1,006 KG HIDDEN HEMP SEIZED

1,006 KG HIDDEN HEMP SEIZED


Kathmandu, 6 Nov.: Police overnight seized 1006 kg hemp
packed in sacks and hilled at a cave in aacked in bags from a cave n hemp mahaahari neighbouring Makwanpur district.
The refined drug was being smuggled across the border to India
using four children
MAOIST CHIEF NOT IN PM RACE

Kathmandu, 6 Nov.: Four days after signing a historic agreement that ended the three-year-old stalemate in the peace process, one of the signatories of the deal, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said he was not willing to lead any form of government—consensus or majoritarian—until the peace process concludes.
Dismissing suggestions that he was looking forward to replacing his party colleague as prime minister, Dahal said he would not hanker for the prime ministerial position in the interim period.
Speaking to a select group of journalists at his residence on Saturday afternoon, the Maoist chairman did not conceal his ambition to become the first directly elected ‘chief executive’.
“I am not in the race to become the prime minister in the interim period,” Dahal said. “My aspiration is to run for the executive position in the elections on completion of the peace and constitution-writing processes.”
The seven-point deal inked among parties on Tuesday gave a definitive blueprint to the peace process for the first time but clauses in the accord about national unity government and a high-level political mechanism have led to much speculation about imminent change in the government leadership.
Dahal clarified that Tuesday’s accord did not intend to form a new government immediately. “I haven’t thought about removing Bhattarai,” said Dahal. “I don’t see changing the government now profits the country in anyway,” he said. Trying to appear consistently committed, the Maoist chairman said that since February this year, he had concentrated his efforts solely on concluding the peace and constitution-writing processes.
He was referring to the election of CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal as prime minister on February 3 after Dahal withdrew his candidacy and supported Khanal.
“I would be hurt if anyone thought that I facilitated the signing of the seven-point deal to just become the prime minister,” Dahal said, emotionally. He affirmed he would not lead even a consensus government at this stage.
Though Dahal didn’t give a clear sense of the timeline, Dahal exuded confidence that the peace process was in a proper trajectory. He admitted that though the rank determination issue had not been completely resolved, the parties had an understanding not to delay the process.
Dahal, who spoke to journalists hours before he left for New York to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said he would also make efforts to garner wider international support for the integration and rehabilitation of the former combatants.
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GOVT. SPEEDS UP WORK FOR NIY
Kathmandu, 6 Nov.:With some concrete developments taking place on the political front, the government has intensified preparations for the Nepal Investment Year
(NIY), Prithvi Man Shrestha/Ashok Thapa write in The Kathmandu Post.
The government and the private sector on Friday decided to set up a high-level mechanism to be lead by the prime minister to carry out the preparation work.
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has announced that the government will mark the years 2012 and 2013 as investment years. An executive committee including top government officials and private sector representatives will be formed for the execution of the NIY preparation work.
There will also be two separate secretariats at the Ministry of Industry (MoI) and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). The secretariats to be set up soon will facilitate the NIY preparation and other administrative and secretarial work. “The secretariats will help address the bottlenecks to FDI,” said FNCCI President Suraj Vaidya. The secretariat at the FNCCI will be headed by its president.
Vaidya said the country seeks to double foreign direct investment (FDI) during the investment years. Nepal attracted FDI worth Rs 10.04 billion in last fiscal year—10.43 percent higher than that of 2009-10.
According to Industry Secretary Shankar Koirala, the Friday’s meeting also discussed various measures to resolve legal and practical problems being faced by investors—local or foreign. “We have decided to bring flexibility in policy related matters, bureaucracy and incentives,” said Koirala.
As part of the NIY preparation, the MoI in partnership with FNCCI is currently working on identifying 50 potential projects, mainly in the areas including hydropower, infrastructure, mining, service sector and tourism.
The peace agreement between political parties has been a boost to optimism among investors. But even before that, potential foreign investors had been making trips to Nepal to take stock of investment opportunities here. In the last six months, there foreign trade delegations—from the US, UK and Czech Republic—visited the country.
Members of the American Chambers of Commerce in India (ACCI) had shown their eagerness to establish businesses and industries in Nepal, particularly in infrastructure, IT, food, beverage, agro products and agro industries sectors, while the British delegation was interested in hydropower, agriculture, distribution, IT and education sectors.
Of late, the government has made efforts to reach out to the potential investors and address their concerns. The recent signing of the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) with India is an example. The government is gearing
up to reach the agreement with other countries too.
With the visiting trade delegations expressing concerns about Nepal’s regulatory framework and difficulties in raising funds from international financial institutions to invest here, the government will also make necessary amendments to the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, Industrial Enterprises Act and Labour Act.
The British trade delegation during an interaction with government officials was more concerned about the regulatory framework, difficulties in raising funds from international financial institutions to invest here and access to markets.
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