MAN DIES OF ASHYXIATION IN COLD

MAN DIES OF ASPHYXIATION
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: A man died due to asphyxiation(the condition of being deprived of oxygen) at Kapilbastu Municipality-4 on Saturday night, RSS reports from Kapilbasthu.

The deceased has been identified as the thirty-five years old Bijaya Kahar .

Bijaya's wife, Saraswati, 28, has also fallen seriously ill due to suffocation.

The Kahar couple had burnt coal to keep their bedroom warm last night before going to bed, according to the family sources.

Saraswati is receiving treatment at the Taulihawa Hospital and her health is said to be gradually improving.
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POLICEMAN KILLED IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.:: A head constable of the Armed Police Force (APF) has died in a motorcycle accident in Nawalparasi district on Saturday night, RSS reports from Kawasoti.

The deceased has been identified as 30-year-old Krishna Chaudhary of Pipara, Kapilbastu. Dilli Raj Kandel, also an APF personnel, who was pillion riding on the motorcycle has sustained injuries in the incident.

The accident took place in the forest between Dumkibas and Arunkhola on the East-West highway when a truck coming from the opposite direction hit their motorcycle last night. Both of them had been working at the APF battalion at Bhanu, Tanahun district.
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FURTHER DETAILS OF PASHUPATI SHMSHERE RANA COMMENTS
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Pashupati Shumsher Rana has made a remark that dismantling national heritages inside the country wouldn’t give birth to a New Nepal, RSS reports from Hetauda.

Referring to the Government's recent decision to bump off the statue of late king Tribhuvan from the Sahid Gate, a memorial to the martyrs in Kathmandu, Rana said the foundation stone of New Nepal should not be laid upon the dismantlement of historical sculptures and statues.

“New Nepal doesn’t mean pulling down the statues of the late king Prithvi Narayan Shah, the unifier of Nepal and the late king Tribhuvan who contributed to establish democracy in the country,” told Rana while inaugurating the joint district convention of the RPP and the Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) in Hetaunda on Saturday.

The cabinet meeting has decided to remove the statue of former king Tribhuvan from the Shahid Gate and place it in the Narayanhiti Museum considering that the Shahid Gate should have the statues of martyrs only

On the stalled peace process, Rana held the dual character of the UCPN-Maoist responsible.

He said, Maoists are making agreements and breaching them one after the another.
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MAOISTS HAVE PUT ON A POOR SHOW SAYS MADHAV KUMAR
NEPAL
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: Senior leader of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that the performance of the UCPN-Maoist has been poor in view of running the
State affairs, RSS reports.

Addressing the party strengthening campaign launched by the CPN-UML workers special district committee here on Saturday, former prime minister Nepal said the Maoist-led government has been a 'failure' since it could not give any relief to the people except than making them frustrated.

The party has started losing its standing due to the growing rift and culture of factionalism within the party, he claimed.

He accused prime minister and Maoist Vice Chairman Dr. Baburarm Bhattarai of forming the biggest cabinet in terms of the number of ministers in the history of Nepali politics and making the prime minister's personal secretariat as recruitment center for his 'near and dear'.

The prime minister's decision to ride the Mustang Max car was just for cheap popularity, he added.

Blaming the Maoists for causing obstructions in concluding the peace and constitution drafting process, UML senior leader Nepal claimed that the incumbent government has been appearing as the 'most expensive government' ever in the history.

The Maoists have been trying to politicize the Nepal Army by causing hindrances to the army integration process in different pretext, he said and accused the incumbent government of promoting violence and impunity in the country.

The former party general secretary and the prime minister claimed that his party has a capacity to run the government once again if the parties became ready for working together.
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MAOIST FINANCE MINISTER PUN SLAMS NC, UML
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun accused that the ongoing peace process has been halted owing to the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML on
Saturday, The Himalayan Times reports from Kailali.

Speaking at an inaugural programme of the Reporters Club Kailali chapter, Minister Pun said NC and UML are hell-bent to foil the peace process while the Maoist party is committed to conclude the peace process.

He claimed that the Bhattarai-led government will transform into a consensus government, warning the parties not to nurture a dream to topple the incumbent government. He further said that there is no alternative to this government for concluding peace and constitution drafting.

Stating that discharging Maoist combatants categorised under voluntary retirement has been halted due to some technical hitches and added they will bid them adieu within few days after holding a meeting of the Army Integration Special Committee.

