SIXTH ABDUCTION FROM SIRAHA IN ONE MONTH

SIXTH ABDUCTION IN ONE MONTH FROM SIRAHA
Kathmandu, 22 Jan.: Ram Karan Das, 35, a technician of Lachayaniy-9 , Siraha was abducted Friday for ransom of Rs.400,000, Nagarik
reports.
Das has been abducted across the order to India.
This is the sixth abduction from Siraha in one month
Das was abducted immediately after the release of Sanyaja Singh Kori
of Chandrodayapur-2.
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DPM GACHEDHAR RETURNS HOME FROM INDIA
Kathmandu, 22 Jan. Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar returned home Saturday after a four-day India visited.
Gachedhar, who; is also home and defence minister, held discussions
with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, opposition leaders and senior officials
He discussed security and other issues, including resumption of suspected military arms and ammunition supplies, with Indian leaders and
and officials.
Gachedhar opposed a cabinet decision and said it can’t be
implemented.
He even denied knowledge of the cabinet decision.
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MEDIA GOOGLE
“PM Bhattarai’s remarks that Nepal need to merge either with the China or India, if she fails to exercise her autonomy, is against the country’s sovereignty, national independence and national integrity.”
(Majdoor Kishan Party Chief Narayanman Bijukakchaya, The Himalayan Times, 22 Jan.)
“We fought two world wars for foreigners. We will fight in our own soil now,” said Gurung. Promulgation of a new constitution by Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist in our favour is not possible. So, we have to fight for our rights,”
(Indigenous group leader Prithvi Subba Gurung, The Himalayan Times, 22 Jan.”
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HOSPITALS VULNERABLE TO HIGH INTENSITY QUAKES
Kathmandu, 22 Jan.: Not a single hospital in Kathmandu Valley will function if a Modified Mercallie Intensity (MMI) IX level earthquake hits Nepal, according to the Health Ministry, The Himalayan Times reports.

The impact of MMI IX will damage buildings beyond repair and even cause them to collapse unless modern designs are adopted.

If MMI VIII were to be considered, 80 per cent of hospitals would be rendered completely non-functional posing life threats to medical staff and patients. The remaining 20 per cent will not pose threat to life but would be dysfunctional for a long time.

The ministry had carried out structural and non-structural study of seismic vulnerability and hospitals in Kathmandu with World Health Organisation and National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal from 2002 to 2011.

Various assessments showed the urgent need to take action to mitigate vulnerability and safeguard hospital functionality after disaster.

The study examined Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Birendra Army Hospital, Civil Services Hospital, Patan Hospital, Bir Hospital, and Kanti Children’s Hospital, Maternity Hospital and Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, among others.

Dr Sinendra Raj Upreti, chief of the curative service division at the ministry said almost all the hospitals built 15 years back are structurally very vulnerable.

He said the proliferation of private hospitals had further complicated the problem and given rise to haphazard construction of potentially unsafe structures.

“To safeguard hospitals, structural and non-structural retrofitting works must be undertaken so as to reduce the vulnerability of existing hospitals,” said Upreti.

He said the diverse and complex nature of control of hospital development, which is split among so many ministries, has hampered development of a unified approach for building safe hospitals in the country.

He informed that the health ministry has allocated Rs 20 million for retrofitting hospitals in the Valley this year.

Currently, WHO is the leading coordinating agency for hospital safety.

A 2004 study by UNDP ranked Nepal as the 11th ‘most at risk country to earthquakes’ and the 30th with respect to floods. Kathmandu is one of the few cities in the world that is highly prone to earthquake.
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DETAILS OF PRACHANDA. MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL REPORT

Kathmandu, 22 Jan.: At a time when big opposition parties—the CPN-UML, and the NC—along with some fringe parties are mulling over the change of man at helm, the senior leader of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal met UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ at the latter’s new residence in Lazimpat in the Capital on Saturday morning, The Hiimalayan Times reports.

During the meeting which reportedly lasted for an hour this morning, the former prime ministers duo discussed about the contemporary political issues including formation of a national consensus government, stalled peace and statute drafting processes, among others, informed Dahal’s personal aide Sameer Dahal.

Only on Friday, the 17 parties have mulled over replacing the incumbent coalition government without further delays citing that the present Maoist-led government is obstructing the impending tasks of peace, statute.

Talking to media persons UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said, “We are left with no alternatives than to replace this government with a national consensus government.”

Meanwhile, Maoists have been saying that Bhattarai-led government should not leave the helm, until the party pops up with a new strategy.

UML leader Nepal on the same occasion had urged the Maoist chair to take initiative in withdrawing the government’s recent decision to legalise land and property transactions carried out by the Maoist’s so-called ‘people’s government’ during the decade long armed conflict and provide momentum to the dillydallied peace and constitution drafting process.

Maoist chair Prachanda also said that he was consulting with the Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai over the matter and ensured to resolve the land related issue at the earliest.
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STATE STRUCTURE DENIES DEAL ON MODEL
Kathmandu, 22 Jan : At a time when Maoists have been accusing the Nepali Congress of (NC) of backtracking from the agreement on system of governance in the dispute resolution subcommittee, coordinator of the taskforce under the subcommittee Laxman Lal Karna said Saturday that no such agreement has been
Reached, Republica reports.

Karna said they had presented a “mixed model” of governance as an alternative. Karna, who belongs to the Sadbhawana Party, told Republica that they tried to find a “middle path” after the UCPN (Maoist) and the Nepali Congress refused to budge from their respective stances.

