GOLD GAINS RS. 500 PER TOLA

GOLD GAINS RS.500 PER TOLA

Kathmandu, 8 Dec.: Gold price dipped Rs. 500 a tola
Wednesday after gaining Rs.1,000 per tola one day earlier.
Gild gained in the local market after its increase in the international market.
The yellow metal was traded for Rs. 55,500 a tola Wednesday.
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COMMUNICATION MINISTER GUPTA HITS OUT AT CRITICS

Kathmandu, 8 Dec.: Information and Communications Minister and chairman of Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Ganatantrik Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta Wednesday said that the objections being raised against his representation in the Constitutional Council after receiving a clean chit from the Supreme Court and the Special Court were a deliberate conspiracy aimed at character assassination, The Rising Nepal reports from Brgunj.
Speaking at a face-to-face organised by Parsa branch of the Reporter’s Club here, Minister Gupta said that the intention of former chief of the Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Surya Nath Upadhyaya, who, at the instruction of then king Gyanendra, attempted to tarnish his image was exposed when he objected to his representation in the council.
"That Upadhyaya and his team met Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and objected to my place in the council or drawing the PM’s attention to the matter is nothing but his personal vendetta against me," he said.
He informed that he was in the council during the premiership of UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and that council had decided to appoint Min Bahadur Rayamajhi the chief justice of Nepal.
"It is a serious issue that my appointment is questioned now," Gupta said.
To a query by journalists as to the demands for his removal from the constitutional council, Gupta said that the Special Court had given him a clean chit and he would not make any comment on the judicial process initiated by the CIAA.
He claimed that he was fully eligible to be the council member. "When one can contest elections and become a minister after getting a clearance from the court, why should one need additional qualification to become a council member?" he asked.
The PM’s comment that he was compelled to agree to each demand of the Madhesi Front and give them choice ministerial portfolios to save the government was not like that of a politician, Gupta said.
"I came to know from newspapers that the PM agreed to every demand of Madhes-based parties to cross over the November 30 hurdle," he said. "If that is true, the PM’s comment is unbecoming of a politician."
Gupta added: "You venture into the river with a stick and forget it after getting across."
He said that it was irrelevant to float the idea of forming a unity government before deciding on which party would lead it.
"This will put the peace and constitution writing process under shadow," he said.
Saying that the Madhes-based parties never demanded the leadership of the government, Gupta claimed that a government led by either Nepali Congress or UML would not be able to accomplish the tasks of peace and constitution.
"The Bhattarai-led government should be allowed to complete the twin tasks," he said.
Any government without the Madhesi Front could not be a national government and such a government could not complete the national tasks, he said.
The remarks by Maoist

chief Prachanda about capturing the state powers were like someone day-dreaming with eyes wide open, he said.
He said that as all the works related to the peace process were yet to be completed, there was no need to be excited about it.
"Only the regrouping of combatants has been completed," he said. "The peace process depends on how integration and rehabilitation take place."
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PM AIDE SAYS INCUMBENT PREMIER SHOULD LEAD NATIONAL GOVT.


Kathmandu, 8 Dec , Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai’s chief political advisor Devendra Paudel Wednesday claimed that the present government would be turned into a national consensus government very soon, The Rising Nepal reports.
Speaking at the Reporter’s Club, Paudel, who is also a Maoist leader, said that the task force comprising of chiefs of major political parties had started homework in that direction.
He argued that Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai had been accepted by all politicians, except for some biased political leaders, and thus it would be appropriate to let PM Dr Bhattarai continue.
"It will be just to form a national consensus government in NC’s leadership to conduct general election after tasks related to peace and constitution writing are completed by the present government", Paudel said.
However, CPN-UML leader Raghuji Pant argued that PM Dr Bhattarai could lead a national consensus government if he dissolved the present one.
"Our party will not participate in the present government formed on the foundation of four point deal. Bhattarai’s leadership can be accepted if a consensus government is formed on a new basis of understanding among all political parties," said the UML leader.
Pant said that the present government had received support from all stakeholders to make ground breaking achievements in the peace process but criticized the government for the ‘rampant corruption, poor governance and security lapses.
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