NEW AIRLINE TO OPERATE DOMESTIC FLIGHTS

BLUE AIRWAYS TO OPERATE DOMESTIC FLIGHTS
Kathmandu, 6 Feb.: The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation is set to issue license to the Blue Airways Pvt. Ltd. for operation of domestic flights, RSS reports.
Joint Secretary at the Ministry, Suresh Acharya said preparations have been made to issue the flight operation license to Blue Airways for operating domestic flights.
"The license is being issued to the Blue Airways based on the study carried out, ' Acharya said.
It is said Blue Airways will operate flights to remote places in the country.
Nnnn


NEW LEADERSHIP IN ISTU
Kathmandu, 6 Feb.:The Third General Convention of the Institutional School Teachers' Union (ISTU), Nepal, the professional organization of teachers and employees working in institutional schools, has elected its new working committee under the chairmanship of Mukunda Gautam, RSS reports.
Motiram Phuyal is the vice president, Bhola Chalise the general secretary, Mahendra Niraula the secretary and Ekraj Dahal the treasurer of the 15-member working committee.
Similarly, the members are Ambika Oli, Ramesh Dhakal, Umesh Aryal, Hari Kandel, Yubaraj Chapagain, Agni Gyawali, Komal Yogi, Indira Karki, Avinash Sharma and Loknath Neupane.
The general convention has passed proposals like taking the affiliation from the Nepal Teachers' Union, undertake ideological and legal advocacy for the rights of the teachers and school employees and take to the streets if necessary.
It passed proposal promoting good practices in the organization and adopting positive aspects in the profession.
The general convention was inaugurated by human rights defender Sudip Pathak
nnnn

CONSTITUTION BY 28 MAY DOUBTFUL SAYS UML LEADER KHANAL
Kathmandu, 6 Feb.: CPN UML Chairman and former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal has said the drafting of new constitution within May 28 would be very difficult if the contentious issues in the constitution drafting were not settled by mid-February, RSS reports.

Speaking at a tea reception hosted by Press Chautari Nepal on the occasion of its 14th Anniversary here on Sunday, leader Khanal said that the promulgation of the constitution within the slated timeframe was not possible if the parties failed to agree on the disputed issues by mid February as per the latest CA calendar.

"I am hopeful that the tri-party meeting scheduled to be held on coming Wednesday would forge consensus on the contentious issue including the electoral system, form of governance, restructuring of the State, judicial system and the citizenship issues", added the UML Chairman.

The UCPN-Maoist should be serious towards the completion of the peace and constitution drafting process and the formation of the national consensus government as the single largest party in the Constituent Assembly, he stressed urging the government to withdraw the decision of legalising the property transactions carried out by the then people's government during the conflict.

Also speaking at the programme, Nepali Congress leader Arjun Narsingh KC said the peace process was delayed due to misinterpretation of the past agreement.

Similarly, President of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Shiva Gaunle urged all media workers to beware of press freedom and its promotion.

Chairman of Revolutionary Journalists' Association, Maheshowar Dahal stressed the need of mission journalism in the country.

Likewise, Nepal Press Union President Kiran Pokharel said democracy should be the first priority of journalists and they develop their personality accordingly .

Maoist leader Netra Bikram Chand, UML leaders Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Yubraj Gyawali, Pradeep Nepal, Pradeep Gyawali, Yogesh Bhattarai, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Chairman of Press Council Nepal Naryan Sharma, Director General of Department of Information, Laxmi Bilas Koirala, senior journalist Gopal Thapaliya and Council Chairman Gagan Bista were among those joining the reception.

The Press Chautari Nepal was established on February 5, 1999.
nnnn
500KG HASH SEIZED
Kathmandu, 6 Feb.:: Flying squads of Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit carried out anti-drug operations in Kathmandu and arrested six smugglers with a huge cache of raw hashish and pharmaceutical drugs in the last couple of days separately, Sabin Chandra Acharya reports in The Himalayan Times reports.

