FOUR INJRED IN AMULANCE ACCIDENT

FOUR INJURED IN AMBULANCE ACCIDENT
Kathmandu, 6 Jan.: At least four persons have been injured, one critically, when an ambulance overturned on the Urlabari road section along the East-West Highway on Thursday night, RSS reports from Panityanki in Jhapa..

The ambulance (Me 1 Cha 896) belonging to Shrestha Memorial Foundation, Damak, which was carrying patient from Dharan to Jhapa, met with the accident due to high speed, police informed.

The injured are Chandra Bahadur Gajmer, Purna Gajmer, Krishna Gajmer and Kumari Gajmer, residents of Balubadi-8, Jhapa. They are undergoing treatment in Dharan.

Among the injured, Purna Gajmer is reported to be in critical condition, police further informed.
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NEW GOVT. DIRECTIVE ON PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
Kathmandu, 6 Jan.: In a bid to promote competitiveness and professionalism in the public authorities, the government has issued a directive on the formation of public corporations directive board and its
functions, RSS reports.
The government made it public in the Nepal gazette on December 27 by mentioning the formation of the board, qualification of the chairperson and members to the board, their duties, rights and responsibilities as well as their perks and benefits.
The board will formulate policy and programmes on the policies, plans, investment, restructuring, annulment and capacity building in the authorities and recommend to the government for the appointment of executive chief and board of directors.
Similarly, the board will classify the public corporations, and monitor and evaluate the organization, management, and terms of reference of the employees in these bodies.
The government has also included Employee's Provident Fund set up as per the Special Act under the public corporation. Similarly, among the 38 public corporations listed by the government are two media houses -- the Gorakhapatra Corporation and Nepal Television.
With the public authorities dwindling day by day due to political appointment, the parliamentary committee had suggested for appointing executive chiefs there through open competition. The government introduced the formation of the public authorities direction board considering this very suggestion of the parliamentary committee.
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EMOTONAL APPEAL ON PM, PRESIDENT
Kathmandu, 6 Jan.: Justice delayed is justice denied, but here it seems, justice is going to be denied to conflict victims forever, as government might never bring the much-talked Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And it appears, the foundation stone for stalling the TRC is being laid with a parliamentary taskforce — formed to settle disputes regarding the formation of TRC — proposing blanket amnesty to all those who committed crimes during the decade-long Maoist armed struggle in the name of an ‘emotional appeal’ from the President and the prime minister, Ananta Raj Luitel writes in.The Himalayan Times.

The report prepared by the taskforce obtained by THT suggests the Head of the State or executive head or leaders of political parties, on the basis of an ‘emotional appeal’, ‘convince the conflict victims to forget their ordeal and come for reconciliation by granting pardon to perpetrators for their wartime crimes’. According to the taskforce report, top leadership of major political parties, a few days back, agreed to introduce blanket amnesty to perpetrators by adopting the South African model ‘Forgive But Not Forget’.

The report reads: “It will be appropriate to go for an emotional appeal from the Head of the State or the prime minister or leaders of political parties after an Act is promulgated and the commission (TRC) is set up and seek help from perpetrators to admit their crimes and beg an apology and support the process of finding the truth and urge the victims to forget their old wounds.”

The way the taskforce has prepared its report, it just makes the mockery of the ordeal the victims have gone through. A delayed TRC itself has raised several questions whether the political parties are keen on addressing the victims’ woes. Maoist lawmaker Eak Raj Bhandari confirmed that the taskforce has suggested ‘emotional appeal’. The taskforce comprised Maoist lawmaker Bhandari, Nepali Congress lawmaker Ramesh Lekhak and CPN-UML lawmaker Pradeep Gyawali.

It is also notable that Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai after a week of assuming office on August 28 had promised formation of TRC and Commission on Inquiry of the Disappeared ‘within a month’.

