KP SHARMA OLI THIRD RANKING UML LEADER

KP SHARMA OLI THIRD RANKING UML LEADER
Kathmandu, 30 Dec.: Senior leader KP Sharma Oli was nominated third in protocol in opposition UML by the party standing committee Friday after Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and former Prime Minster Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The party politburo and central committee have to endorse the decision.
Oli is a former deputy prime minister, foreign and home minister.
Twenty-four members expressed their views on the first day of the standing committee meet.
The party is discussing unity in the third largest party in parliament.
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DECEMBER 30 DEADLINE TO RESOLVE DIFFERENCES ON PROPOSED CONSTITUTION MISSED
Kathmandu, 30 Dec.: A Prachanda sub-committee on
resolution of differences on themes to be included in a proposed
constitution Friday approved a report of the five-member Laxmi
Lal Karna unanimously.
The body was charged with responsibility by the sub-committee to resolve differences on 14 themes and submit a report Friday.
The report will be submitted t the main constitution drafting committee of Nilambar Acharya Saturday.
The tenure of the Prachanda sub-committee under the Acharya
committee ended Friday.
There was no agreement at the task force on
subjects that can’t be mended.
Differences on themes had to be resolved by Friday to enable
the Acharya committee to begin drafting a constitution.
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FIRST ELECTRONIC CHEQUE CHECKING SUFFERS REVERSE
Kathmandu, 30 Dec.: Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) suffered a major jolt the day it started the electronic cheque clearing (ECC) service, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Thursday dispatched a letter to the company, asking it to halt the ECC service until it completes its investigation into alleged misappropriation of funds during software procurement.
The anti-graft body has said it took such a decision following a complaint that NCHL purchased the software paying more than the actual cost. “The complaint said the company purchased the software for Rs 240 million, while the actual price is just Rs 30 million,” said Bhagabati Kumar Kafle, secretary and officiating chief at CIAA. “We have sent a letter, directing them to halt the service immediately and submit the entire procurement documents to CIAA.”
However, the NCHL management has said the software procurement was done following due international bidding procedure in which the software’s trial and tests in at least three countries was one of the major criteria.
Acknowledging the receipt of the letter, NCHL CEO Neelesh Man Singh Pradhan said they would discuss the matter at the board meeting to be held on Friday. According to Pradhan, NCHL’s first day’s operation was smooth and it cleared cheques worth $250,000. The company was expected to start clearing domestic currency cheques after a week.
NHCL has been established in the joint ownership of 23 commercial banks, two development banks, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and Smart Choice Technologies (SCT).
So far, inter-bank cheques are cleared manually, under which financial institutions (presenting banks) collect cheques of other institutions (paying banks) and forward them to NRB for settlement. The process takes up to two days.
But after the implementation of ECC, presenting banks will scan cheques and send them to NCHL, which will then forward them to paying banks. The paying banks, after verifying signature and other details, will send back the cheques to NCHL, which will then forward them to NRB for final settlement. According to NHLC, the entire process is completed in real time.
Some bankers had expressed strong reservation about the high amount paid for the software, saying that cost would ultimately be transferred to member banks and financial institutions (BFIs). Nepal Banker Association (NBA) recently formed a three-member committee to study the issue.
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