THREE FORMER POLICE CHIEFS BEING CHARGED BY CIAA

GOVT.TO LAUNCH SPECIAL INTEGRATED HEALTH PROGRAMME IN EIGHT DISTRICTS

Kathmandu, 5 June: Government will launch a
special programme to strengthen health system in eight districts lagging behind in Nepal’s human index report.
Jajarkot, Mugu, Bajura, Rukum in the far-West, Taplujung in the eastern hills and Kapilvastu, Rautahat and Siraha in the terai will benefit from an integrated health programme approved by cabinet Saturday
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NEPSE LOST 9.01 POINTS LAST WEEK

Kathmandu, 5 June: Nepse lost 9.1 points at the end of four-day trading last week; there was no trading Sunday because of a public holiday.
The market opened at 342.76 points Monday and closed at 333.76 points
Thursday.
Commercial banks lost 13.87 points.
Shares of 110 companies were traded.
Altogether 227,455 shares were traded for Rs. 61.59 million through 5,105 transactions.
Weekly turnover declined 21.7percent.
Altogether 22,283 shares of Prime Commercial Bank shares were traded
Bonus shares of Goodwill Finance and Sagarmatha Merchant Banking and right shares of Swabalamban Micro Finance Development Bank were listed with NEPSE last week.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“The leadership has demonstrated arrogance and exercised authoritarianism in the party. The party activists should stand against such attitude [after signing five-point pact with Maoists and UML].”

(Arjun Narsingh NC, The Kathmandu Post, 5 June)


“Habitual gamblers have started to stay away from casinos. It is good news that only one Nepali was found during the surprise raids [Sauurday].
(DSP Kedar Dhakal, The Himalayan Times, 5 June)
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OSRTICH MEAT TO HIT NEPALI MARKET
Kathmandu, 5 June” Ostrich products are all set to hit the Nepali market, thanks to commercial farming of the world’s biggest flightless bird under the ratite family that began in the country two years ago, Madhav Dhungana writes in The Kaathmandu Post from Bhartahawa
Ostrich Nepal, a private company which started the farming at Gangoliya VDC-1 in Rupandehi, said the ostrich products will be in the market this year.

The birds are native to Africa and are farmed in many countries for their feathers (used as a decorative item), skin and meat.

The proprietor of the company, CP Sharma, told a press conference on Saturday that there are 1,000 ostriches, mostly chicks, in the farm now.

According to him, the company will supply about one tonne of ostrich meat in the market later in 2011. He said the company will increase the supply to 15 tonnes next year and 200 tonnes and 2,500 tonnes in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

A chick takes two to three years to grow fully. The company has invested Rs 300 million in the farm that has the area of around 20 bighas (around 13.54 hectares).

“We started the farming by keeping in mind the international market. The ostrich products—meat, leather and feather—are very expensive in the market,” Sharma said. The company also aims to sell its products to some hotels and restaurants in Nepal.

“Nepali consumers who are conscious about their health are also our target customers,” the he added. Sharma said ostrich meat contains less cholesterol and high level of vitamins and minerals.

Sharma said the price of one kilogram of ostrich meat costs up to US$90 in the international market. “We are planning to sell the meat at Rs 2,000 per kg in Nepal,” he said.
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CIAA TO FILE CHARGES AGAINST THREE POLICE CHIEFS IN SUDAN SCAM

Kathmandu, 5 June The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority is preparing to bring to trial nine senior incumbent and former police officials and two contractors for their involvement in the Sudan scam, Bimal Gautam writes in Republica.
“We will likely submit a charge sheet against the officials and contractors at the Special Court on Sunday", said a CIAA source, adding, “We decided to bring them to court as a huge amount of money was released without monitoring the standard and quality of APCs (armoured personnel carriers) and other logistics.”
The CIAA has concluded that Rs 300 million was embezzled in the process of procuring and supplying APCs to Nepali peacekeepers deployed in Sudan.

According to a knowledgeable source, the CIAA will try three former police chiefs -- Om Bikram Rana, Hem Bahadur Gurung and Ramesh Chand Thakuri -- as the main accused in the scam. The source claimed that the anti-graft body will also try former AIGs Shayam Singh Thapa, Dipak Thangden and Deependra Bista and DIG Ramesh Bikram Shah, SSP Shyam Bahadur Khadka and former DIG Deepak Kumar Shrestha for abetting the fraud.

The two contractors likely to be brought to trail are Michael Rider; director of the London-based Assured Risks -- the company that supplied the APCs and other logistics to the Nepali peacekeepers -- and Shambhu Bharati, a local agent of the same company.

Police officials indicted in the Sudan scam worked in the Procurement Section or Management Section at Nepal Police Headquarters or at the Police Welfare Fund.
“We are not filing case against junior staff,” the source said, adding, “We are filing case only against those whose roles were crucial in the process of procuring and supplying the logistics and releasing money to the supplier,” said the source.

Another source, however, claimed that the number of those to be indicted may go up to 13.

The contract agreement for the procurement of APCs was signed between Nepal Police and Assured Risks during ex-police chief Rana´s tenure. “Rana, Gurung and Thakuri released huge amounts of money from the Police Welfare Fund to the supplier without checking the quality of the APCs and logistics as per the contract agreement,” reads the charge sheet prepared by the CIAA.

Furnishing written clarifications at the CIAA, Assured Risks had claimed that it supplied standard and functional APCs but the APCs became obsolete and non-functional due to lack of proper maintenance and monitoring by Nepal Police.

The charge sheet further states that those involved in releasing the money have been found guilty of neglecting the inspection aspect before releasing payment to the APC supplier.

The CIAA had interrogated more than three dozen police officers, including three police chiefs, in connection with the procurement deal reached two years ago.
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