Questioning the motive behind an ‘emotional appeal’, human Rights lawyer Govinda Sharma ‘Bandi’ termed it a conspiracy by the government to grant pardon to all without even trying to find the truth. Victimologist Shanker Kumar Shrestha said the victims cannot be deprived of their right to justice in the name of ‘emotional appeal’. “Amnesty, if it has to be granted, should not be based on an ‘emotional appeal’ from the President or the prime minister, it should be given only after a victim consents to do so,” he said.

The taskforce though has agreed to go for blanket amnesty, it is yet to reach a conclusion as to what to do in relation to those who have already been convicted by the Supreme Court. Maoist lawmaker Balkrishna Dhungel is a case in point.

The report has proposed financial support to the family of the victims — free education up to bachelor’s level, life-long health facility, entrepreneurship training, employment for those who lost their jobs due to the conflict, support for disabled and elderly, health support for trauma victims — in the process of reconciliation.

And, it has also proposed formation of only TRC, unlike the original idea of forming a separate Commission on Inquiry of the Disappeared, saying it could result in duplication of work.

TRC and CID both were envisioned in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006. With just five months remaining for the promulgation of the constitution, one can only hope political parties’ newfound ‘emotional appeal’ does not turn out to be emotional atrocities for conflict victims.

Whither truth, reconciliation?

• Emotional appeal before granting amnesty

• Convincing perpetrators and victims to bury the hatchet

• Only Truth and Reconciliation commission, not Commission on Inquiry of the Disappeared, to avoid duplication of work.
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BRAHMINS, CHHETRIS LISTED AS OTHERS
Kathmandu, 6 Jan.:- Despite objections from a majority of senior bureaucrats and leaders of major political parties, the Inclusive Bill is all set to categorise Brahmins and Chhetris, who constitute around 29 percent of the total population, as "others", Bhadra Sharma/Pranab Kharel write iin The Kathmandu Post.
"As earlier, Brahmins and Chhetries are going to be categorised as others," said Minister for Law and Justice Brijesh Kumar Gupta. "The bill is almost final and will be endorsed soon."
However, confusion remains as the parties are still at variance over the list of social groups to be placed under the "Adibasi Janajati" (indigenous nationalities) umbrella. Though the government identified 59 social groups as Aadibasi-Janajatis, leaders of major political parties, including the UCPN (Maoist), the Nepali Congress and the CPM-UML, have expressed disapproval of the government's categorisation of Brahmins and Chhetris. The "others", as per the bill, will not get any privileges, irrespective of their economic and social conditions.
The bill proposes to reserve 48 percent government job openings for marginalised communities that include Madhesis, Aadibasi-Janajatis, women and Dalits.
Given these differences, the PMO has assigned a three-member committee comprised of government secretaries to give final shape to the bill by addressing the remaining contentious issues. The committee has also been asked to define the term "Madhesi".
A meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office in Singha Durbar on Thursday, which was attended also by Minister Gupta, has asked the committee to finalise the bill considering the sensitivity attached with the issue of categorisation.
"This bill has been brought after consultation with other marginalised groups and it will be moved ahead," said Gupta. "You can consider the bill as passed though some technical aspects are yet to be sorted."
The bill fails to impress many bureaucrats engaged in its drafting. Dissatisfied, the officials did not attend two rounds of meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday to finalise the bill. Some have registered their objection to the bill and have sought amendment to a number of provisions in it.
The revised bill, however, has made some changes to the earlier draft. The reservation percentage was 45, which has been increased to 48. The new bill has also presented a breakdown of each particular social group. For instance, in the category of women, reservation would be ensured for Dalit, indigenous and other marginalised groups. Likewise, in the category of Madhesis, priority would be given to Dalits and backward groups.
Some members engaged in the drafting of the bill have also objected to the "blanket inclusion", which, they said, would not attract able candidates to bureaucracy, which has already lost its appeal for the best minds.
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INDIA DROPS DEMAND FOR SKY MARSHALS
Kathmandu, 6 Jan.: In an interesting turn of events, New Delhi has decided not to pursue two key items on its security agenda with Nepal—the demand for placing sky marshals on flights originating in India and signing of a revised Extradition Treaty and the Mutual Legal Assistance, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.
The two items used to dominate the Indian list during bilateral meetings and talks. The Nepali side had consistently been reluctant to allow sky marshals aboard planes taking off from India as well as to sign the extradition treaty citing a lack of political consensus at home. High-level government sources said that the Indian side has conveyed its sudden decision to the highest political level in Nepal including Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.
During Bhattarai’s visit to India last October, New Delhi had decided not to raise the issue for the time being for fear of upsetting the transition process in Nepal by insisting agreement on a “politically explosive” issue.
“That is why both the items weren’t included in the joint communiqué,” a senior government official said.
A meeting at the Home Ministry on Wednesday chaired by Home Secretary Sushil JB Rana to discuss possible agenda for the Nepal-India home secretary-level talks scheduled to take place in New Delhi on January 16 and 17 also concluded that India will not raise these twin issues this time around.
A senior Indian Embassy official told the Post that India is not going to raise the issues of deploying sky marshals and extradition treaty in the upcoming talks. “It’s up to Nepal. We won’t be pushing these issues during the bilateral talks and meetings any more,” the official said. But issues like signing of strip maps, fake Indian currency notes, border management, exchanging the list of defected persons from both sides and cooperation between security agencies will feature prominently in the meeting.
“We will be happy to sign the Extradition Treaty whenever Nepal is ready to sign,” an official at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said.
Deploying sky marshals has been an Indian agenda since the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu on December 24, 1999.
The Nepali side has expected the same kind of response from India on strip maps, signing of which has been a crucial agenda between the two countries.
The revised Extradition Treaty and the Mutual Legal Assistance have been awaiting approval since 2005 after home secretaries of both the countries signed a preliminary draft of the treaty in New Delhi.
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2 BILLION SOUGHT FOR RETIREMENT
Kathmandu, 6 Jan : The secretariat under the Special Committee has sought nearly two billion rupees from the government to fund voluntary retirement of the Maoist combatants so it can start the process from Sunday -- the deadline for starting the process, Republica reports.

