MAOIST LAWMALER HONOURED IN NEW DELHI

MAOIST LAWMAKER HONOURED IN NEW DELHI
Kathmandu, 12 Dec.: Maoist lawmaker Hari Ram Sripaili was Sunday awarded the Ambedkar International Award 2011 in New Delhi.
Sripaili was honoured for his contribution for rights and freedoms of
Dalits and Haliyas.
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NAROTTAM VAIDYA REINSTATED TRESURER OF PADT

Kathmandu, 12 Dec.: Narottan Vaidya has been reinstated treasurer of Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT).
He was reinstated Sunday by a division bench of the supreme court.
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PM BHATTARAI REVEALS PREVIOUS JHALANATH GOVT.
DOLED OUT RS.L CANDRES FROM STATE COFFERS

Kathmandu, 12 Dec.. However, when asked about the alleged distribution of funds of the Youth Self Employment Programme by his government, Bhattarai [PM Baburam]
clarified that of the Rs 1.75 billion allocated to the programme, the previous CPN-UML government led by Jhala Nath Khanal had distributed Rs 1.65 billion to its party cadres. However, he also said that when the incumbent Finance Minister Barshaman Pun wanted to dole out Rs 100 million, he stopped him.
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POLICE ASKED TO STAY RECALL OF PSOs ATTACHED TO FORMER POLITICIANS OUT OF GOVT
Kathmandu, 12 Dec,: A Supreme Court ruling that ordered the government to block “illegal” facilities to VIPs seems to have put the Home Ministry in a fix, with some former prime ministers turning all the PSOs (Personal Security Officers) back to the government putting their security “at risk”, Bhadra Sharma writes in The Kathmandu Post.
The ministry on Sunday ordered the Nepal Police to make sure the PSOs remain intact for guarding the VIPs concluding that it “cannot compromise with the security arrangements provided to VIPs". The ministry has also sent a circular directing the police to deploy the PSOs back to their respective places even if the VIPs have returned them.
The circular has created further confusion among the police personnel and VIPs' aides--whether to return securities to the police headquarters or follow the VIPs' order. "We have formally returned them but they are still moving outside their residence," said Rambabu Adhikari, an aide to former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal. Sources said the police headquarters has directed the PSOs to stay around VIP quarters even if they are asked to leave.
Former Prime Ministers Khanal, Lokendra Bahadur Chand and Surya Bahadur Thapa had sent the security personnel back to their departments following the Supreme Court order.
The ministry circulated the order after a meeting with senior police officials at the Security Service Directorate under the police headquarters.
"The Home Ministry has ordered us to continue security facilities to the VIPs. We cannot compromise with security arrangements for the former prime ministers, former home ministers and other ministers," said SSP Gopal Prasad Bhadari, chief of the Security Service Directorate. Bhandari said Nepal Police has not recalled any security personnel from the residence of VIPs.
The Supreme Court on Thursday nullified the Cabinet decision to provide facilities including security personnel to VIPs.
When asked why the ministry ordered the Nepal Police to keep intact the PSOs, Ekmani Nepal, joint-spokesman at the Home Ministry, claimed that the court verdict had not nullified the PSO facility.
Former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and former Home Minister Bhim Rawal have, however, not yet returned PSOs but have sent back the state-owned vehicles. The Home Ministry has deployed 76 personnel for Dahal's security.
Vehicle return continues
Former Home Ministers and ministers have been returning vehicles given by the government following the Supreme Court verdict. On Sunday, former Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chanda, former Home Ministers KP Sharma Oli and Purna Bahadur Khadka, former ministers Surendra Pande and Bharat Mohan Adhikari returned the state-own vehicles they had been using even after leaving office.
The Kathmandu Post reports in a related story:

The State Affairs Committee of the parliament on Monday instructed the government to make an alternative arrangement immediately for providing security to former prime ministers and other VVIPs who have assumed important state responsibilities in the past.
The decision comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to block all facilities, including vehicles and security personnel, provided by the government to former prime ministers, former ministers and members of the former royal family, among others. The apex court had directed the government not to provide such facilities based on a Cabinet decision but to formulate law and provide necessary services to the VVIPs on its basis.
While former prime ministers and home ministers are returning the government-owned assets, the House committee invited Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar to discuss the issue and the way forward. The committee also discussed potential security threat created by the withdrawal of security from VVIP's.
The committee, during its two-hour meeting, besides stressing the need for a clear security policy, concluded that the Supreme Court had ordered the government to end irregularities over the distribution of state facilities to former prime ministers and other retired officials. Chief Legal Advisor of the Parliament Secretariat Tek Prasad Dhungana briefed the lawmakers that the court had also addressed the security sensitivity of the VVIPs in its verdict last week.
“The court has clearly stated that it is the responsibility of the Home Ministry and the security agency concerned to make an arrangement on the type of security to be offered to former prime ministers, top retired officials and the general public,” said Dhungana. “It has expressed concern over the misuse of facilities even after the demise of former prime ministers and in the name of former royalty and asked the government to stop it.”
Referring to the court's verdict, the committee directed the home minister to immediately take a call on the type of security to be provided to the imminent personalities in accordance with the government's security policy.
During the meeting, Committee Chairman Ram Nath Dhakal stressed that the security situation cannot be improved by mere lip service and stressed the need of implementing the commitment.
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NEA BORROWS RS.500, FRO BEGA, SIDDHARTHA BANKS

Kathmandu, 12 Dec.:With the government refusing to give more money to the loss-making Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the public utility has taken emergency loans from two banks on the basis of competitive interest rates for six months, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The cash-strapped NEA has borrowed Rs 500 million from Mega Bank and Siddhartha Bank. Eleven commercial banks had offered to loan it money and quoted interest rates ranging form 9.99 percent to 12.5 percent per annum.
Mega had quoted an interest rate of 9.99 percent per annum for a loan of Rs 200 million, 10.49 percent for another Rs 75 million, and 10.49 percent for a further Rs 75 million. Likewise, Siddhartha Bank had quoted 10 percent for Rs 200 million.
Energy secretary and chairman of the NEA Bala Nanda Poudyal said the authority was able to get credit from the banks at a relatively cheaper rate as they were awash in liquidity. “The NEA was facing a cash crunch and we wanted to repay our outstanding debts,” added Poudyal.
The NEA has a cumulative loss of Rs 24 billion, and its average annual loss stands at Rs 6 billion.
As Mega and Siddhartha offered loans at a relatively lower interest rate, the public utility chose to borrow money from them. Other banks which offered credit to the NEA were Nabil, Commerz and Trust, Everest, Laxmi, NIC, Kist, Janata, NMB and Himalayan.
Banks saw the NEA as an opportunity with their surplus liquidity and government securities and inter-bank lending not looking so inviting. The inter-bank lending rate stands at just 1 percent.
Mega’s average cost of funds is 9.69 percent, according to the bank’s first quarter un-audited financial highlights. It will get just over 10 percent on its Rs 300 million loan to the NEA.
“As the NEA is a government backed institution, only sovereign risk is associated with such lending; so we decided to lend to the NEA despite a low spread and its poor financial health,” said a senior official at Mega Bank. “We extended credit to the NEA not only to earn interest but also to help it to operate smoothly.”
According to Shambhu Nath Gautam, general manager of Siddhartha Bank, the lending was done from short-term funds acquired at low cost. “It is natural to get a low rate of interest while making short-term lending,” said Gautam.
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