BIG THREE MEET INCONCLUSIVE UPDATE

BIG3 MEET INCONCLUSIVE UPDATE-

Kathmandu, 20 Oct.: A meeting of the Bid Three parties as Prime Minister prepares to fly to India later Thursday to begin a four-day visit laws inconclusive.
Second-ranking leaders of UCPN (Maoist) and opposition parties NC and UML met ahead of the visit for the second consecutive day. to break a deadlock in the delayed peace process.
The meeting was held at the premier’s official residence.

NC leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula, who is also a member of the task force of the top here parties confirmed t no decisions were taken agreeing only to meet after Bhattarai’s return from India.
Other members of the task force formed Wednesday are Maoist Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun and former home minister Bhim Rawal of UML.
A separate meeting a special committed headed ex-officio by the premier for integration, resettlement and supervision of 19,000 plus Maoist combatants was also inconclusive Thursday.
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MoU INKED BETWEEN ADB , IDCA
Kathmandu, 20 Oct.: The Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) and the Israeli International Development Coordination Agency (IDCA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the promotion of agriculture sector and sustainable development here on Wednesday, RSS reports.

As per the MoU, the agency will continue providing training on entrepreneurship and human resources development. Israel will impart training to as many as 25 Nepali agricultural entrepreneurs and 25 ADB officers in Nepal and Israel next year.

On the occasion, Israeli Ambassador to Nepal, Hanan Godar urged the Nepalis to visit the poultry farming and cow farms run by Nepali farmers trained by the Israeli Agency through the ADB.
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CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY TERM EXTENSION CONSPIRACY
Kathmandu, 20 Oct.: The Supreme Court today [Wednesday] found that Attorney General Mukti Narayan Pradhan’s Office had hatched a conspiracy to postpone the hearing on the Constituent Assembly (CA) tenure extension case by not submitting explanations even though it had receiving them from the government and parliament, The Himalayan Times reports .

Citing the absence of written explanations, Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi had postponed the scheduled hearing yesterday.

“We receive the explanations after the hearing was postponed. This clearly shows the intention to postpone the hearing,” Shree Kanta Paudel, spokesperson, SC told reporters.

According to him, if anybody raises a question by formally registering a petition, the case will be produced for consideration before the judges’ bench with regard to the delay. State agencies submit all documents to the Supreme Court through the Office of the Attorney General.

The OAG had submitted explanations after Chief Justice Regmi postponed the hearing by publishing a cause list yesterday [Tuesdaay]. “There is no ambiguity because the order had specifically scheduled the date of hearing,” Paudel added. After receiving the explanations, the apex court today rescheduled the hearing for November 3.

Evidences obtained by The Himalayan Times show that OAG received the written replies from Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on October 17. It received the same from Speaker Subas Nembang and Secretariat of Parliament and Constituent Assembly and the Ministry of Law and Justice on October 16, but did not forward them on the same day but.

The AG’s Office chose to wait till the hearing on October 18 was postponed. Prime Minister Bhattarai had signed on the written reply on October 17 and Acting Law Secretary Rajuman Singh Malla had signed it on October 16 but the responses of neither Nembang nor Tek Prasad Dhungana, who submitted replies on behalf of the CA secretariat, contained date or signatures.

Sending a letter to The Himalayan Times, CA secretariat Spokesperson Mukunda Sharma said the Secretariat forwarded the replies two days before the hearing date and made it clear it did not have any intention to disrespect the court order.

Attorney General Pradhan, however, denied the allegation that his office was hatching conspiracies to postpone the hearing. “I made several efforts to obtain explanations from the Office of the Prime Minister and waited till the last hour on October 17 but they did not send it, so we missed the deadline.”
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POWER PACT NOT NEAR

Kaathmandu, 20 Oct.: Nepal is set to make a push for a power trade agreement (PTA) with India during Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s visit to the southern neighbour beginning tomorrow [Thursday], The HImalayaan Times reports .