The unit rounded up Raj Kumar Rumba (30), Dinesh Kumar Rumba (27), Bishal Rumba (30) and Hiralal Negi (24) in Badbhanjyang VDC and recovered 500 kg raw hashish while they were trying to smuggle the contrabrand to the Capital city.

The raw hashish bundled in 15 sacks was stored in a house. All the smugglers are natives of Namtar- 6 of Makwanpur.

SP Sher Bahadur Basnet said the raw hashish was suspected to have been kept ready in Badbhanjyang to transport it to the Capital city for purification. "It suggests that racketeers have also been operating refineries in the Valley to purify crude drugs. We are trying to locate the facilities based on statements of the arrestees," he informed.

Citing preliminary investigation and past trends, DIG Yadav Raj Adhikari said the drugs would have been smuggled to Europe and America after purification had they not intercepted it. Hashish fetches Rs 20,000 per kg in Nepali market whereas the same amount of the drug brings the racketeers more than $ 20,000 in the third countries.

The crude hashish was made in Makwanpur itself, officials said.

Similarly, police arrested Aaita Singh Thing (26) of Makwanpur with 4,000 ampules of buprinorphin and daizepam in a fuel tanker (Na 3 Kha 6305) in Tinkune. Officials said the tanker driver was found using the tanker carrying essential goods to escape security check and elude the police.

Police also arrested Ram Prabesh Yadav (24) with 3,800 ampules of the pharmaceutical drugs smuggled into the Capital city in a bus (Na 4 Kha 6134). He was held in Swoyambhu yesterday night when the bus was coming to Kathmandu from Gaur. The drug was found concealed in the boot of the bus. The arrestees have been charged under Narcotic Drug (Control and Punishment) Act.
Nnnn

MAOIST MINISTER DEMANDS ANOTHRR 8B RUPEES TO END FUEL CRISIS
Kathmandu, 6 Feb.: : Minister for Commerce and Supplies Lekharaj Bhatta warned on Sunday that the petrol crisis won’t be resolved until the government provides Rs 8 billion to Nepal Oil Corporation(NOC), the state-owned oil monopoly, The Himalayan
Times reports.

Speaking at an interaction programme here in the Capital today, Minister Bhatta said that though the government has decided to provide Rs 2 billion assistance to the NOC, oil scarcity would remain the same for some time as it will take time to get the amount from the Citizen’s Investment Trust (CIT).

The Cabinet recently had decided to provide Rs 2 billion assistance to NOC from the CIT.

He also said that he has already proposed that the government provide Rs 8 billion assistance to NOC and claimed that if the sum was not allotted, fuel scarcity would remain the same.

Claiming that he has been actively involved to end the ongoing black marketing in the country, the minister said preparations are underway to develop a concrete plan to stop the crime.

In a different context, Minister Bhatta, who is also the chairman of Rastriya Mukti Morhca, expressed his dissatisfactions towards the report Submitted by the State Restructuring Commission (SRC) and also called a Far-Western Region bandh on February 10 against the report.

He said that the SRC in its report has named Khaptad Karnali Province and mentioned Surkhet district as its headquarters which would go against the sentiments of far-western people. “It has also posed a threat to the existence of the region and aims to end its sovereignty,” Bhatta said adding that the report won’t be acceptable to the Far-Western people.
nnnn
17 MAOISTS STIKLL FACE CHARGES IN INDIA
Kathmandu, 6 Feb.: : Though 11 Maoist leaders convicted in absentia by the Patna High Court were acquitted by an Indian court last Friday, 17 middle-rung Maoist cadres still face criminal charges in various Indian courts, according to party leaders who believe some of them might also be serving terms in India. Kiran Pun writes in Republica..

“We had expected acquittal of all the leaders as charges against them all were of political nature. We urge the Bihar government to withdraw charges against them and ask the UCPN (Maoist) to take initiatives for their acquittal,” said Prakash Yadav, who is a member of the Maoist Mithila State Committee.

Yadav was arrested along with his four comrades on 27 February 2002 from Patna and released on bail from Beur Jail. Police had rearrested him when he presented himself at the court for sedition charge, on the charge of arms smuggling.

