CHINESE PREMIER WEN TRANSITING NEPAL IN LESS THAN SEVEN HOURS FOR TALKS WITH PM BHATTARAI

PM WEN TRANSITING NEPAL IN ANOTHER SEVEN HOURS

Kathmandu, 14 Jan.: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will transit Nepal for five hours Saturday morning and have talks with Prime MinisterBaburam Bhattarai after landing at Tribhuvan International Airport at 11 in the morning (O6.15 GMT).
He’s holding talks with members of the Bhattarai cabinet as well.
Wen is transiting Nepal to Qatar.
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BIMSTEC MEET BEGINS MONDAY

Kathmandu, 14 Jan.: Nepal is hosting the second ministerial meeting of regional grouping Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) for two days beginning Monday.
Finance ministers will finalize and adopt regional anti-poverty strategy in the regional grouping of countries from
South Asia and Southeast Asia.
for reducing poverty in the bloc.

The second BIMSTEC Ministerial on Poverty Alleviation will mainly discuss issues related to pro-poor and inclusive growth, social development, social safety nets, targeted programs, governance, climate change and disaster management. It will also endorse the Poverty Plan of Action (PPA), which will comprise regional strategies and cooperation for fighting poverty, said Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, vice-chairman of National Planning Commission.
Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand AR members.
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Kathmandu, 14 Jan.:: The long running intra-party rift within the UCPN (Maoist) has widened further with the faction led by party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya accusing each other of going against the understanding on working unity reached earlier, Republica reports.

Dahal faction has accused the Baidya faction of adding new conditions while the Baidya faction has blamed Dahal camp of backtracking from the understanding.

Talking to Republica after a crucial meeting held between the two factions to prepare a document of working unity on Friday, standing committee member Dev Gurung, who represents the Baidya camp, said they have registered strong objection against the Dahal faction for failing to incorporate some of the issues agreed upon earlier.

"We drew Dahal´s attention to some of the vital issues that have not been incorporated in the chairman´s document. We have urged the chairman to come up with a revised document in the next meeting," Gurung told Republica.

The meetings held at Chairman Dahal´s residence in Naya Bazaar was participated by Secretary Post Bahadur Bogati from the Dahal faction while Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya, General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa and standing committee member Dev Gurung participated from Baidya faction.

Gurung also accused the Dahal faction of deliberately spreading the rumor that Baidya faction has agreed to join the Baburam Bhattarai-led government. We have lodged a strong objection against the Dahal camp for spreading the rumor.

"From the beginning we have made it clear that we support formation of a consensus government and against giving continuity to the current government," Gurung said.

Politburo member Khadga Bahadur Biswakarama, who is close to Baidya said that the chairman has backtracked from the agreement, as he has come up with a different arrangement for correcting past mistakes and making Nepal a people´s federal republic state.

However, leaders from the Dahal faction claimed that they have clarified the Baidya faction that the current government would not be dissolved as long as the party will have the opportunity to lead a consensus government.

"We can not imagine forming a new government until we are assured that such a government would be in the interest of the party and the country," said politburo member Shakti Basnet, who is close to Dahal.

Politburo member Haribol Gajurel refuted allegations that the party chairman had backtracked from the agreement and accused the Baidya faction of adding new conditions. "In fact, Dahal has addressed all the issues that the Baidya faction had raised,"
he said.
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207 DETAINED TIBETANS TOLD TO LEAVE
BIKASH SANGRAULA/SHREEJANA SHRESTHA
KATHMANDU, Jan 14: Police detained 207 Tibetan pilgrims from Thankot checkpoint Thursday night and Friday after the pilgrims could not produce travel documents, Bikash Sangraula/ Shreejana SHressstha write in Republica..

“In the course of regular checking, we found they did not have travel documents,” said inspector Sudhir Shahi, who is posted at Thankot checkpoint. Of the Tibetans, 126 are men and the rest are women.

The Tibetans, who were handed over to the Department of Immigration (DoI) on Friday, were eventually freed after most of them produced Chinese passports and all of them agreed to leave Nepal within three days. Though many of the Tibetans have visas allowing them to stay in Nepal until February, they have been asked to leave the country within such a short span of time as punishment.

The Tibetans had traveled to Kathmandu from India in six buses, three jeeps and a car, mainly from Birgunj and Sunauli. Of the vehicles, five had Indian registration numbers, while the rest had Nepali registration numbers.



The Tibetans, who had initially traveled from Tibet to Nepal with valid travel papers, had traveled from Nepal to India to attend a Tibetan religious ceremony in Bihar without carrying any travel document, said Sudhir Kumar Shah, director general of DoI.

“They had obtained visas to travel to Nepal, but did not have permission to visit India,” Shah said.

