CIT TO RELEASE RS2 BILLION FOR NOC AFTER FINANCE MINISTRY INTERVENTION

CIT TO RELEASE RS. 2 BILLION FOR CASH-STRAPPED NOC

Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) has greed
to lend and release Rs. 2 billion to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) at a fresh request of finance ministry.
An earlier instruction was put on hold by the state financial
enterprise saying the decision was flawed.
CIT management is meeting Friday to release the fund.
NOC claims irregular supply from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has led to fuel shortages inconveniencing people.
Desperate people for the first time this month stopped a vehicle transporting gas cylinders , didn’t loot but bought gas from the transporter at a rce fixed by the government.
Long queues wait patiently for hours losing valuable time at
petrol pumps awaiting to fill tanks making mockery of government claim people are getting relief from the communist-led government described by critics as the most corrupt in the country’s history.
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CHINESE NATIONAL REFUSED BAIL; JAILED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING

Kathmandu, 10 Feb. A three-member bench of the special court Thursday jailed Chinese national Liu Xue Lin for money laundering without a bail.
Liu was convicted and couldn’t account for Rs 2.2 million in his possession car worth along with a Rs 2.1 million car.
The Chinese national was arrested 26 December 2011 by the
Department of Revenue Investigation.
He was operating a herbal farm.
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NEPAL PLAYS THAILAND IN WOMEN CRICKET FINALS

Kathmandu, 10 Feb. Nepal women cricket players meet Thailand in the
final of the ACC WomenU-19 Cricket Championship in Kuwait Friday.
Nepal qualified and is attempting a hat trick after a three wicket victory against neighbouring Bhutan Thursday.

Nepal won all five outings so far in the tournament to reach the final.
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30 COMPLAINTS REGISTERED AGAINST MAOIST COMMANDERS AT SECRETARIAT
Kathmandu, 10 Feb. Altogether 30 retiring Maoist combatants have formally complained to the Special Committee Secretariat that their commanders are trying to force them to part with a certain percent of their voluntary retirement package by either seizing their paychecks or withholding their identity cards, Republica reports.

According to sources at the Special Committee, convener of the secretariat Balananda Sharma informed a meeting of the Special Committee about the complaints, Thursday evening.

"The combatants have informed the secretariat that the commanders seized the paychecks of some retiring combatants, others have been forced to leave their checks with the commanders and some others have had their ID cards withheld. These measures are aimed at forcing the commanders to give a certain percent of their retirement package," a source quoted Sharma as saying in his briefing to the Special Committee, Thursday.

Some retiring combatants have informed the secretariat that they exited the cantonments leaving behind their paychecks with their commanders after the latter demanded a certain percent of the money.

The secretariat received the complaints after it publicly asked the retiring combatants to inform it in case their checks are confiscated or they are deprived of their ID cards. IDs are required to claim their retirement package and to withdraw money from the banks where they deposit the paychecks.

Sharma returned from Shaktikhor cantonment Thursday to brief the Special Committee on the ongoing voluntary retirement process and the seizure of paychecks and withholding of ID cards from retiring combatants.

The meeting discussed ways to ensure that no single combatant is deprived of his or her money and decided to ask the banks concerned -- Nepal Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank Limited and Nepal Agricultural Development Bank -- to make payments against the checks only to the combatants concerned.

"We will ask the banks to arrange a mechanism for payment of the checks only after a week and that too to the persons concerned only," said Finance Minister and Maoist representative on the Special Committee Barsha Man Pun, after the Special Committee meeting.

But according to the source, Sharma told the meeting that asking the banks to tighten their mechanisms was not a proper solution, and asked Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai and Pun to direct the commanders not to ask the retiring combatants for any money.

Meanwhile, the secretariat has completed the voluntary retirement process in three cantonments -- Shaktikhor, Chulachuli and Dudhauli-- as of Thursday. Sharma said that altogether 6,360 combatants participated in the retirement process by Thursday. He said the retirement process is to be completed in the remaining cantonments on Friday.
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UPPER KARNALI PDA A TEST FOR MAOISTS

Kathmandu, 10 Feb : Whether Nepal can conclude a power development agreement (PDA) with Indian company GMR Group, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government four years ago on the Upper Karnali hydro-electric project, is a real test for the Maoist party, Prem Dhakal writes in Republica.

Officials at the Ministry of Energy claim that the government has already prepared a draft power development agreement (PDA) template and is currently in the process of incorporating the recommendations of a technical committee. Joint-Secretary Rajendra Chhetri says the ministry will send the draft to GMR Upper Karnali Hydropower Limited by March.

But the delay over the Upper Karnali PDA is hardly a technical issue. It was and remains a political issue, and an inflammable one for the Maoist party.

The Maoists started opposing the project right after their Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned as prime minister in March 2009, a year after GMR signed the MoU with the Nepal government.

Once out of power, the Maoist party argued that GMR involvement in Upper Karnali was against the national interest and even sent its cadres to vandalize GMR´s site office.
However, things have now changed. The Maoists are back in power and trying hard to make it up to India. And above all, Maoist Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai, who has argued in public that without economic development neither his party nor the country has any future, is leading the current government.

Prime Minister Bhattarai faces two challenges: First, he must find an excuse for clearing the PDA so that his party´s past resistance to it remains justified. Secondly, he must placate the radical faction in his party that is wary that Bhattarai may give the green light to mega projects involving Indian investment, and remains committed to opposing this.

Prime Minister Bhattarai has already assured GMR that the project will get his full support. “The prime minister assured us that the PDA would be done at the earliest,” GMR Upper Karnali Hydropower Limited General Manager KK Sharma said after meeting Dr Bhattarai at his office at Singha Durbar along with a hydropower delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CCI), Tuesday.

