PRESIDENT DR. YADAV BEGINS QATAR STATE VISIT MONDAY

PRESIDENT DR YADAV LEAVES FOR QATAR STATE VISIT

Kathmandu, 10 Oct. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav leaves for Qatar
to begin a four-day state visit Monday
The visit coincides with the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Two agreements are being signed during the visit.
The president will be received officially at the palace of Emir Hamad bin Khalifa.Al Thani shortly after landing and will hold talks with the emir.
The visit will reinforce bilateral relations between the two countries.
There are 400,000 Nepali workers in the Gulf emirates.
Government is giving the president a ceremonial sendoff at TIA airport.
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NEPAL PARTICIPATING IN U-14 LAWN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINNING IN DHAKA SUNDAY

Kathmandu, 10 Oct. A 11-member Nepal’s U-14 lawn tennis team is participating in a week-long tournament being held in Dhaka,
Bangladesh, from 10 to 16 October.
A Nepali squad left the Bangladesh capital Sunday.
The team has four boys and five girl players.
All Nepal Lawn tennis Association (ANITA) Vice-president Jyoti Rana is team manager and Rameshwor Thapa is coach.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“If Baburam Bhattarai--led government fails to conclude the
peace process and draft a constitution, the country will never get a
statute and this will invite further conflict.”

(Health Minister and Chairman of NSP Rajendra Mahoto, Republica, 10 Oct.)

“Maximum of 4,000 [former Maoists] can be integrated. A golden handshake of 700,000 to one million rupees for those opting for resettlement is also too much.”

(NC President Sushil Koirala, Nagarik, 10 Oct.)
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HONG KONG HEALTH TEAM AGAIN CONCERNED WITH INADEQUATE SPRAYING IN NAC BOEING

Kathmandu, 10 Oct. Hong Kong Health Department has expressed grave concern with inadequate security measures inside aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), Sunil Bhattarai reports in Nagarik.
Following an aircraft inspection Saturday, the Department is preparing to send a warning letter after it was found inadequate sprays were used to kill mosquitoes, cockroaches and other inspects.
“After an aircraft landed at the airport Saturday, a health inspector of
the health department inspected it and expressed dissatisfaction with security measures onboard,” Capt. Sishir Kumar Sharma told Nagarik Sunday.
‘A warning letter is being send in the next two to three days.”
NAC aircraft are being regularly checked after discovery of a rat onboard the aircraft one month ago.
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MAOISTS SELL SEIZED LAND OF NC LEADER IN KALIKOT AS MAIN OPPOSITION DEMANDS RETURN
Kathmandu, 10 Oct.: Farmers close to Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) are using almost 3,000 sq m land the party seized in Rupsa VDC of Kalikot district from its rightful owner Kali Bahadur Sahakari, who is the Kalikot district chairman of Nepali Congress, during the Maoist conflict, Tufan Neupane reports in Republica from Jumla.
The farmers have also bought the land from the party.
The party seized the land in January 1999. Though the Maoists returned a house to Sahakari in 2007, the land is still being used by the farmers who bought the land from the party for Rs 50,000.

After the original buyer of the land Ratnaman Sahakari of Rupsa-2 died, his brother, nephew, Abilal Sahakari, Dhan Sahakari and Bharat Bahadur Sahakari are currently cultivating the land, according to the rightful owner of the land.

"When I ask the Maoist party to return the land, the party says farmers are using it. When I ask the farmers to return it, they say I should first return them their investment," said Sahakari, the land owner. "I sought the administration´s help thrice. We had several meetings, but to no avail," he added.

He added that the Maoists have also been using the land of Jaya Bahadur Bam at Ramnakot, Prem Bahadur Shahi at Malkot and Ratna Bahadur Shahi at Malkot in the Kalikot district.

Though Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai directed immediately after assuming power that seized land be returned to rightful owners, none of the seized land pieces have been returned to their rightful owners in the Kalikot district so far.

The Home Ministry has asked District Administration Office (DAO) to furnish the details of that seized lands. According to Lal Bahadur Karki, section officer at DAO, the District Police Office (DPO) is currently inquiring into such claims, following the directive.

But Karki said returning the seized land that has been sold by the Maoist party will be complicated. He said since locals have already paid for such land, there is a problem regarding who will compensate them.

