” said a senior official at the PMO.

Besides the lack of progress in the bill, there has not been any progress in addressing other ICC concerns, such as the rift among NHRC commissioners and the staffing problem.
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CRACKDOWN ON PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN SUNSARI





Kathmandu, 4 May: District Education Office (DEO), Inaruwa has decided to take action against more than 246 private schools for violating the education regulation, The Rising Nepal reports from Inaruwa.
Hari Prasad Wasti, District Education Officer, informed that these schools were granted affiliation by the DEO but had failed to run the classes as per the affiliation rules and regulation .
According to the regulation, schools can add only one class every year based on its existing infrastructure, playing ground and class rooms. But the schools owners have added the classes as per their own interests neglecting the education act.
The DEO thus has been compelled to take action against these schools after the school started to run more classes than they were permitted under the school affiliation rule and regulation.
DEO Wasti urged the owners stop running the added classes and to become serious about the future of the students. He added that there was no provision of providing affiliation for seven and eight classes at a go.
He urged other stakeholders to support him in his task of taking action against the erring schools, which were running the classes without taking due affiliation from the DEO.
Most of private schools were found to be running classes without taking due permission during a surprise check conducted by a DEO led team.
The team has also found that schools have been teaching with the help of textbooks not recognized by the Curriculum Development Centre.
Krisna Bahadur Katuwal, administrative officer of the District Administration Office said they were always ready to support the DEO to take any kind of action against the erring schools

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