UML STANDING COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS PARTY SUPPORT IN PM VOTE

UML STANDING COMMITTEE MEETS; OTHER DETAILS

Kathmandu, 26 Aug.: UML standing committee meets Friday to discuss party support for one of two candidates in the race for prime through majority vote in parliament Sunday.
NC’s Ram Chandra Paudel and Maoist Vice-chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattari are in the prime ministerial race.
The standing committee will also discuss Thursday’s Maoist five-point proposal for governmet formation, constitution drafting and peace process conclusion.
UML meets amid deep division in the party on whom to support.
UML and NC Thursday rejected Maoist proposal for the leadership of government by UCPN (Maoist) announcing a five-point work plan and schedule for completing the peace process, constitution drafting and government formation on rotational basis.
Speaker Subash Nemwang has asked all lawmakers not to stay neutral in voting.
New round of voting will be held if three round voting is inconclusive.
A meeting of the Big Three—Maoists, NC and UML—begins at Baluwalatar official residence of the prime minister Friday morning to discuss the vote for government chief to succeed Caretaker Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.
Khanal said Thursday election of his successor in parliamentary majority voting is against the spirit of a tripartite five-point agreement to form a national government, end the peace process and draft a constitution.
A front of five Madeshbadi parties is meeting Friday.
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SUPREME COURT VERDICT SUNDAY

Kathmandu, 26 Aug.: Supreme court special bench will give its verdict Sunday on the legality of extending a tenure of the constituent assembly (CA) by three months.
Hearing of a legality of a three-month extension of the assembly will conclude Friday.
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SEBON PERMISSION FOR CDS

Kathmandu, 26 Aug.: Security Board of Nepal (SEBON) Thursday authorized Central Depository System (CDS) and Clearing Ltd.to run CDS for the first time to automate the capital market
Permission was granted under CDS Service Regulation 2011.
It’s not clear when the upgraded system installed with Indian assistance will be operational.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

‘It’s not right to instigate the arrest of somebody by writing something to end a person’s political career. Even telephone conversations have been published without ministry’s permission.”

(UML Youth Organization Chairman Mahesh Basnet, Nagarik, 26 Aug.)
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LOCALS TO BAR TOURISTS FROM ENTERING UPER MUSTANG

Kathmandu, 26 Aug 26: Locals have vowed to not allow foreign tourists into Upper Mustang, one of Nepal´s most picturesque travel destinations, from next month, Dilip Poudel writes in Republica from Baglung.

Lo Chhodung Sports and Youths Development Committee, which consists of representatives from seven villages of Upper Mustang area, has decided to bar tourists from trekking in this popular destination from October 1, accusing the government of not implementing a past agreement struck with it.
Last year, following the villagers´ threat to stop tourist entry into Upper Mustang area, the government had agreed to provide 60 per cent of the total royalty collected from tourists visiting this trekking area.

“We are forced to take a bitter decision after the government failed to honor its own written pledge,” Chhewang Jhigme Bishta, secretary of the committee, said.

The committee has written to District Administration Office and District Development Committee of Mustang to inform the government about its decision. The committee has accused the government of not allocating adequate budget and neglect toward the conservation of flora and fauna and infrastructure development in Upper Mustang.

Upper Mustang area was opened for foreign tourists in 1992. Locals say the then government had promised to allocate 60 per cent of the total royalty collected every year from Upper Mustang to conserve and develop this area. Locals have been demanding 60 per cent share of the royalty collected from Upper Mustang based on that promise.

Raju Adhikari, a local development officer of Mustan Raju, says a district-level government agency can not address the demands put forth by the villagers.

“The government has been collecting a hefty royalty from tourists visiting Upper Mustang,” Adhikari says. “But it sends back only 30 per cent of the total royalty for development of Upper Mustang. Local agency alone can not do anything in such situation.”

Foreign tourists pay US$ 500 per person for a 10-day stay in Upper Mustang area. They have to pay extra 50 dollars for every additional day. In 1993, the government collected US$ 537,600 as royalty from 768 foreign tourists who visited Upper Mustang that year. The government had provided $ 322,560 for development of Upper Mustang area as per its assurance.

Locals say the government has never allocated 60 per cent of the total budget since 1994. According to Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), at least 18,000 tourists visited Upper Mustang from 1994 to 2010. The government collected around US$ 9 million during this period.
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LEGALITY OF CA TERM EXTENSION DISCUSSED

Kathmandu, 26 Aug : Lawyers on Thursday argued before the Supreme Court special bench that the Constituent Assembly (CA) enjoys the right to extend its term for whatever length of time it needs.

Pleading before the SC special bench chaired by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi and including senior Justices Top Bahadur Magar, Damodar Sharma, Ramkumar Prasad Shah and Kalyan Shrestha, lawyer Mukti Pradhan said that the CA can extend its own term for one year and even more if it feels the need to do so.

