PM BHATTARAI, NC VICE-PRESIDENT HOLD DIALOGUE
Kathmandu, 10 Oct. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai held discussions Sunday with NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel and constituent assembly (CA) Chairman Subash Nemwang earlier amid a prolonged political deadlock.
The premier is also holding discussions with Sushil Koirala as the NC president returned to the capital from Nepalgunj.
Nemwang, who is also parliament’s speaker, has been urging party leaders in meetings after Dashain to find an outlet to complete the delayed peace process and constitution drafting.
“It’s clear the constitution drafting won’t get a push without progress in the peace process. Leaders of all parties expressed a commitment to reach an agreement on the peace process before Dashain.
“But it wasn’t completed,” Nemwang said.
Less than two months remain to complete the twin processes before the extended three-month CA tenure ends 31 November.
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TWO KILLED, TWO OTHERS INJURED IN PALPA TRUCK ACCIDENT
Kathmandu, 10 Oct.: Two persons were killed, including a nine-year-old boy, in a truck accident in Palpa where two others were also injured, Sunday.
The driver was among the injured.
The truck was heading for Tansen from Rampur when the accident occurred.
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TWO CONTESTING LEADERSHIP OF NRNA
Kathmandu, 10 Oct.: Two candidates were contesting the leadership for the next two years of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) which is meeting for its fifth global conference beginning in the capital Wednesday.
The conference will also elect a new working committee.
Incumbent President Dev Man Hirchan and Jiba Lamichani are contesting the Association’s leadership.
NRNA has a network in 56 countries.
Eight hundred delegates from 35 nations are participating
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ANOTHER ARRESTED IN HINDU YOUTH LEADER MURDER
Kathmandu, 10 Oct.: Suresh Patel was arrested in Parsa by police Sunday to probe possible involvement in the murder in Birgung of Hindu Yuva Sangh leader Kashi Tiwari.
Biwari was shot dead in the border trading town. June 2010.
Maoist Land Reforms Pabhu Sah and personal secretary Shiyaram Kushuwaha have also been implicated.
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PM TO PUSH BUSINESS, ECONOMIC AGENDAS DURING FORTHCOMING INDIA VISIT
Kathmandu, 10 Oct.: As Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai embarks on a visit to India on October 21, the government has started consultations on the business and economic agenda of the trip, The Kathmandu Post reports.
On Sunday, the PM held a meeting with ministers, the chief secretary and secretaries to discuss the agendas.
According to one secretary who attended the meeting, they discussed various issues ranging from using various Indian ports, holding Nepal-India Commerce Secretary-level meeting and electricity import from India to seeking Indian assistance for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and industrial estates.
Sources said the Ministry of Industry (MoI) has forwarded two proposals that include the Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) with India and seeking Indian assistance to develop SEZs and industrial estates.
The government has already decided to construct SEZs in Bhairahawa, Simara, Dhangadhi, Panchkhal in Kavre, Jhapa, Biratnagar, Jumla and Kapilvastu to promote production and export of local goods with special incentives to industries.
“Our ministry has proposed seeking Indian support to develop SEZ and industrial estates,” said a top official from the industry ministry. “Since 1987, we have not expanded industrial estates.”
Through the BIPA, India has been seeking protection of its investment in Nepal. BIPA is a bilateral treaty that defines the agreement between the two countries for reciprocal encouragement, promotion, and protection of investments in each other’s territories by the companies based in either country.
It assures investors that their foreign investment will be guaranteed, given equitable treatment and full and constant legal security and disputes resolved through international mechanism.
For more than a decade, India has been demanding Nepal sign the BIPA.
According to sources at the Finance Ministry, Nepal and India could sign a bilateral deal worth US$ 250 million, a line of credit offered by the Indian government during the visit of President Dr Ram Baran Yadav to India in February 2010. The deal was supposed to be signed in June during Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s Nepal visit, but was postponed at the 11th hour.
In a bid to address the energy crisis, Nepal is requesting India to allow more power import. Prime Minister Bhattarai has already said that he will raise prominently the issue of power import from India. “My number one priority will be power import,” the PM had told editors of leading dailies on October 1. The PM had told the editors that he would be requesting India to export 200 MW of electricity.
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RECORD ACCIDENTS IN VALLEY DURING DASHAIN
Kathmandu, 10 Oct.: The Kathmandu valley this year witnessed the highest number of road fatalities during the Dashain festival since the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) began keeping records, Nirjana Sharma reports in The Kathmandu Post.
Fourteen accident-related deaths and 25 serious injuries were reported during the Dashain festival this year. The accidents caused mostly by drunken and reckless driving soared to the highest number in five years—184.
Nine persons had died and 18 injured in 2010.
Five-year data at the MTPD show that 28 men, six women and six children were killed since 2007, while 11 men, a woman and two children died this year during the festival.
Though the records show only two deaths during the Dashain period, the reduction in the number of fatalities stems from a revision in the number of days that are counted as Dashain holidays—reduction from the 15-day period in the past years to a 6-day period this year.
The MTPD used to prepare a separate report of road accident cases of the 15-day Dashain earlier. However, this year, it has compiled records of only six days after the government scaled down the number of holidays.
“From this year, we included only those road accidents in the report that occurred within six days from Fulpati,” Jagat Man Shrestha, the Superint-endent of Police (SP) at the MTPD, said.
According to the statistics posted on the MTPD website, there were 124 serious injuries and 598 simple injuries in five years.
Among them, 21 were seriously injured in 2007, 34 in 2008, 26 in 2009 and 18 in 2010 and 25 in 2011, while 160, 113, 103, 105 and 117 persons sustained minor injuries in the five years in road accidents during Dashain. Around 616 separate accidents were reported during Dashain in these five years with 184 accidents this year alone.
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Total accidents- 99 Total accidents- 109 Total accidents- 115 Total accidents- 109 Total accidents- 184
Death- 6 Death- 8 Death-3 Death- 9 Death- 14
Seriously injured- 21 Seriously injured-34 Seriously injured- 26 Seriously injured- 18 Seriously injured- 25
Minor injuries- 160 Minor injuries- 113 Minor injuries- 103 Minor injuries- 105 Minor injuries- 117
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