The Maoists, however, say that the state should sort out the problems that originated during the insurgency.

Maoist district in-charge Atom BC said returning the land that has been sold is difficult.

"Our friends appear to have sold the seized land pieces to farmers," he said. "Ordinary farmers have paid for the land. So, we are facing difficulty in immediately returning the land."

He added that talks are taking place with Nepali Congress and a solution should emerge soon. "We are trying to agree the farmers on taking this year´s harvest and then letting the land owners cultivate the land from next year," he said.

Meanwhile, our correspondent Dil Bahadur Chatyal reported from Dhangadi that some 150 families in Kailali are yet to get back their land seized during the insurgency.

"After the prime minister announced that the land would be returned within 15 days, we have visited District Administration Office thrice asking for our land," said Liladhar Bhandari, chairman of Conflict-Affected Society. "But there is no sign that our land will be returned," he added.
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MAOIST VICE-CHAIRMAN BAIDYA CHARGES PM FOR UNILATERAL DECISION

Kathmandu, 10 Oct : UCPN (Maoist) Senior Vice-Chairman Mohan Baidya, who leads a faction against the party chairman, said the party establishment´s decision to convene an orientation program for the cadres next week is not against the party decisions and urged everyone to take the decision as normal, Gajendra BOhara writes in Republica from Dang.
"We decided to convene the orientation program with a view to hold deliberations on the party´s policies and programs. Ours is a democratic party and the chairman can hold discussions with cadres. It´s not a big deal," Baidya told reporters upon his arrival in Dang on Sunday.
Baidya´s statement has come as a volte-face on the strong objection made by other leaders from his faction against party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal´s announcement to convene the event.

Party secretary CP Gajurel, a key leader of Baidya faction, had told Republica on Saturday that cadres from the faction would boycott the orientation program. Gajurel even threatened to organize a parallel event if the establishment held the orientation program unilaterally.

While Baidya hailed the government-introduced relief program as an achievement of the government, he said the government was failing to make any progress with regard to advancing the twin tasks of constitution-writing and peace process.

He, however, criticized the prime minister for taking decisions without consulting him. "He (prime minister) should consult us before taking any decision. He can´t take unilateral decisions," Baidya said. "We took to the street and staged a torch rally against the government decisions because we wanted to correct the government."

He informed that they would pressure the government to withdraw the decision to return the land seized by the Maoists during the insurgency.

"The government should make alternative arrangement for those who have been using the seized land before asking them to leave the place. This decision must be corrected because we fought for ten years for the cause of peasants and the poor. How can we instruct them to return the land they have been using for years without offering them anything in return?" said Baidya.

Talks to cadres loyal to him

Baidya arrived in Dang district for consolidating his faction´s hold in the midwestern region of the country.


Immediately after he arrived in Dang on Sunday, Baidya talked to the party cadres close to his faction in the district. He, however, claimed that it was a family gathering. "I arrived here just to see my parents and and brothers. There is no political motive behind my visit," said Baidya.

But at his younger brother´s residence, Baidya met his loyals. According to local leaders in the district, Baidya was unwilling to make his visit public.

Baidya faction cadres held several rounds of separate gatherings at Tulsipur, Lamahi and Ghorahi in the recent days. They distanced themselves from the party´s establishment faction mainly after the present Maoist-headed government decided to return the seized land and property and hand over the keys of arms containers to the government-formed Special Committee.

The party´s district in-charge Nirmal Acharya didn´t meet Baidya in Dang but district secretary Subhas Pun Magar held a meeting with Baidya. The recent factional activities of the Maoist party clearly indicate that the cadres have been sharply divided into two factions from the party´s top level to the grassroots.

"We had instructed the cadres not to meet with Baidya but later we found that they met with him secretly," said a local leader close to the party´s establishment at Hapur VDC.

According to a teacher who is an organized member of a teachers´ union close to the Maoist party, cadres from the Baidya faction held a separate meeting at Tulsipur just ahead of the Dashain festival with a view to thrash out the future course of the faction.

However Baidya told reporters that the disputes within his party was manageable and they were holding constructive discussions for settling them. He claimed that the reports saying that the Maoist party was on the verge of split were baseless.
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