NEPAL, INDIA TO SIGN AGREEMENT TO AVOID DOUBLE TAXATION

NEPAL, INDIA TO SIGN AGREEMENT TO AVOID DOUBLE TAXATION

Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: Nepal and India sign an agreement to avoid double taxation Sunday.
Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrives for a daylong visit to sign A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with his Nepali counterpart Barshaman Singh Pun.
The agreement couldn’t be signed during the October India visit of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.
The agreement will be signed in the presence of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai at the Office of the Prime Minister.
Mukherjee will hold discussions with leaders of political parties when a peace process and constitution won’t be completed by a 30 November deadline seven five years after a 12-point agreement between seven parliamentary parties and Maoists whose senior leaders were living in self-exile during a 10-year Maoist insurgency at home.
India has expressed concern at the delay.
Mukherjee is India’s point man in government or Nepal to oversee the transition from monarchy to a republic following the agreement between Maoists and parliamentary parties.
Mukherjee will meet separately with Premier Bhattarai, Finance Minister Barshaman Sigh Pun and President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav.
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NC UNOFFICIAL DECISION TO EXTEND CA TENURE SIX MONTHS

Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: Main opposition NC Saturday took an unofficial decision to extend a constituent assembly/parliament tenure for another six months after 30 November,
But the party’s parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel has been empowered to take a final decision on the duration after consultations with other parties.
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MAOIST FACTION AGAIN SEIZES RETURNED FARMLAND IN FAR-WEST

Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: Main opposition NC President Suhshil Koirala has asked Maoist Chairman Prachanda to stop recapture of farmland
handed over to owners only hours earlier in Bardiya Friday.
Land returned Friday was seized again 12 hours later by a rival faction in Bardiya saying the party hadn’t decided to return the assets to owners.
Chairman Prachanda and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai can’t return assets on their personal decision without party decision, Secretary CP Gajurel said.
The authority of Prachanda and Bhattarai is being challenged within the party amid charges of running party affairs on personal whims.
Koirala said such incidents should be controlled in UCPN (Maoist) not to push the process back.
“…we heard that the Maoists announced capture of the same land by erecting 30 flags. Prachanda should take the responsibility for stopping it. Such incidents push the progress back.
“Incidents like this will raise doubts. The party takes one decision while another faction of the same party obstructs implementation of the decision. The Maoist leadership should control this,” Koirala told Republica Sunday.
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RYAN SANDES OF SOUTH AFRICA WINS INTERNATIONAL ULTRA MARATHON

Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: Ryan Sandes, 28, of South Africa won the weeklong 250km International Ultra Marathon Saturday.
The race started from Masrdukhol, Kaski, 26 November and finished at Fulbari Resort, Pokhara, Saturday.
There were participants from 42 countries—55 from USA.
Forty-three of 250 runners dropped out of the race.
Racing the Planet of Hong Kong sponsored the race.
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RETURNED LAND SEIZEDAGAIN BY RIVAL BAIDYA FACTION IN UCPN (MAOIST)

Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: No sooner was land seized by the Maoists at Prayagpur in Bardiya district returned to the rightful owners than the hard-line faction seized the land again, Dinesh Gautam writes in Republica from Prayagpir, Bardiya..

The land, owned by Nepali Congress (NC) leader Binaya Dhowj Chand and family members and seized by the Maoists some 11 years ago, was returned to Chand on Friday, but the party´s radical faction in the district planted the party´s red flag in the 43 bigha tract at Rajapur-7.

The establishment faction of the Maoist party which inked the deal to return seized lands looks on helpless as the Baidya faction has launched an aggressive campaign against the decision.

Earlier in the day, the district-level taskforce comprising the three parties UCPN (Maoist), NC and UML, local facilitators and the local administration declared the land restored to the Chands.

After planting the party flag, Baidya faction cadres started ploughing the land with a tractor.

"They declared the land restored during daytime, but planted a party flag and seized the land again at night," a disappointed Chand told Republica.

There was a verbal agreement that the land would be leased out to those who are currently occupying it if the owners themselves don´t work it. Now the Chands are a confused lot as the Baidya faction has captured the land again, saying it was returned to the owners deceptively.

Taskforce member from the NC, Sanjaya Gautam, said: "The Maoists have flouted the seven-point deal. The land must be returned in earnest."

According to the district administration office, the private land holdings seized by the Maoists range from two khatta to 80 bigha.

Chief District Officer Ramkrishna Subedi stated that altogether 922 individuals have registered complaints about land seizures.



Some 250 individuals have applied for return of seized land at Manau, 95 have applied for land return at Patabhar, 86 at Rajapur, 85 at Manpur Tapara, 64 at Padnaha, 56 at Nayagaun, 49 at Badalpur.

In Banke district, where some 500 bigha is estimated to have been captured by the Maoists, 63 individuals have applied for return of their land. The district administration office stated that the office is yet to update the figures.



The Baidya faction leaders have issued a decree not to sell or buy the seized lands, and stated that they would not abide by the directives of party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai in this matter.

"The seized land will not be returned until the government introduces revolutionary land reforms," said Ganesh Aryal of the faction. He said that the faction has formally decided not to return the seized land.