He warned that the peace process will not move ahead unless the presidential ruling system is endorsed by the parties.
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NC, UML NIE AGAINST MAOISTS BACKGROUND
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.:: Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have begun a joint move against what they call the Unified CPN-Maoists’ ‘deliberate’ attempts to not implement the peace process and to promulgate the constitution under the influence of ‘guns’, The Himalayan Times repoprts.

Top leaders of the two parties today discussed and reviewed the UCPN-M’s latest activities and issued a joint statement announcing that they would make united effort to get the UCPN-M to implement the stalled peace process.

To bolster the effort, Congress and UML plan to bring 16 fringe political parties and the Unified Democratic Madhesi Front into their fold to prevent the UCPN-M from ‘escaping’ the peace process, sources at the meeting held in the UML parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar said.

The Congress and UML have called a joint meeting with 16 fringe parties at the UML PP office at 11:00 am tomorrow. “As the Unified Democratic Madhesi Front is a signatory to the November 1 seven-point agreement, we will hold separate talks with it,” said UML leader Bhim Rawal.

NC leader Ram Sharan Mahat said, “We, Congress and UML have taken serious exception to the non-implementation of the peace process and concluded that the UCPN-M is responsible. We don’t want the UCPN-M to delay implementation on any pretext.”

According to sources, Congress and UML leaders said the UCPN-M was making the peace process a “bargaining tool” in the statute drafting process despite several agreements and decisions including the November-1 seven-point agreement, November 29 six-point agreement and other previous agreements.

“Bidding farewell to combatants opting for voluntary retirement, handing over combatants who have chosen rehabilitation to the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry and directing the Nepali Army to begin the process of integrating combatants have not taken off despite the decision taken at the Special Committee (for Supervision, Implementation and Rehabilitation of Maoist combatants),” said the joint statement signed by Congress President Sushil Koirala and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal.

The statement said the UCPN-M and the government led by it were misusing state power instead of shortening the transition period by forging consensus with major political forces.

“The UCPN-M has been trying to overturn the decisions taken by the Problem-Resolution Sub-Committee at the Constitutional Committee, while the government has taken some important decisions related to the peace process ignoring the Special Committee and major political forces,” the Congress and UML said.

The two parties drew serious attention of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist and the government to the need to begin the process of managing combatants, returning property seized by the party during insurgency and dismantling the paramilitary structures and activities of the Young Communist League as per past agreements.