The Tibetans entered Nepal from Tibet mainly from the Kodari customs point along the Nepal-Tibet border. In Kathmandu, they left all their travel documents and traveled to India to attend Kalachakra, a Tibetan religious ceremony, held from Jan 1 to 10 at Bodhgaya in Bihar state of India. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama presided over the Kalachakra initiation ceremony.


An official at DoI, who preferred not to be identified, said the Tibetans traveled to India without carrying their Chinese passports because they did not want official records of their travel to the sacred Buddhist site of Bodhgaya. The pilgrims evidently wanted authorities back in China to believe that they had traveled to Nepal only.

As most of the Tibetans arrived in Kathmadu from Birgunj and Sunauli, the DoI has instructed immigration authorities posted at Birgunj and Sunauli to step up checkings, said a DoI source.

“Undermining immigration law of Nepal, a sovereign country, can affect diplomatic relations,” said Suman Mahara, chief investigation officer of Information Coordination and Analysis Section at DoI. “Traveling without carrying passport despite having one is a very sensitive issue,” he added.


Though all the arrested Tibetans were freed Friday, only 114 of them have managed to produce their Chinese passports so far.

The rest were released after Shambhu Lama, chief of Tibet desk at Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON), took responsibility to present their passports at DoI, according to Sudip Pathak, chairman of
HURON.
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TALK OF UNITY UML
Kathmandu, 14 Jan.: The CPN-UML top brass today pledged to do away with factionalism and move ahead unitedly, The Himalayan Times reports from Birtamod.

UML Chairperson Jhalanath Khanal, addressing party cadres at the inauguration of the national conclave of the UML-aligned Youth Association Nepal, said the campaign to unite the party has begun. He pledged to do some soul-searching over his mistakes and urged other leaders to follow suit. “Let’s forget the past and join hands for the party unity,” Khanal appealed the party cadres, adding, “The party unity campaign that has begun from the east will expand to Mahakali in the west.”

On a different note, Khanal claimed that the UML had persuaded the Nepali Congress to embrace republicanism and that the UCPN-M had quit party Chairman Prachanda’s line due to an ideological clash with the CPN-UML.

He called on the UCPN-M to discard Maoism and join the Marxist-Leninist path like his party.

Commenting on the ruling coalition, he noted that the ‘super-jumbo cabinet’ has been the most expensive cabinet in the nation’s history. “With ministers neck-deep in corruption, the UCPN-Maoist’s ways have defamed the communist movement as a whole,” Khanal said, adding that national consensus government is a must for the sake of peace and statute.

Senior UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal called the party cadres to unite and claimed that peace and constitution-making processes can conclude only when the UML is at the helm.

“Dillydallying over the forms of governance in the name of party meetings and raising already settled issues, the Maoist party is hindering the peace and constitution-making processes,” Nepal said.

Another party leader Khadga Prasad Oli questioned the UCPN-Maoist’s role in peace and statute-writing processes. He stressed the need to complete the peace process before the promulgation of the constitution.

Other UML leaders, including vice-chairperson Bidhyadevi Bhandari and Bamadev Gautam, expressed hope that unity in the UML will boost the morale of party cadres.
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HEAVY SNOWFALL FRIDAY
Kathmandu, 14 Jan.:: Snowfall continuing in different parts of the country disrupted traffic, even as revellers from warmer climes thronged the snowed areas to
have fun, The Himalayan Times reports.

The Daman-Simbhanjyang area in Makwanpur district received heavy snowfall on Thursday night, drawing tourists from Kathmandu, Bara, Parsa, Rautahat, Chitwan and other districts.

Snowing shut the Tribhuvan highway yesterday, but traffic resumed today.

In Dhading, a number of places such as Pida, Mahadevsthan, Gogane, Sagarbhanjyang, Bhirkharka, Petare, Thinghare and Dumsikharka received snowfall, while in Rasuwa, Dhunche, Ramche, Goljung, Langtang and Syafru received the flakes. Snowing in Rasuwa highlands has affected traffic.

Ranmamaikot, Hukam, Takasera, Kakri, Jang, Pwang and Bafikot of Rukum district received heavy snowfall today.

In Ilam, snowing in Rakse and Chamaita briefly disrupted traffic along the Mechi Highway today.


COLD CLAIMS FIVE LIVES
The chill is taking a heavy toll on people in Siraha and Jajarkot with five deaths reported in two days. In Siraha, Chandar Sada (28) and Purni Sadaya (65) of Barchhawa and seven-month-old Punam Kumari Yadav of Chandralapur died on Friday, while asthma patient Dukhani Mahara (55) of Nipniniya froze to death on Thursday. While in Jajarkot, Pirthi Budha (58) of Punma VDC, died on Thursday night.
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