NC CENTRAL COMMITTEE TO MEET THURSDAY

NC CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEET TO DISCUSS ITS CANDIDATE FOR PM
Kathmandu, 11 Aug.: Main opposition NC central committee meet that resumes Thursday will discuss the party’s candidate for prime minister with commitment of beleaguered Prime Minster Jhalanath Khanal in parliament to resign Saturday.
NC has been laying to claim to government to complete the peace process and constitution drafting as Maoist second Vice-chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai also staked a claim to succeed Khanal.
Senior NC leader and three-time Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has staked a claim to lead government by replacing incumbent parliamentary party leader Ran Chandra Paudel.
Paudel couldn’t muster majority support of parliament when he contested the seat to succeed Madhav Kumar Nepal in the last round of parliamentary elections for prime minister.
NC President Sushil Koirala has denied Deuba’s claim there’s a secret agreement between the two party leaders to appoint Deuba prime minister.
The last NC central committee discussed proposed seven provinces in a new federal structure—one around Kathmandu, two in terai and four in the hills.
The committee has to approve the suggestions of a party task force following extensive debate.
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SUSHIL KOIRALA ,PRESIDENT MEET
Kathmandu, 11 Aug.: NC President Sushil Koirala held political discussions on current issues during a fluid political situation Thursday morning. with President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav.
They discussed the peace process, constitution drafting and other issues.
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PADDY TRANSPLANTATION COVERS 94 PERCENT FARMLAND
Kathmandu, 11 Aug.: Following a good and time monsoon, paddy transplantation has covered 94 percent of fields nation-wide until 7 August, agriculture ministry said, compared to 86 percent in the same period the following year.
Rice is the country’s staple crop followed by maize and wheat.
Transplantation has covered 1.41 million hectares of 1,49 million farmland
Transplantation has covered 93 percent of farmland in the terai—the country’s granary.
There was a surplus in paddy production last year.
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NC WORKER KILLED IN SUNSARI

Kathmandu, 11 Aug. NC village chief Kalyan Bikram Thapa killed overnight in a personal dispute in Sunsari, according to police.

Thapa died while undergoing treatment at a Dharan hospital.
Suspect Ratna Bhandari has been arrested.
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RETIRED SENIOR UN OFFICIAL CHARGES UNMIN OF PRO-MAOIST BASIS
Kathmandu, 11 Aug.: Former UN Assistant Secretary General Kul Chandra Gautam today portrayed the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) as working with a ‘pro-Maoist bias’, The Himalayan Times reports.

Presenting an analysis of the peace process, Gautam said, “UNMIN gave undue benefits of doubt to the Maoists on various occasions.” He categorically mentioned that the UN political mission, which was supposed to facilitate and monitor the peace process, had ignored Maoist violations of the peace agreements and dragged the UN into controversy.

“Things started to turn sour when people began to see that UNMIN was unable to restrain the massive pre-election threats and violence of the Maoists against candidates of other political parties,” Gautam said at an interaction organised by Ganesh Man Singh Academy.

“Following the election, and installation of the Maoist-led government, people saw many illegal and criminal activities taking place in Maoist cantonments or by Maoist combatants outside the cantonments and their faith in UNMIN began to erode when they perceived its inability to control or even monitor such activities,” he added.

The international community, donors and civil society were more enchanted by the emergence of the Maoists as the largest party in the CA and its fanciful rhetoric of inclusion and social justice than their “deep aversion to truly democratic values,” Gautam said.

He said UNMIN recognised the Maoists as a “party to the conflict” even after it led the elected government, ignoring that article 6 of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement had declared “end of the armed war” and article 10.5, which declared that the concept of “two sides” would cease to exist after promulgation of the new constitution.

Gautam said public commitment from Maoists on abandoning the military mindset was indispensable for the peace process to move forward.

Coordinator of the Secretariat under the Special Committee Balananda Sharma said the parties have begun to spread their political shadow even on the activities of the secretariat.

Barsha Man Pun, a Maoist SC member, said discord over the issue of power sharing had affected the integration and rehabilitation process. He argued that integration of Maoist combatants [into the Nepali army] was not only a professional matter, but also equally a political one.
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