Last Friday, Additional District Judge Bashistha Narain Singh had ordered acquittal of 11 Maoist leaders after a hearing on the state government´s petition to withdraw the cases against them, reported the Indian media.

Altogether 17 Maoist leaders were convicted by the Patna High Court, but the party is not yet sure why only 11 leaders were cleared of the charges.

Of the 17 Maoists, 15 were arrested in 2002 February within the span of three days and another two a year later. Yadav and most of the others were released after the Maoist joined mainstream politics.

The Maoist cadres have frequently criticized the party leadership for not taking initiatives for the release of their colleagues.
“We have time and again urged party leaders to take initiatives for the release of party cadres facing charges in India. But we have no idea why only 11 of those arrested were acquitted,” said Indira Karki, who served 15 months in Beur jail of Patna before being released on bail of IRs180,000.

Deelip Sah from Siraha, Raj Narayan Yadav from Sarlahi and his younger brother Roshan who was just 13, and Praksh Yadav from Dhanusa were arrested on 27 February 2002. Raj Narayan, who was released when the party was still underground, was shot dead by Nepal Army personnel. Likewise, another group of five Maoist cadres, including Binod Thapa from Sindhuli, Devnath Yadav from Saptari, Rohit Kumar Mahato from Dhanusha, Amir Tamang from Sindhupalchok and Amar Karki from Solukhumbu were arrested on 24 February 2002 in Patna.

Similarly, Rajendra Karki from Samkhuwasabha and his wife Indira, Gajendra Jayasawal from Bara, Arjun Yadav from Mahottari, Durga Prasad Dhungel from Taplejung and Lal Bahadur Tamang from Kavre were arrested on 25 February 2002.

In 2003, Ram Babu Chaudhari from Mahottari and Devendra Parajuli from Sindhupalchok) were also arrested. All of them faced charges of sedition and arms smuggling and were jailed in prisons in Bihar.

Lokendra Bista and Kul Prasad KC were among the top rung Maoist leaders to be released last Friday.

Bihar government on February 1 had moved the court seeking withdrawal of charges against them. The Indian union home ministry had recently sent a letter to the Bihar government asking it to withdraw cases against Nepal´s Maoists, taking into considering the changed political context in Nepal.
nnnn



________________________________________



DISQUALIFIED COMBATANTS DISRUPT FORMER PLA RETIREMENT IN SURKHET
Kathmandu, 6 Feb.: 5: A group of 70 former disqualified Maoist combatants on Sunday disrupted the ongoing voluntary retirement process in the Surkhet-based Maoist cantonment by vandalizing a makeshift office used by officials from the secretariat for the Special Committee, Republica reports.

According to Dipak Prakash Bhatt, who is also a secretariat member, the disqualified combatants pushed their way into the cantonment at around 3:30 pm and tore apart the four tents of the makeshift office, vandalized three laptops, tables and chairs before they were taken under control by verified combatants in the cantonment.

Despite the obstruction, the voluntary retirement process will be continued on Monday by beefing up security in the cantonment, said Bhatt, who is leading a secretariat team to carry out the retirement process in the cantonment. Bhatt said 180 checks had been issued before the process was disrupted.

One Nepal Police inspector, who was working as an arms monitor in the cantonment, sustained minor injury in the skirmish between the disqualified combatants and verified combatants. The disqualified combatants were later handed over to police.

"We have been given security assurances by the chief district officer and we are resuming our works from Monday," said Bhatt, who said that the attackers started vandalism soon after he asked their identity.

"They said nothing to us, nor did they tell us why they attacked our office," said Bhatt.

The disqualified combatants were released from the cantonments in early January 2010 but they have frequently expressed their dissatisfaction over their "unceremonious" release from the cantonments.

In the meantime, the secretariat for the Special Committee said it completed giving voluntary retirement to 2,053 combatants, with 1,000 on average a day, as of Sunday.

According to Balananda Sharma, convener of the secretariat, the voluntary retirement process is proceeding smoothly in all the cantonments except the one in Surkhet.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Barshaman Pun said Sunday that the government will soon bring a package to address the demands of the disqualified combatants.
nnnn



________________________________________