MAOIST CHIEF PRACHANDA LEAVING FOR NEW YORK FOR MEETING WITH UN CHIEF

MAOIST CHAIRMAN PRACHANDA LEAVING FOR MEETING WITH BAN KI-MOON

Kathmandu, 5 Nov.: Maoist Chairman Prachanda flies for New York Saturday for a scheduled meeting with UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon together international assistance for development of
Lumbini, the birthplace of The Buddha.
The Maoist-led government of Baburam Bhattarai appointed UCPN (Maoist) chief had of national directive committee for broader Lumbini development.
The Maoist chief said he’ll invite the UN chief to head
an international committee for Lumbini of which Prachanda will
be joint coordinator.
A Chinese NGO—Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation
Foundation (APECF) has proposed $3 billion for Lumbini’s development.
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GOLD PRICE UP RS. 694 PER TOLA

Kathmandu, 5 Nov.: Gold was traded for Rs.45,950 per tola
Friday as the price of the yellow metal increased by Rs. 694 per tola.
Dealers increased with increased demand for the previous metal in the international market.
Gold was sold for Rs. 45,355 per tola Sunday when the bullion marketwas opened.
Silver price fell and was traded for Rs.943 per tola.
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VETERAN PLAYER KAMAL THAPA LOSES IN FINAL OF THAI TENNIS TOURNAMENT

Kathmandu, 5 Nov.: Kama; Thapa lost Fri 7-6,6-1 to Germany’s
John Burness in the final of the Asian Senior Open 2011 above 55 years age group.
Thapa, who is also a former national football player, is RPP-Nepal chairman.
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NEPAL PLAYS PAKISTAN IN SAARC CRICKET TOURNEY SATURDAY

Kathmandu, 5 Nov.: Nepal plays Pakistan in the last league match of Group B Saturday in SAARC U-25 Twenty20 Cricket Tournament in Maldives.
Nepal lost Sri Lanka in its first match but beat India’s Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIC) which is out of the tournament.
Two top teams will qualify; Pakistan and Sri Lanka are top in the group
Nepal has to beat Pakistan to move to the semi-final.
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GOVT. ACCEPTS $2m KOREAN OFFER FOR LUMBINI DEVELOPMENT

Kathmandu, Nov.: Amid the search for more international assistance for the development of Lumbini, the South Korean government has come forward with a proposal to developing Lumbini as a "city of peace", Kiran Chapagain writes in Republica, .

The proposal took concerete shape Friday after the Ministry of Culture accepted the Korean offer to prepare a plan and develop Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, as a city of peace. As per the plan, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Korean aid agency, will fund US$ 2 million to draw the plan.


"KOICA will prepare a plan for developing Lumbini as city of peace keeping in mind the cultural, environmental and archeological aspects of Lumbini," said an official at the Ministry of Culture on the Korean proposal, requesting anonymity.

The proposed project will focus outside the area covered by the Master Plan prepared by Japanese Prof. Kenzo Tange, a noted architect, in 1978. Tange had prepared the plan at the request of the United Nations, which has shown interest in the development of Lumbini from as early as 1970s. The Master Plan covers 1.3 square miles, expanding one mile east-west and three miles north-south, covering 770 hectares.

Knowledgeable government sources said they believe that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is a Korean national, has indirect support to the two million dollar project. According to sources, Ban has keen interest in the development of the birthplace of the Budhha.

The Korean proposal took final shape after rounds of talks between officials from the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance, and KOICA officials. Secretary at the Ministry of Culture Dinesh Hari Adhikari and KOICA´s country representative signed a "record of discussion" on the project, paving way for finalizing a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Finance and KOICA. The signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding has been scheduled for November 12.
As per the understanding, KoICA will start developing the plan from January 12 with an aim to complete the work within 18 months.