The secretariat, which has been mandated to implement the voluntary retirement program, on Thursday, sent a letter to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction to make available Rs 1.93 billion to fund the voluntary retirement of nearly 7,500 combatants.

According to Balananda Sharma, convener of the secretariat, a total of 1.90 billion rupees would be required to pay the Maoist combatants as voluntary retirement package and Rs 36.8 million as their travel allowance.

The secretariat will pay between Rs 0.5 million to Rs 0.8 million to each combatant, depending on their rank in the Maoist army as per the November 1 agreement among major political parties. In addition, the combatants will also be given travel allowance.

The combatants who hail from Tarai and easily accessible places will get Rs 2,000 while those from hill and mountain districts will get Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000 respectively, as travel allowance.

Confirming secretariat´s request, Peace and Reconstruction Minister Satya Pahadi told Republica that her ministry will forward the request to the Ministry of Finance on Friday. The finance ministry will have to receive a cabinet nod before releasing the money to the secretariat.

“My ministry is taking a proposal to the cabinet on Sunday,” said Finance Minister Barshaman Pun. Pun said that the ministry will send a proposal to the cabinet to provide tax exemption to the combatants on the money.

Secretariat teams leaving on Sunday

Sharma said the seven teams from the secretariat will start moving to the cantonments on Sunday to start the voluntary retirement process if the government makes available the funds required.

“We have completed recruiting necessary human resources. If the government makes the money available to the secretariat on Friday, the secretariat is prepared to send its teams to the cantonments on Sunday,” said Sharma.

Sharma said the secretariat will send 91 staff in teams to the main cantonments for voluntary retirement process. The teams will move from one cantonment to another once they complete their assignment in one cantonment.
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GOVT. STEPS IN TO PROP REALTY , STOCK MARKET
Kathmandu, 6 Jan : The government has come up with a relief package for banks and financial institutions (BFIs) that among other things extends the timeframe for reducing the real estate lending bar to 25 percent of the total credit portfolio by a year, and raises the personal home loan threshold to Rs 10 million, Republica reports.

