UNTY TALKS BETWEEN 3 FORMER PARTIES OF PANCHAS FAIL

UNITY TALKS BETWEEN THREE PARTIES OF FORMER PANCHAS FAIL
Kathmandu, 25 Nov. Behind the scene talks between three parties of
former panchas-- RPP of Pahshupati Shumshere Rana, RJP of Surya
Bahadur Thapa and RPP-Nepal of Kamal Thapa have failed, a radio
report said Friday morning.
Talks over several days were held at an undisclosed place.
RPP-Nepal refused to give its stance in favour of constitutional
monarchy.
The report said Indian leader Karan Singh of ruling Indian Congress party encouraged the unity during a recent Nepal visit.
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MEDIA GOOGLE
“Reports that Dhungel [Maoist lawmaker Balkrishna convicted for
murder] would be arrested are not true as we have not been told to
do so.”
(DIG Binod Singh, The Kathmandu Post, 25 Nov.)
“Some of the commission [state reorganization] members are pursuing studies in universities while some others are working with NGOs.
What made the leaders appoint such individuals? Couldn’t they find
experts in the field. This is the height of indifference.”
(Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohini of RJP, The Himalayan Times, 25 Nov.)
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INDIA AGREES TO SELL 100MW OF ADDITONAL POWER
Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: India has agreed to provide an additional 100 Megawatts (MW) of electricity to Nepal to ease the acute power shortage in the country, Maahesh Acharya writes in The Kathmandu Post..
Indian officials expressed this readiness during the sixth meeting of the Joint Committee on Water Resources(JCWR) being held at the secretary level. The meeting began here on Thursday.
"The Indian side is positive about providing more electricity to Nepal and we have agreed to finalise the issue as quickly as possible at the technical level," Energy Secretary Balananda Paudel, the leader of the Nepali delegation in the talks, said.
Officials of both the sides recently concluded that transmitting an additional 100 MW of power through the existing transmission lines with minimum repairs was feasible and that the process could take a maximum of three months to be sorted out.
Nepal intends to import the additional power before March 2012, but a more concrete timetable may only emerge on the final day of the talks on Friday, according to Paudel.
Discussions among officials of the Nepal Electricity Authority, the Power Grid of India and the Power Trade Corporation held in Kathmandu had concluded that 369 MW can be provided through the existing transmission lines. Nepal is currently receiving 120-134 MW of electricity from India.
India has also shown positive signs on Nepal's proposal of a Power Trade Agreement (PTA). Nepal had pushed this agenda during the recent India tour of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. Nepal and India don't have a bilateral agreement on power trading yet.
PTA will help Nepal sell and buy power from/to India beyond the current provision of the Power Exchange Arrangement (PEA). PEA has set the limit of 50 MW. Nepal has also requested the Indian side to extend that limit to 150 MW.
"Both sides have recognised that the Power Trade Agreement is of great significance. Indian officials have told us that they will comment on it within this year," Paudel said.
According to Paudel, India is also positive on Nepal's proposal to establish a second cross-border transmission line (400 KV) connecting Gorakhpur (India) with Butwal (Nepal). Currently, the first cross border transmission line (400 KV) connecting Muzaffarpur with Dhalkebar has entered the formal process of construction.
On the Pancheshwor project, India has committed to sort out the issue of the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Pancheshwor Development Authority (PDA) within three months, Acting Ambassador of Nepal to India Khaganath Adhikari said.
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RED CORNER NOTICES AGAINST 52 NEPALIS
Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: National Central Bureaus of seven countries have issued Red Corner Notice against 52 Nepalis for crime in foreign lands,
The Himalayan Times reports.

NCBs, a division of national police agency, serve as contact points for Interpol in 190 member countries enabling them to work together on cross-border investigations.

Interpol circulates Red Corner Notices for arrest and subsequent deportation of most-wanted criminals on the recommendation of its member countries upon verification of their details.

DIG Binod Singh, Nepal Police spokesperson, said seven NCBs requested its Nepal office to arrest 52 Nepali citizens, including a woman.

Those NCB offices seeking arrest and deportation of 52 Nepalis are from India, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, US, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Belarus. NCB- India tops the chart with 22 Nepalis followed by UAE (13), Qatar (10), USA (3), Saudi Arabia (2) and one each from Italy and Belarus.

These countries have found them guilty of embezzlement, fraud, involvement in road accidents, breach of trust, theft, contraband smuggling, murder and forgery.

DIG Singh said Interpol has sought their arrest with a view to extradition. .

Interpol’s role is to help the National Central Bureaus identify or locate the accused for their arrest and extradition.

Pankaj Joshi of Kathmandu, is among the 52 Nepalis sought through Red Corner Notice.

The convenience store clerk in Arlington had pocketed a customer’s $1 million winning lottery ticket and claimed the prize before absconding in the US.

He is suspected to have fled to Nepal after the fraud. However, Nepal Police is still clueless of his whereabouts.
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