Coincidently, the Ministry of Culture accepted the proposal four days before a team led by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who heads a government-formed directorate on development of Lumbini, leaves for New York to seek international support for the development of the birthplace of the Buddha. Dahal, former minister of culture Dr Minendra Rijal and banker Manoj Bahadur Shrestha, a banker, are heading for New York next week. The delegation is due to meet the UN
Secretary-General.
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SURVEY TEAMS TO REACH CANTONMENTS BY NOV. 13
Kathmandu, 5 Nov.: The secretariat under the Special Committee is all set to dispatch survey teams to all the seven cantonments by November 13 so that it can start the much-awaited categorization of the Maoist combatants before the November 16-deadline given by the Special Committee to segregate the combatants, Kiran Chapagain writes in Republica..

“The survey teams will start leaving for the cantonments from November 26 and will reach the cantonments by November 27,” said Balananda Sharma, the convener of the secretariat, shortly after the Special Committee directed the secretariat to start the categorization process by November 16.
Under the categorization process, the combatants will be segregated into three groups - those opting for rehabilitation, integration and voluntary retirement, respectively. They will be then given new identity cards.

The secretariat is dispatching seven groups of surveyors comprising 35-40 persons who will be trained for three days before being sent to the cantonments to update the number of the ex-Maoist fighters and categorize them. The secretariat is currently in the process of selecting surveyors who have worked with the UN in conflict areas and those who have studied conflict and peace.

The secretariat, according to Sharma, expects the categorization to complete in 10 days, with around 2,100 combatants categorized every day in all seven main cantonments. Though the there are 28 cantonments, the categorization will be carried out only in the seven main cantonments, which means combatants living in satellite cantonments will join the main cantonments.

As per the November-1 agreement among major political parties, the categorization should complete by November 23.

Meanwhile, the Special Committee and its secretariat are jointly working to clarify confusing provisions in the agreement. The secretariat officials maintain that the integration number, ranks to be accorded to Maoist combatants, rehabilitation packages, among other things, should be clarified before the survey teams are dispatched to the cantonments.
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GOVT. TO SCRAP SPECIAL PROMOTION PROVISION
Kathmandu, 5 Nov.: Ending a long-standing row that had been dogging the entire bureaucracy for long, the government on Friday decided to scrap provisions related to special promotions --also known as automatic promotions-- incorporated in the Civil Service Act, Bimal Gautam writes in Republica..

A joint meeting of the Bills Committee and Administrative Committee of the cabinet, which was chaired by Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, decided to amend the Civil Service Act with the cosent of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and end the much-criticized provisions on special promotions.
The government has, however, decided to adjust the nearly 18,000 civil servants who were given special promotions under Article 24 (D) of the Civil Service Act five years ago.

The government formed after Janaandolan II in April, 2006 had given automatic promotion to some 18,000 civil servants of non-gazetted and third-class gazetted levels following mounting pressure from them. However, the government has not assigned them appropriate responsibilities so far.

"The cabinet committees have formally proposed to the PSC to scrap the controversial provisions relating to special promotions," said Secretary Leela Mani Paudel, adding, "The cabinet will finally approve the bill once the PSC says it has no objection in the matter." Following endorsement by the cabinet, the bill will go to parliament. The amended bill will come into effect once parliament enacts it.

Friday´s decision was reached after dozens of meetings. Meetings held in the past failed to decide on scrapping the provisions, owing to differences between ministers.

At Friday´s meeting, some ministers had pressed for postponement of the agenda, stating that the issue was serious. Those ministers finally agreed to scrapping the provisions after senior government officials persuaded them not to postpone the meeting.

Representatives of civil servants´ unions have welcomed Friday´s decision to forward the proposal to the PSC for the latter´s nod.

"We won´t criticize the government´s decision to scrap the provisions related to special promotions if it moves ahead with the alternatives," said Mohan Ghimire, general secretary of Nepal Government Employees´ Organization, adding, "We welcome the decision."

With the amendment of the Civil Service Act for the fourth time, the government has also decided to prioritize the seniority system in civil service promotions at various levels. According to the fresh provisions, 20 percent of secretary-level vacancies must be filled on the basis of seniority.

Similarly, the government has decided through the amended Act to promote government employees through certain percentage ratios. The percentage ratios vary from position to position.

While promoting a joint secretary to secretary, 35 percent of total marks will be added based on his/her seniority.

"The new provisions on promotions will discourage the trend of promoting government employees through favoritism and nepotism," said a high ranking official preferring anonymity.
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