In addition, the government has also allowed housing developers to categorize apartment blocks as serviced apartments, and initiated steps to arrange cheap home loans for civil servants.

These decisions were taken during a meeting of the High Level Financial Sector Coordination Committee convened by Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun on Thursday. They come at a time when severe risks have crystallized in the real estate market, which have forced BFIs to put a record number of properties on auction to recoup the loan amounts that have gone into those projects.

The package introduced by the government Thursday allows banks and financial institutions till mid-July 2013 to reduce their exposure to the real estate sector to 25 percent of total lending from 30 percent at present.

In September 2010, Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, had issued a circular asking all BFIs to meet the 25-percent target by mid-July 2012.

“We decided to provide the extra time to BFIs after assessing the market situation, which is pretty worrying,” Baikuntha Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said.

Under the package, BFIs can also extend credit of up to Rs 10 million as personal home loans. Currently, this ceiling stands at Rs 8 million. Moreover, the relief package allows developers to categorize regular apartments - that are complete or under construction - as serviced apartments.

“This provision on switching groups will allow BFIs to place these buildings under the heading of services from the present category of real estate,” Aryal explained while acknowledging that the current measure will only transfer the risk and not address the core problem.

To address the core problem -- which is stagnation seen in the real estate market -- the government has decided to offer soft housing loans to all civil servants and office bearers of constitutional bodies so that they can purchase homes at affordable prices.

To initiate this process, MoF has decided to form a committee, which will evaluate investment that has gone into the real estate sector and the market value of properties.

According to MoF, the committee will comprise a deputy governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, the director general of the Housing and Urban Development Department, an administrator of the Employees Provident Fund, the presidents of Nepal Bankers Association and Nepal Real Estate and Housing Development Association and the executive director of the Citizens Investment Trust.

“The committee has been asked to submit a market assessment report speedily,” says an MoF statement.

To stimulate real estate transactions, MoF has also asked the Ministry of Land Reform and Management to submit to the cabinet guidelines on opening the apartment sub-sector to foreigners, by the middle of this month.

Income disclosure relaxation on investment in stocks

The High Level Financial Sector Coordination Committee (HLFCC) has decided to take five different measures, including raising the threshold for mandatory income disclosure on a single-day share investment for a particular investor to Rs 10 million, in an effort to attract big investors to the capital market, which has remained docile for the last couple of years.

An HLFCC meeting held on Thursday at the Ministry of Finance took the decision raising the threshold of the transaction amount for which an investor has to disclose income from the existing one million rupees.

The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) -- the capital market regulator - had recently floated the proposal before HLFCC to stimulate transactions on the share market, which has slumped to a six-year low.

The meeting also decided to enforce the Central Depository System (CDS) -- an online share trading system -- by January 15, introduce full automation at Nepse by April 13 and complete the necessary study by February 12.

Likewise, the meeting also decided to implement measures to bring down the cost of share transactions by February 13, decentralize the authority of Nepse to the regional level by April 12 and extend the public awareness campaign on investment in securities.
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AIRPORT MONITORING COMMITTEE FORMED
Kathmandu, 6 Jan.:The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has constituted a high-level monitoring committee citing the increase in corruption and irregularities at Tribhuvan International Airport, The Himalayan Times reports.

Member of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Board of Directors, Jyoti Adhikari is the convenor of the five-member committee. The other members of the committee are President of the authorized trade union at CAAN, Daman Rawal, Jagat Simkhada from among the workers and Under Secretary at the Ministry, Matrika Prasad Marasini. Another member would be appointed later, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Lokendra Bistamagar said.

The committee has been authorized to check the irregularities, corruption said to take place inside the airport and to monitor the physical infrastructure at the airport as well as to carry out allied works.

The monitoring committee has the authority to recommend to the Ministry for taking action against any official no matter what that person's rank is if that person is found to be involved in any kind of irregularities and corruption.

The committee can also carry out investigation and conduct surprise checks at any time, said Minister Bistamagar.
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