“We had presented a mixed model of governance as an alternative. But there had been no unanimous decision on the issue as NC expressed its reservation over the model,” said Karna told over phone from Birgunj.

Maoist leaders, especially those from the hardline faction, have lately revived many of the issues already settled in the Constitutional Committee, accusing NC of backtracking from the agreement on system of governance.

Agni Kharel, who represents CPN-UML in the taskforce, said the proposal was prepared by the taskforce but not finalized by the subcommittee. “The argument that Nepali Congress backtracked from the agreement makes no sense as it was never endorsed by the subcommittee,” he said.

Maoist Chairman Dahal had then told the taskforce that the issue would be settled by leaders of the major parties.

The taskforce comprised of Kharel and Sapana Pradhan from CPN-UML, Radheshyam Adhikari from NC and Khim Lal Devkota from UCPN (Maoist). “We had proposed a system under which the president would have limited powers while the prime minister elected by parliament would have extensive executive powers,” he added.

Adhikari said they had discussed various possible alternatives. “I had clarified NC stance on the system of governance. But my colleagues agreed to present an alternative model on condition that NC´s on the issue would be mentioned while handing over the report to the subcommittee,” he said.

However, Maoist leader Devkota claimed they had prepared the document on system of governance through consensus.

“We had presented a mixed model of governance through consensus between all the parties. It is the NC that has backtracked from its position on the system of governance,” he said.
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NT GETS CLEAN CIAA CHIT
Kathmandu, 22 Jan : The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has found no foul play in the Nepal Telecom´s (NT) tender process to add 10 million mobile lines and has given the operator a clean chit, asking it to go ahead with the plan, Republica reports..

Suspecting irregularities about three months ago, the anti-graft body had directed the NT to put the project on hold till it completes its investigation. Spokesperson for CIAA Ishwori Prasad Paudel said, "We have given the clean chit to NT and have instructed the operator to go ahead with their plan."

NT was preparing to call a global tender for the mega project to address the demand till 2015.

CIAA has also given its nod for the procurement of 2 million IP CDMA lines. In its instructions, CIAA has asked the operator to complete the project on time and within the estimated budget. The IP CDMA project worth $ 32 million was put on hold for more than a year because by CIAA.

NT is targeting to distribute IP CDMA in rural areas to provide better voice and data access to its customers. NT had awarded the tender to China-based telecom solution provider Huawei.

State-owned operator has not been able to issue new SIM cards for last few months after its stock depleted and it was not able to implement its procurement plans following investigations by CIAA and Public Accounts´ Committee (PAC).

One of the board members of NT said that NT is suffering because of complications in government procedure.

"CIAA holds up our projects for months in the name of investigation, which is seriously hampering our business," the member said. He further said if CIAA had not instructed to hold the project, NT would have been able to distribute new SIM cards. NT is facing severe shortage of new SIM cards for past few months. NT was distributing 200,000 SIMs per month on an average.

Following the CIAA clean-chit, NT is preparing to finalize the deal with vendors this week. NT officials said they will finalize the MoU for IP CDMA this week and will also speed up the project for 10 million mobile lines. NT has been doing groundwork to add 10 million new lines in its GSM network from last year.

The largest operator had lost its leadership in GSM segment more than a year ago to private operator Ncell. According to the latest statistics of Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), NT has a total subscribers base of 7.04 million out of which 5.42 million are
GSM subscribers.
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GOVT.BODY PLAN FOR SALARY , PERKS FOR PASHUPATINATH PRIESTS, CARETAKERS
Kathmandu, 22 Jan.: A government-commissioned committee has prepared a regulation recommending to the government to provide salaries and perks to priests and caretakers of the Pashupatinath temple, The Himalayan Times reports.

The seven-member panel formed on November 2 under the coordination of Sushil Nahata, member-secretary of the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), will submit its report to the government tomorrow.

“We have finalised the draft of the regulation and will submit it the government tomorrow,” said Narottam Vaidya, PADT treasurer and a member of the committee tasked with drafting the regulation based on previous reports and a Supreme Court verdict that had directed the authorities to keep records of income at the shrine, a UNESCO world heritage site, in a transparent manner.

“The draft has suggested to the government to deposit all of the shrine’s income in the bank and pay handsome salaries and perks to the temple’s priests and caretakers,” Vaidhya said.

He, however, refused to divulge the package meant for about two dozen priests and caretakers of the temple.

Besides daily regular offerings, devotees donate Rs 1,100 to Rs 1.1 million for special puja and precious metals like gold to the temple.

Citing the absence of a record-keeping system, reports often point that the temple staff use these offerings as their own. In the last fiscal year alone, the recorded income of the PADT stood at Rs 273.7 million.

“We will take caretakers, Bhandaris and priests into confidence to make the income transparent with due regard to existing culture and tradition,” PADT officials said.

“The regulation will come into effect within two months once the Cabinet approves it.”

“We had issued receipts for offerings in the past, but that system did not work as the temple staff did not cooperate,” Vaidya further said.

He appealed to the priests and the caretakers to cooperate with PADT this time around by maintaining the record of special offerings in a transparent manner.
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INDIAN MAOISTS OR NAXALS KILL 13 POLICEMEN
Kathmandu, 22 Jan.: Police say suspected Maoist rebels triggered a landmine explosion, killing 13 policemen in eastern India on Saturday, AP reports from Patna.

Police superintendent G. K. Rath said at least two other policemen were injured in the explosion that blew up their mini-bus in Jharkhand state today.

He said the policemen were returning from a search operation in a remote, densely forested region when the blast occurred.

The rebels have been fighting the government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for landless farmers and the poor.
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