The Maoist radical faction, meanwhile, seems in no mood to compromise. Maoist politburo member Khadga Bahadur Biswakarma, who is close to party hardliner and Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya, says the project is against the national interest and vows never to let it see completion.

“The government should immediately scrap the agreement and take the initiative to build it on its own as it remains a financially very lucrative proposition,” reasons Biswakarma, who is Maoist in-charge of Bheri-Karnali, where the project is to be built.

He argues that the government should show some competence and act with boldness even if it lacks the financial wherewithal to complete the project--GMR estimates the cost at around US$ 1.42 billion-- and not sell out on the country´s resources to foreigners.

“There is no sense lending your cow to others when it gives milk and taking it back only when it is old,” he counters when told that the project would be developed on a Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.

A group of some 30, reportedly led by Maoist cadres, had barged into the GMR premises at Paltada, Dailekh on May 22 last year and set three buildings on fire.
Construction work at the site has been halted since, despite the government deploying the Armed Police Force (APF) there later in the year.

“We are waiting for a conducive environment for resumption of work and are now just doing social work as part of our corporate social responsibility,” General Manager Sharma says, adding that political consensus is imperative for resumption of the work.

The role of Minister for Energy Post Bahadur Bogati, who is close to Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, will be crucial in sealing the PDA with GMR.
He was being somewhat diplomatic when he said, “As energy minister I personally don´t want to reject GMR since it has come through competitive international bidding, but ask the party about its official position.”

When prodded, Bogati said he was ready to mediate between GMR and disgruntled “locals”. Maoist politburo member Biswakarma, however, sees no use for dialogue over the issue. “There can never be any negotiation in matters of national interest,” he insists.

GMR ready to sell power to Nepal

GMR, which agreed to provide 12 percent free energy and 27 percent free equity when it signed the MoU with the government, says it is ready to sell power to Nepal.
One of the major objections against GMR within and outside the Maoist party is based on a perception that the Indian power producer will export all the energy to India even as Nepal faces acute power shortages.

“If the Nepal government wants to buy all the remaining energy at an economically feasible rate, we are more than happy to sell. That is what I have been conveying to the government and all the political parties on several occasions,” states Sharma.
“But Nepal should have the necessary transmission capacity to use all the energy from the project,” he adds.

If this provision on selling power to Nepal is included in the PDA, Prime Minister Bhattarai may find it easier to sell the PDA within his party and to others who remain skeptical about the Upper Karnali project.
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SECURITY REINFORCED AT CANTONMENTS TO SECUIRE GOLDEN HANDSHAKE OF FORMER MAOIST FIGHTERS
Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: Police, responding to request from retiree Maoist fighters to secure their cheques from commanders bent on seizing them, have beefed up security at the Chhinchu-based Agriculture Development Bank in Surkhet, The Himalayan Times reports from Surkhet.

Earlier in the day, Karma Rawat, a combatant from the Dasharathpur-based PLA Sixth Division, took refuge at the police station after some commanders tried to grab the money while she was cashing her golden handshake cheque at the bank.

Combatants Bir Bahadur Nepali and Laxmi Chaulagain are still under police protection at the Chhinchu Area Police Office following a similar incident. However, police have not allowed journalists and rights activists to meet the combatants under protection, Durga Thapa, a journalist, said.

Finance Minister Barshaman Pun refrained from speaking to mediapersons when he reached the Sixth Division to settle the dispute regarding the forceful seizure of cheques.

Meanwhile, the Shaktikhor-based Third Division wrapped up the distribution of cheques to retiree fighters today. In course of seven days, the division distributed cheques to 1,121 PLAs, the secretariat of Special Committee (for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of combatants) said.

Plaints against commanders

SINDHULIMADHI: Two PLAs at the Solusalleri Smriti Brigade, Second Division, on Thursday lodged a complaint at the Special Committee against their commanders for making them sign blank cheques. Jyoti Karki of the brigade rang the complaint department of the committee and urged them to save her retirement pay. Another fighter Udaya reached the committee office in person and lodged a complaint.

PLAs put a hold on accounts

In a bid to secure their golden handshake amount from commanders, some PLAs from Chulachuli-based First Division have filed an application at the Agriculture Development Bank to put a hold on their accounts in Damak. Fighter Tej Kumar Limbu said he and some of his friends have written to the bank to put a hold on his account as commanders forced them to sign blank cheques. The retirees have warned of agitation if they do not get their cheques back.
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ASIAN LIFE GETS TIME TO RECOVER OUTSTANDING DIVIDEND
Kathmandu, 10 Feb.: The insurance regulator has granted Asian Life Insurance a fortnight to recover the outstanding dividends from its shareholders. “The company has been given an extension of 15 days from the last deadline — Sunday — to recover the remaining Rs 2.5 million,” informed Shekar Aryal, spokesperson for the Insurance Board, The Himalayan Times reports.

The company had distributed cash dividends to shareholders despite a prohibition imposed by the regulator. Asian Life had distributed about Rs 45 million to shareholders as dividends before IB instructed it to stop the distribution. The Board had directed the executive director of the company to recover the amount by February 5. It had recovered Rs 42.5 million by the deadline. Asian Life with a paid up capital of Rs 36 million had distributed 28.15 per cent cash dividend despite a prohibition imposed by the regulator. Regulation does not allow life insurance companies to issue cash dividends to share holders until they increase their paid up capital to Rs 500 million. “In line with the regulation, Asian Life could have opted to issue bonus shares,” he added.
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