"The CA is not defunct as claimed by the writ petitioners," he said, adding," It is functioning and so it can extend its term to promulgate a new constitution."

He, however, argued that there should be grounds for extending the term. "CA can extend its term if the objective behind that is meaningful," he added.

"What do you mean by meaningful?", Justice Kalyan Shrestha asked Pradhan. "What I mean is that the term can be extended only on meaningful grounds," Pradhan replied.

Unsatisfied with the answer, the bench raised another question "You lawyers who are pleading in favor of term extension argue that there should be justified grounds before extending the term. But what do you mean by justified grounds," the bench asked.

"There is no problem for the CA to extend its term but there should be proven legitimacy for that," Pradhan argued. Pradhan, who is close to the Maoists, was pleading as part of the amicus curie appointed by Nepal Bar Association (NBA) on a formal request by the Supreme Court.

Another lawyer, Harikrishna Karki, pleaded that the SC cannot take any decision regarding the CA´s term extension.

"The issue of CA term extension cannot be a matter of judicial review at the SC," Karki said, adding, "Extending or not extending the CA term falls under the jurisdiction of the CA and the apex court cannot impede the matter." He said this was a political issue.

The bench had asked a number of questions to both Pradhan and Karki.

The hearings on a writ petition concerning CA term extension are expected to be completed by Friday. The bench is likely to come up with a final decision on Sunday on CA term extension.
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PM INSPECTS NARAYANHITI PALACE MUSEUM





Kathmandu, 26 Aug : Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal Thursday came down heavily on Nepali Congress and UCPN-Maoist, accusing them of indulging in power politics and undermining peace and constitution, The Rising Nepal reports.
Inaugurating the Real Estate Expo-2011, Prime Minister Khanal said that NC and the Madheshi parties created rumours that his resignation was the only solution to the political crisis.
"The NC and Madheshi parties were adamant on his resignation and disrupted the parliament forgetting their commitment to complete the fundamental aspects of the peace process and bringing the integrated draft of the new constitution," he said.
"I knew their wrong intention and destination, however, I deemed it proper to present an example from my side by stepping down to pave the way forward."
But the parties were focusing all their attention to forming the government rather than giving priority to peace and constitution, he said.
Khanal said that those who signed

the five-point agreement had not played their responsible role to forge national consensus after his resignation.
"The doubt is rife whether the country is being pushed towards greater disorder, misunderstanding and crisis by forming a majority government in the leadership of these parties," he said.
"As of now the two big parties are involved in the election process to form a majority government by fielding their candidates. Is it a blatant violation of the five-point deal and wrong move?"
Stating that the nation had had experience, lesson and outcome of the three majority governments in the past, PM Khanal threw up a volley of questions: Could these majority governments give us peace and constitution? Can the next one deliver these? Nobody believes, it will. This is a reason why I had been holding high the flag of national consensus and while forming the majority government, I had a single-minded purpose of reaching a national consensus.
Khanal said that there was still the chance of forming a consensus government even within the process of making a majority government.
"So, I draw the attention of Maoists and NC to this fact and ask them to be honest about consensus, peace and constitution," he said.
He said that there was no relevance of forming a majority government to replace another majority one.
Khanal said that parties were not seen to be sensitive to unity of purpose and consensus.
He called on other parties to follow the footsteps of CPN-UML that demonstrated its sincerity to the five-point deal with the feeling of co-existence.
PM visits Narayanhity Palace Museum
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal Thursday inspected the Narayanhity Palace Museum.
He visited chambers, with names of districts such as Humla, Myagdi, Parbat, Dailekh, Dhanusha, and Sarlahi.
He started his inspection tour of the palace museum from Kaski baithak, where he was administered the oath of office and secrecy as the minister for culture in 2047 BS. The constitution of the 1990 was promulgated from that chamber.
He wrote his comments on the visitor’s book stating that this palace was an extremely important monument of the Nepali people.
It should be preserved and promoted with top priority and importance, a challenge to us all, he noted.
Khanal also visited Tribhuvan Sadan, where the royal massacre took place in June 2001, which was later demolished.
Khanal wondered why it was demolished. Terming the tragedy as highly agonizing and mysterious, he said: "I had thought of investigating into the event during my tenure but there was no time and this case should seriously studied and probed."
Khanal pointed out the need for upgrading the capacity of the human resources through training and incentives to preserve, reconstruct and manage the monument.
I had thoughts of investing into the event : PM
There are 55 chambers named after Nepal’s districts. They are open to the public viewing from 2065.
The museum earns Rs. 150,000 daily in fees from the visitors. However, the repair and maintenance of the museum have not been carried out at the desired level.
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