ARMY DENIES IT PROPOSED MASS INTEGRATION OF REBEL FORCES IN STATE ARMY

ARMY DENIES PROPOSAL ON MASS INTEGRATION OF REBEL FORCES
Kathmandu, 18 Feb.: Nepal Army hasn’t made any new proposal for mass integration of 6,000 plus in Nepal Army, Public Relations Directorate of the state army said in a statement Saturday
It’s ‘serious attention; had been drawn to published reports, the statement said.
The reported suggestion of Army Chief Gen.Chatraman Singh Gurung to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai created a stir saying state army ha d become flexible on mass integration of rebel forces.
Opposition leaders also asked NA to maintain a neutral position on the issue.
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FIRE AT NABIL BANK LTD IN BASUNDHARA CONTAINED
Kathmandu, 18 Feb.: A fire Saturday at the Basundhara branch office building of Nabil Bank Ltd (NBL) cased minor damage.
Short circuit caused the fire, police said.

The bank branch was situated at Ganga Hari Bhawan
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NC VP PAUDEL CONTINUES ATTACK AGAINST MAOISTS
Kathmandu, 18 Feb.: Vice-President of the Nepali Congress (NC) Ram Chandra Poudel has said that the country was facing hard times because of the UCPN-Maoist's advocacy for ethnic state, RSS reports from Kawasoti.

Nationality was being jeopardised because of the Maoist's assurance of ethnic state, in the name of strengthening party organisation. But now the Maoist party is compelled to say before the people that it won't split far western region and Chitwan," told Paudel while inaugurating the website of Radio Midpoint at Kawasoti of Nawalparasi on Saturday.

He also expressed his dissatisfaction at the State Restructuring Commission(SRC) for proposing 11 provinces as per the Maoist's proposal of 14 provinces.

Meanwhile, he argued that present political turbulence emerged after the CPN-UML inclined towards the proposal of the UCPN-Maoist on the issue of federating the country.