Intention doubtful, says DPM Shrestha

Commenting on the joint statement issued by Nepali Congress and CPN-UML UML on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister and Vice-chairman of Unified CPN Maoist Narayan Kaji Shrestha said his party would not step back from the agreements signed with the parties. He, however, said no party should come up with conditions to take the peace and constitution drafting processes ahead. Shrestha said everything will be taken forward as per previous agreements. He further said the joint statement has raised serious questions about NC, UML intentions at a time when there have been serious discussions on several issues related to peace and constitution. “We don’t have any alternative but to conclude the peace process and draft a new constitution,” he said adding that his party would hold talks with NC and UML on this matter soon.
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CHINESE ASSIST TO UPGRADE POLICE COMMUNICATION NETWORK
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: The communication system of Nepal Police will be revamped once new digital equipment provided by China replace the old infrastructure, Anill Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.
Nepal Police has been using conventional radio communication system, which is set to be replaced by the advanced Digital Radio Trunked Service (DRTS). As requested by the police headquarters, China has agreed to provide an assistance of Rs 270 million.
A four-member Chinese team from its Ministry of Public Security, led by Feng Hai Niu, arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday to finalise technical details before officially signing an agreement. During the China visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar last month, there had been an agreement on the project. The Chinese side had assured that a team would study the technical aspects before clinching an agreement. “This is to improve the communication system of Nepal Police. We hope to reach an agreement in this regard very soon,” said Shanker Koirala, spokesperson for the Home Ministry.
According to Deputy Inspector General of Nepal Police Binod Singh, DRTS is an advanced communication system which cannot be easily tampered on or scanned by others. The existing analogue communication system is considered relatively weak and can be scanned easily by others. Police say the new technology will enable them reach out to remote parts of the country more efficiently.
DRTS is a computer controlled system and uses a pool of channels which are available to many different groups of users. “Nepal Police has been using UHF in Kathmandu, VHF in cities outside the Capital and HF for long distance communication. The current system hardly works in remote areas,” said DIG Singh.
If the Nepal Police and the Chinese team agree on technical details, an agreement could take place within this week, according to officials.
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THAPA BRINGS HOPE FOR MAOIST HANDLINERS
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.:For many in the struggling hard-line camp, Maoist General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa brings new hopes. Though relatively a new entry into the camp, the hardliners have started viewing him as the faction’s second-in-command, who, with all his charisma, could fill up the leadership gap that a frail Mohan Baidya
leaves, Kamal Dev Bhattarai writes in The Kathmandu Post.
Since his disenchantment with Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Baidya had been on the lookout for a reliable and special deputy leader to help him consolidate power under his own ideological frame.
Though Baidya leads the hard-line camp and is respected for his solid ideological grounding, he lacks sound health and, some believe, also the personality to challenge the rival leaders and handle national and international public relations for the faction.
Standing Committee member Netra Bikram Chand is emerging as a potential leader of the camp but he lacks gravitas to challenge party Chairman Dahal. “Thapa is an only figure in our camp that can face up to the rival leaders such as Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai,” said a Central Committee member.
Leaders say Thapa’s another asset is he knows Dahal better than anybody else in the faction does. “Dahal often fears Thapa as he knows many of his secrets,” said the leader.
For a long time, Thapa maintained a neutral position in the face of rising factionalism in the party. “He is the second leader (after Baidya) of our camp who is sharp in both politics and ideology,” said CC member Ram Acharya. Few days ago, Baidya requested Dahal to filed Thapa as the party’s prime ministerial candidate, which proves Thapa is the ideologue’s “most favoured”.
Leaders in the other faction, however, see Thapa as a looser and opportunist. “He lacks consistency on his political and ideological line. Dahal can easily cajole him for some plump posts,” said a Dahal supporter. His leadership, some say, has already been tested and he has failed. “He was a disaster when he was the defence minister in the Dahal-led government in 2008,” said another Dahal confidante.
Maoist leaders say he was the prime cause for the dissolution of the Dahal-headed government. “He does not have leadership capability, he lacks capacity to push ideology and organisation together,” said Politburo member Haribol Gajurel.
Breaking his neutral position, Thapa for the first time on July 13 last year joined the Dhobighat meeting called by Baidya, Bhattarai and another Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha to put an end to Dahal’s monopoly.
Though Bhattarai and Shrestha distanced themselves, the very Dhobighat meeting brought Baidya and Thapa closer.
Thapa is one of the seven office bearers, also referred to as “party headquarters”. Out of the seven, three office bearers belong to the hard-line camp, one to the Bhattarai group and three to the Dahal faction.
If Dahal fails to take Shrestha into confidence, he will be in a minority in the party headquarters.
Thapa is a top ethnic leader of the Maoist party after Shrestha. As the ethnic and regional politics is gradually challenging the national politics, Thapa’s entry has benefited the hardliners.
Some ethic lawmakers such as Harilal Thapa and Krishna Bahadur Gurung joined the hard-line camp after Ram Bahadur joined the faction. “Thapa is a top ethnic leader of our party. His entry to the Baidya camp will benefit the faction in mass politics,” said CC member Khagaraj Bhatta.
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GURUNG PROPOSES DISSOLUTION OF PACHANDA SUB-COMMITTEE
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: UCPN (Maoist) Chief Whip Dev Gurung has proposed dissolution of the subcommittee formed under the Constitutional Committee (CC) to settle disputes in constitution writing, Thira L. Bhusal writes in Republica..

Gurung, a key leader of the hardline faction in the ruling UCPN (Maoist), floated the proposal at a CC meeting on Saturday.

Gurung argued that with the subcommittee has lost its legitimacy and relevance as it has failed to accomplish the task of resolving the disputes within the set deadline of December 30.

The subcommittee, which is headed by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and represented by key leaders from major political parties, has brought down the list of 75 disputes to 14 but has failed to settle some thorny issues such as the task of determining the system of governance to be adopted in the new constitution.

The CC that is entrusted with the task of preparing an integrated draft of the new constitution by incorporating all the thematic reports constituted the Dahal-headed body.

“The subcommittee was given a December 30 deadline, which was later extended till January 4 but it failed to settle the disputes. Therefore, the subcommittee is defunct,” Gurung told Republica.

“The new calendar of the CA has given more time to the CC but the extension doesn´t apply for the subcommittee.” He claimed that the CA in its new calendar doesn´t recognize the subcommittee.

Maoist hardliners, including Gurung, have been lobbying against the formation of the subcommittee and Dahal´s leadership in the body. CC members from other political parties claim that Gurung and others from the faction are not happy with Dahal for showing flexibility at the subcommittee.

