SUSHIL KOIRALA LASHES OUT AT MAOISTS

SUSHIL KOIRALA LASHES OUT AT MAOISTS
Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: NC President Sushil Koirala Saturday accused Maoists for irresponsibility while talking with reporters at Taulihawa.
He charged the UCPN (Maoist) of double standards.
Koirala warned NC won’t cooperate in another extension of the constituent assembly (CA) as the government seeks another extension of the assembly tenure to complete drafting the constitution
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said a basic law won’t be completed in the remaining time until the end of November,
No progress has been recorded in constitution drafting in more than two weeks after the CA tenure was extended by thee months 31 August.
NC Chief Koirala said sister organizations dissolved by the central committee as their tenures ended.
The move has split the party between the establishment and Sher Bahadur Deuba camp.
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DETAILS OF PM, PRESIDENT MEET
Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: In hour-long discussions, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai briefed the president of the peace process, his upcoming New York visit and other issues.
President asked the government on the delayed peace process.
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MINISTER PRABHU SAH’S PERSONAL SECRETARY FACES MURDER CHARGE
Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: A personal secretary (PS) of a sitting minister has been incriminated in the June 2010 killing of Hindu Yuva Sangh leader Kashi Tiwari, Bhusan Yadav writes in The Kathmandu Post from Birgunj.
Shiyaram Kushwaha, the personal secretary of Minister for Land Reforms and Management Prabhu Sah, reportedly shot dead Tiwari, Parsa police said.
Aman Kushwaha, who was arrested in the district recently, told the police in his statement that he and Shiyaram, also known as Phiroj, pulled off the crime together. He claimed that it was Shiyaram who fired the shot at Tiwari at Ashokbatika in Birgunj Municipality. On June 27, 2010, two motorcycle-borne assailants had gunned down Tiwari.
Aman told the police that he was hired to accompany Shiyaram as he was an experienced motorcycle rider. He said he agreed to take part in the crime for the Rs 200,000 he was offered for just riding the motorcycle. It is learnt that Aman was paid Rs 50,000 in advance.
“It was Phiroj who pulled the trigger while riding pillion on the motorcycle I was riding,” Aman said in his statement.
A police officer involved in the investigation said the motorcycle used in the crime was brought from India and a Nepali fake number plate was used.
Shiyaram denied the allegation and claimed that the charge was ‘politically biased’ and an attempt to defame him.
“This is a baseless accusation; an attempt of character assassination,” he said. Tiwari’s family had filed charges against five people, including Shiyaram, in the wake of the incident. Shiyaram, who was then a secretariat member of the Maoist Bhojpura State Committee, was never arrested.
Based on Aman’s statement, Birgunj police wrote to Kathmandu police on Wednesday for Shiyaram’s arrest, SP Ramesh Kharel said. Shiyaram was not arrested as of Friday evening. Kharel also said that Aman was arrested from Ranighat. As the case involves the personal secretary of an incumbent minister, police have only confirmed the arrest of Aman, but have not produced him before the press yet. In May 2010, Maoists had called an indefinite banda against the government led by Madhav Kumar Nepal. Activists of Hindu Yuva Sangh, then chaired by Tiwari, had then launched an anti-banda movement, during which they had looted and set fire to food meant for Maoist activists participating in the strike. At least 64 people, including Minister Sah and Maoist lawmaker Shiva Chandra Kushwaha, were hurt when police intervened.
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ROTTEN SWEETS, EXPIRED DRUGS, DGEROUS CYLNDERS AND OTHER UNSAFE ITEMS FOUND IN RAIDS


Kthmandu, 17 Sept.: In Nepalgunj,monitors fanned out in different districts and found a number of groceries, eateries, sweet shops, drug stores and gas industries indulging in unethical practices at the expense of public health, The Himalayan Times reports.

In Banke district, a team of monitors swooped on sweet shops in Nepalgunj and found three shops selling stale and inedible sweetmeats with fresh ones. The team said it found that most shops had a crammed existence with no separate chambers for dish-washing and sweet making. The team under officials from the Commerce Office in Nepalgunj found Dhamboji Chowk-based Shanti Sweet Shop at fault.

At the New Bageswori Sweet Shop in Dhamboji, the team found rotten onion and potatoes stuffed in samosas. The team found date-expired cold drinks and ghee in the same outlet and seized 200 bottles of cold drinks.

The team found Little Hunger in Tribhuwan Chowk using inedible colours and low-quality ingredients in sweets and selling date-expire cold drinks. Govinda Pandey, the commerce office chief and part of the monitoring team, said most local shops had substandard foodstuffs. Despite the malpractices, the monitoring team did not bring anyone under the purview of law.

In Tanahun, a team of monitors under Assistant CDO Rajendra Prasad Ghimire monitored drug stores and nursing homes, including Rana Medical Hall, Apolo Hospital and Research Centre, Dahal Health Care and Research Centre.

The monitors directed drug store owners to keep their shops clean and not to sell expired medicines.