Leader Poudel claimed that the path the Nepali Congress is treading would give way out to the present political crisis.
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DETAILS OF EC WARNING TO PARTIES OF DELISTING
Kathmandu, 18 Feb.: In what was probably the boldest decision ever, the Election Commission on Friday announced that it will cancel the registration of 18 political parties if they fail to present convincing reports on their sources of income and the parties’
expenditure within a week, Bhadra Sharma writes in The Kathmandu Post..
Of the 80 political parties registered with the EC, the 18 have not submitted their property details despite the commission’s frequent requests.
Acting Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety said this will be the last chance for the parties.
“We have asked them to produce their sources of income and expenditure within seven days. If they miss the deadline, we will take legal action, which means their registration will be scrapped,” Uprety said.
The defaulting parties include CPN (MLM-Centre), Samajbadi Party Nepal, Rastriya Janata Dal, Prajatantrik Shanti Party, Nepal Jagriti Dal, Nepal Prajatantrik Party Yuba Party, Nepal Janatantra Party, Prajatantrik Shakti Party, Rastriya Jana Ekta Party, Nepal Janasangh Party, Nepal Shanti Kshetra Parisad, Rastrabadi Yuva Morcha, Muskan Sena Nepal, Nepali Rastriya Janabhawana Party, Janamukti Party, Rastrabadi Milan Kendra Party, Prajatantrik Janamukti Party and Nepal Rastriya Loktantrik Party.
Though the parties are lesser known and are not represented in the Constituent Assembly, officials said the action will set a precedent for other political parties.
“It is not a question of a big or a small party. All political parties registered with the EC are equally important from our prospective,” Uprety said.
The Commission is preparing to cancel the registrations as per the Political Party Registration Act-2007.
The Act allows the EC to cancel the registration of any political party that fails to furnish the income and expenditure details for three consecutive years.
A number of political parties were defying the electoral laws ever since the Constituent Assembly elections in 2008.
The Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Party, a party represented in the Constituent Assembly, has been fined Rs 100 for not responding to a letter issued by the commission.
Only 22 political parties, including the UCPN (Maoist) and the CPN-UML, have furnished the details on time.
Eleven others had submitted their financial details within the extended deadline.
The EC has tightened screws on all political parties in its efforts to make them more accountable and transparent following reports
that political parties in Nepal are turning the most corrupt institutions.
“We want to make the parties more accountable and transparent for their improvement. Every legal measure will be adopted for this,” Uprety said.
The EC further said most major parties have not submitted details of their audited financial expenditure, while sources of income are
undisclosed.
In case of the Maoist party, over Rs 3 billion has been spent under the “miscellaneous” title, while the Nepali Congress and the UML have not
disclosed their sources of income.
Parties registered with the EC must mention the names of those who donate over Rs 25,000.
“We are in the process of making reforms and some immediate measures will be taken to make the parties more transparent,” said EC Spokesperson Sharada Prasad Trital.
Income and expenditure of six major parties (in Rs lakh)
UCPN (Maoist)
Fiscal year Income Expenditure
2007/08 803.70 759.90
2008/09 998.00 920.00
2009/10 10140.20 1163.60
2010/11 1326.40 1283.00
Nepali Congress
2007/008 106.40 107.30
2008/09 30.90 40.10
2009/10 491.60 98.10
2010/11 393.87 394.41
CPN-UML
2007/08 751.80 581.60
2008/09 647.20 527.10
2009/10 452.30 271.10
2010/11 403.90 265.10
MJF-Loktantrik
2009/10 22.31 21.48
2010/11 32.74 29.61
MJF-Nepal
2007/08 23.92 16.20
2008/09 74.55 20.73
2009/10 83.87 56.78
2010/11 159.57 38.04
TMLP
2010/11 16.38 13.29
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US INTERCEPTS PAYMENT THROUGH IRAN
Kathmandu, 18 Feb.: The US sanctions on Iran have resulted in a payment for bitumen imported to Nepal from Dubai stalling for the last one year, Prithvi Man Shrestha .writes in The Kathmandu Post.
The payment had to go from Nepal Investment Bank Limited’s (NIBL) account with a US bank to an Iranian bank, which in turn should have paid the bitumen exporter.
Nepal’s Vinira Holding, a bitumen importer, failed to make a payment of $20,000 to its Dubai-based exporter, Bridge Oil Industry, as the City Bank in the US refused to transfer the amount after it came to know that the payment should go through an Iranian bank.
The importer had opened a letter of credit (LC) at the NIBL for the import.
The amount, equivalent of that to be transferred, was also deducted from the NIBL account in the City Bank’s New York branch.
“As the amount to be paid to the exporting party had to be transferred through an Iranian bank, City Bank refused to make the transfer,” said Rajan Amatya, a deputy general manager of NIBL.
According to Amatya, the importer not mentioning the name of the Iranian bank while filling up the LC form resulted in the deduction of the amount from the NIBL’s City Bank account.
“The importer, Rit Gupta, had simply used the swift code of the Iranian bank, which was not identified here and the LC, too, was treated as other normal LCs,” Amatya said. “We would not have tried to make the payment through the US if it was known earlier that it should go through an Iranian Bank.”
If a payment is to be made to Iran, it is done through the Asian Currency Unit (ACU) dollar mechanism. Through the ACU mechanism, dollars deposited in various Asian financial centres are paid to parties concerned.
NIBL said it is trying to get back the amount, both through the US Embassy here and its correspondence bank in the US. It has also requested the Nepal Rastra Bank to help solve the problem.
A senior NRB official said the central bank inquired about a possible solution to the problem with officials of the US Embassy. “They told us that they could take steps to have the cash refunded, but that the amount cannot be transferred to the beneficiary party in Dubai,” the NRB official said.
The central bank has also asked the Finance Ministry to do the needful in solving the problem diplomatically.
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