While the district administration office in Bardiya has stated that 922 bigha belonging to 242 individuals has been sized by the Maoists, Pramod Upadhyaya, who leads a campaign for rehabilitation of internally displaced people, claims that 1,819 bigha belonging to 354 families was captured.

Meanwhile, our correspondent Gajendra Bohora reports that the Baidya faction has put up obstructions to the land return drive.

The party establishment faction, however, states that they would forcibly implement the agreement to return seized land.

While the party district in-charge and deputy in-charge, who are from the establishment faction, want to show "maximum flexibility" in returning seized properties, the party district secretary, who is from the Baidya faction, has stood up against the party´s official decision.

"I don´t know what has happened in other districts. But we will not abide by anyone´s orders unless there are alternative arrangements for the poor peasants," said district Secretary Suvash Pun from the Baidya faction.

Chairman of the Maoist-aligned peasants´ union Baburam Chaudhary has been appealing to those occupying the captured land for their cooperation in the implementation of the seven-point deal. But those from the Baidya faction have been telling occupiers of the land that the decision to return land it is not the party´s official decision.

"We will not let anyone implement a deal that is a betrayal of the peasants. The party chairman entered into some abstract agreement about the rights of the peasants. That´s why we first demand alternative arrangements for the peasants," said Pun.

Leaders from the party establishment have, however, stated that they would first try to reach an agreement with the Baidya faction and if the faction is not persuaded they would implement the deal by force.

"We are from the party establishment and we may move ahead forcibly to implement the deal. But we are trying to reach an agreement," said Raju Nepali, who is the Maoist in-charge of Harpur VDC.

There is no official record of how many bigha of land has been seized by the Maoists. But the Maoist party has stated that some 3,000 bigha of private and public land is under the party´s control.

Chief District Officer Rishiram Sharma stated that 42 people have lost their lands to the Maoists.

Land return decision not official: Gajurel

Meanwhile, Maoist Secretary CP Gajurel has stated that the decision to return seized land was a personal decision, not an official one, taken by Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.

Gajurel, who is from the Baidya faction, stated that his faction would capture the seized land again if it is returned forcibly. "In a communist party we don´t abide by personal decisions. But we abide by democratic centralism," he said.

Gajurel said the party has alternative prime ministerial candidates and this would be discussed during the forthcoming Central Committee meeting. "There are many alternatives to Baburam Bhattarai. We will discuss handing over the government leadership to General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa."
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DRAFT ACT ENVISIGES FAST-TRACK FOR SPOT RESOLUTION OF LABOUR PROBLEMS

Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: To do away with the lengthy settlement process of labor disputes through the Labor Court, a tripartite panel comprising government representative, labor unions and employers has proposed to set up a Labor Commission to deliver on-the-spot justice with fast-track measuresm Prabhakar writes in Republica..

After a series of tripartite meetings, the panel had submitted the draft of ´National Commission Act 2011´ to the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management recently.

“We came up with the idea to establish the Labor Commission in view of lengthy process taking five to seven years to settle a labor dispute by the existing Labor Court established in 1997. The commission would be responsible for timely delivery of justice,” Umesh Upadhya, general secretary of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GFONT), told Republica on Saturday.

Upadhya said a final round of negotiation on the draft will be held among members of the panel before forwarding it to the Central Labor Advisory Committee, which would formally hand over the draft to the government for for the parliament to endorse.

The interim constitution has also envisaged the establishment of Labor Commission for effective and timely settlement of labor related disputes.

“Role of Labor Court will be gradually reduced once the commission comes into operation. We have wished that the labor related disputes could be settled within three months since the case is filed by the aggrieved party at the commission,” said Upadhya.

The commission will respond to the case on the spot, visit for settlement of justice or take proactive measures, seek solution of the dispute if the case becomes a national issue before it is filed before the commission.

In a bid to make the role of commission effective and to make conflicting parties responsible, the draft has sought a maximum fine of Rs 25,000 against those disobeying to implement the commission´s decision along with the provision of an additional fine of Rs 1,000 for each passing day in case of continuation of such offence.

The draft Act has provisioned a tough penalty of Rs 50,000 or a maximum six months of imprisonment against the persons who defame or misbehave the authorized persons of the commission.

In a bid to discourage undue influencing of any authorized persons of the commission to commit corruption by any party to the conflict, a fine of Rs 100,000 or a maximum of one-year jail term or both has been incorporated in the draft Act.

Similarly, any person or party to dispute failing to obey the order of the commission or refuse to answer the questions by the commission will be liable for a maximum fine of Rs 25,000 or a maximum of six months of jail-term or both. Similarly, a penalty of Rs 25,000 or a maximum of six months of imprisonment or both will be slapped against those who provide false evidence in a proceeding or threaten or encourage a person summoned for investigation.

A member of the Act drafting panel said the commission in consultation with the government shall appoint a debt recovery officer to recover any outstanding dues or fine or penalty imposed by its order.

“Amount of penalty envisioned in the Act is subjected to increase every three years by the decision of the Central Labor Advisory Council. However, 15 percent of increment will be made if the council fails to take the decision in time,” said the member.
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