In the absence of a PTA, Nepal, coping with a power shortfall of 120 MW, can import only up to 50 MW of power from India through a power sharing agreement. For more than that much of power, Nepal needs to approach the Power Trade Corporation of India. That means purchasing power at a higher rate.

Nepal is pushing for a PTA also to ensure the export of electricity after the completion of export-oriented hydropower projects on the pipeline. The absence of a high-capacity cross-border transmission line is also blocking the power trade.

With the hydropower sector on PM Bhattarai’s priority list, high officials of the Ministry of Energy busied themselves in discussions on the issue the whole day. “We have done groundwork to make the visit fruitful for the energy sector,” said Balananda Poudel, Secretary, Ministry of Energy.

On the PTA, Dipendranath Sharma, Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), said, “Though we have prepared a draft, signing of a PTA is unlikely during this visit. Nonetheless, the process to ink the deal will move a step ahead after which talks can be held at the lower level and the deal finalised.”

“As of now, we have been buying electricity on the basis of mutual understanding. But once projects on the pipeline are commissioned, we need to enter into a firm trade agreement to export power. Nepal will make a push for such a deal during this visit,” Poudel added.

Construction of a high-capacity transmission line will be another agenda of the visit. We will seek Indian financial and technical assistance for the project,” Poudel said.

With a PTA still far-off, this visit will not lead to import of much-needed electricity, meaning hours-long power outage will not shorten this winter as well.

On agenda

• Power trade agreement

• Construction of a new cross-border transmission line

• Indian investment in mega power projects
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NOTORIOUS THIEF IN POLICE NET
Kathmandu, 20 Oct.: A notorious thief, who single-handedly accounted for the theft of property worth over six million rupees at different places in the Capital, was arrested from Nuwakot on Wednesday, The Kathmandu Post reports .
Basanta Gurung Tamang aka Ale, a micro bus driver by profession, was arrested from his resident in Kumari VDC, Nuwakot after over three months of “hide and seek” with the police. In the month of Asadh (June-July) alone, Ale broke into five houses in the Capital and looted property worth Rs 5 million.
Police said he was involved in at least seven cases of theft and robbery. Ale had looted cash and valuables worth Rs 2.3 million from the house of Sujan Ranjit in KMC-13, Rs 1.8 million from the house of Dilip Man Shrestha in Maharjgunj and Rs 500,000 from the house of Mohan Chandra Adhikari in Old Naikap in a period of three days this July.
Ale is taken to Maharajgunj Police Circle.
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FACTIONAL MEETS AS AGREED, CLAIMS REBEL MAOIST LEADER
Kathmandu, 20 Oct.:
UCPN (Maoist) Vice Chairman Mohan Baidya, who represents the party’s hardline faction, on Wednesday said factional gatherings were being held nationwide as per an understanding among top leaders of the party, The Kathmandu Post reports.
Talking to reporters at his residence, Baidya said the leadership had agreed to hold factional meetings from the centre to the grassroots level to disseminate their differing views to cadres. He, however, said there had been an understanding to not speak publicly against each other until the Central Committee (CC) meeting, which is scheduled to begin on November 3, is held.
Both factions led by Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Baidya are holding separate gatherings across the country. Baidya slammed a statement by Maoist Spokesperson Dina Nath Sharma on Tuesday defending Defence Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari’s ‘secessionist’ remarks and the four-point agreement signed with the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha. Baidya reasoned that the “flawed decision” should be corrected. “We are in favour of this government continuing, but we can move ahead only after flawed decisions are corrected,” he said. At a time when Dahal and PM Baburam Bhattarai are preparing to move ahead in the peace and constitution writing processes through majority votes in the CC meet, Baidya claimed that his faction commands a majority in the CC.
“The party chairman has taken many steps against the party’s decisions; a majority of the CC members will stand against that,” Baidya said. Asked about a possible split in the party, Baidya said the party will remain united, but added that transformation of leadership is inevitable.
Dahal recently said that a people’s revolution is impossible at this point. Baidya slammed Dahal’s statement and said that the party’s priority is a people’s revolution. He expressed hope that Dahal will not go against the party’s official decision.

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