However, Gurung in public has said that the chairman of the largest party, Dahal, shouldn´t head the subcommittee, under the CC -- headed by a junior leader from another political party.

“There is no possibility of giving continuity to the subcommittee. We can form a new body if deemed necessary but the new one should be constituted under a different model,” he said.

Against party system

Gurung claimed that there has been a basic flaw in constituting the subcommittee saying it picked members on an individual basis against the party system. He said a new panel should be constituted by incorporating all the top seven leaders from the UCPN (Maoist) and key leaders such as Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala and KP Oli from CPN-UML, so as to make the decision making system more effective and to ensure implementation of the decisions.

“Conversely, the subcommittee picked some of the top leaders and CC members on an individual basis. Such a model doesn´t function in multiparty system,” said Gurung.

He argued that the dispute resolution subcommittee could be formed outside the CA.

But CC members from other parties have smelt a rat over Gurung´s proposal to dissolve the subcommittee.

“The subcommittee is a body recognized by the CA, the CC and mentioned even in the CA´s new calendar. I don´t understand why a responsible leader like the chief whip of the largest party Gurung is lobbying for its dissolution,” CC member Agni Kharel of CPN-UML told Republica.

He said termination of the subcommittee would cause a serious setback in the constitution writing process. “There will be no other appropriate forum to settle the disputes,” he asked.

Another CC member Sunil Prajapati of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party said that such a move by the largest party has pushed the constitution writing process to uncertainty. “A key leader from the coordinator´s party has raised a question over the legitimacy of the subcommittee. So it has definitely added further complexity to the statute drafting process,” said Prajapati.

Last year, Dahal had to step down as coordinator of the high-level taskforce formed to settle disputes in constitution writing due to objection from party hardliners even as the taskforce reduced the number of disputes from 210 to 75. After a gap of some months, the subcommittee was formed under the CC due to pressure from leaders from non-Maoist parties.

The subcommittee, which is also represented by former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal, NC parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel, among others, has brought down the list of 75 disputes to around 14. It is yet to resolve some knotty issues like the system of governance.

CC member Prem Bahadur Singh said they had to put pressure to pick Dahal as the head of the subcommittee as Maoist hardliners were against him accepting the position.

Dahal has been criticized by the Maoist hardliners saying that he made several compromises in the subcommittee in contravention of the party´s official line.
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UDMF 2ND RUNG LAMBASTS INACTION ON 4-POINT PACT
Kathmandu, 8 Jan.:: A meeting of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) on Saturday witnessed heated debate after second rung leaders criticized Madhesi ministers for little progress made on Madhesi issues, Gani Ansari writes in Republica.

“You (leadership) must clarify why we could not make any progress on the Madhesi issues raised in the four-point agreement,” said central committee member of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D) Sarba Dev Ojha at the meeting, adding, “It´s now time to say whether we couldn´t do anything because of our own weakness or because other factors barred us from working for Madhesi causes.”

He warned that the second rung leaders were not in a mood to remain silence over the status quo.

Vice-chairman of MPRF-D Rameshwor Raya Yadav opined that the Madhesi leadership must not lie to Madhesis, adding that cheating the people was the biggest crime in politics.

“I asked the leadership what the Madhesi alliance joined the Baburam Bhattarai government for” added Yadav.

Similarly, Vice-chairman of MPRF-R Rajkishor Yadav stated that they must review the achievements made after the Madhes movement.

“We must review what we have gained and what we´ve lost so far,” added Yadav.

He opined that Madhes-based parties must be clear about their political line, and that the crisis of confidence between Madhesi people and their leaders had been deepening.

General Secretary of MPRF-R Atmaram Sah questioned the rationale of the UDMF remaining in the government.

“The leadership must clarify what is the point in staying on in the government,” said Sah.

Likewise, General Secretary of Sadbhawana Party Manish Suman stressed the need of exerting enough pressure on the government to implement the four-point agreement in letter and spirit.

“Madhes-based parties are in a strong position to date; when can we create a favorable environment for addressing Madhesi issues if not now?” argued Suman.

He demanded that the Madhesi leadership make clear its stance regarding recruitment of Madhesi youths in the Nepal Army as the apex court had stayed the recruitment.

Altogether nine second rung leaders from five Madhes-based parties associated with UMDF put forth their views at Saturday´s meeting.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, who is also chairman of MPRF-D, said that the party chairmen would put forth their views at the next meeting.
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