In Terhathum, monitors found traders in district headquarters Myanglung bazaar cheating customers using low-weighing weights, Bikaram Rai, a team member from the District Administration Office, informed. He informed that the team had seized a dozen weights used in cheating. The team cautioned vegetables sellers and grocers not to sell rotten or low-quality items to customers.

According to Chief District Officer Ramu Prasad Upadhyaya, the team warned the shopkeepers not to use traditional units of measurement like mana and pathi.

In Kavre, monitors raided gas industries, groceries and sweet shops. Sahadev Gautam, a team member said the team found that Sagarmatha Gas Industries and Surya Gas Industries had been mixing 12 gm of clay sediments in every cylinder. The team found that old gas cylinders were coloured anew to give them a new look.

The monitors also raided raided Banepa-based Baba Spice Company and found that the company had been producing fake BMC Meat Masala, Chicken Masala using adulterated and substandard materials. Assistant Chief District Officer Mahesh Bhattarai pledged to punish the guilty.

The team found most sweet outlets making sweets without compromising on consumers’ health.

Biratnagar jewellers chase away monitors

Jewellers in Thakurbadi Road Biratnagar chased away market monitors on Friday after the latter tried to seize a ‘faulty’ electric scale from Bijaya House upon ‘finding’ that the scale shows 10 mg less than the actual weight of an object. Defending their action, the jewellers said they had no option but to drive out the Joint Market Monitoring Team after it tried to tarnish their image. Commenting on the monitoring team’s finding, Bijaya House Proprietor Arun Rathi said air pressure is to blame for a slight difference in the weight of precious metals. Ten minutes after the first test, the team measured a piece of gold in the same scale and found Rathi’s claim to be true. Thenafter, Bijaya House sought an apology from the monitoring team. The team had seized three scales from Baba Silver Mart, Om Jewellers and Manish Jewellers, which the jewellers retrieved later. He threatened the jewellers would launch a protest if the monitoring team levelled false charges against them.
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GOVT, MULLS AMNESTY FOR MURDER VICTIMS
Kathmandu, 17 Sept.: The government is preparing to pardon 23 persons, including Unified CPN-Maoist lawmaker Balkrishna Dhungel, even as it faces serious objection from several quarters for its bid to withdraw criminal cases, Ansnta Raj Luitel reports in The Himalayan Times.

A highly placed source at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers told this daily that the Cabinet is considering pardon to 23 persons who are already convicted of murder. “Most of them are serving time in different jails,” said the source.

Even though the Supreme Court has slapped a 20-year jail term on Maoist lawmaker Dhungel convicting him of murdering Ujjan Kumar Shrestha in 2000 in Okhaldhunga, Dhungel is still walking free.

According to the source, the then home minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara had sent a proposal to the Cabinet on June 10 seeking amnesty to 23 persons, including Dhungel, by invoking presidential power as per Article 151 of the Interim Constitution.

The proposal, which has been obtained by this daily, states that Dhungel was performing his political duty as per the order from his party, the UCPN-M, when a murder case was lodged against him and that the charges against him were politically motivated.

But the proposal is silent on why a process to pardon Indra Prasad Begha alias Agni Begha, Krishna Kumar Rai, Naresh Kumar Rai, Prem Seling, Liladhar Kadariya, who are convicted of murdering Panchthar Falaincha VDC inhabitants, has been initiated. Similarly, it has also sought amnesty to Chandra Mohan Niroula alias Tika, who is convicted of killing Yagya Prasad Upadhayay of Siraha Lahan, without mentioning a reason. A decision seeking Niroula’s amnesty was taken by the then home minister two years ago.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs Sudhir Kumar Shah, however, said he was not in a position to say why the ministry did not give any reason why it sought amnesty to the convicts. “I don’t know what has happened in these cases,” added Shah.

Human rights activist Charan Prasai said the government move to pardon murder convicts was against the spirit of transitional justice. “If the government goes ahead with such a move, it will mean the government does not abide by the human rights principle and rule of law,” said Prasai.

Murderers proposed for pardon

• Balkrishna Dhungel (Murder, 20-year jail, property

confiscation)

• Indra Prasad Bagha alias Agni Bagha (Murder, 5-year jail)

• Krishna Kumar Rai (Murder, 5-year jail)

• Naresh Kumar Rai (Murder, 5-year jail)

• Prem Seling (Murder, 5-year jail)

• Liladhar Kadaria (Murder, 5-year jail)

• Chandra Mohan Niroula alias Tika (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Mukesh Das (Murder, 20-year jail, property confiscation)

• Ram Kishor Sah Teli (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Nathuni Paswan (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Nawal Kishor Sah (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Ram Shankar Das Tatma (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Nirashan Paswan (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Hukum Dev Sah Halwai (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Surja Paswan (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Deepa Paswan (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Ramprit Sah Teli (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Satyanarayan Sah Sudi (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Kari Prasad Halwai (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Rambabu Yadav (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Ramchandra Yadav (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Ram Autar Sah Sudi (Murder, 20-year jail)

• Ramdayal Mandal (Assault, 26-month jail)
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