THREE PARTY MEET AMID CALLS FOR RESIGNATION OF BHATTARAI GOVT.

BIG THREE MEET AMID CALLS FOR RESIGNATION OF BABURAM BHATTARAI GOVT.

Kathmandu, 26 Feb.: A summit of the Big Three scheduled to meet Saturday with the busy schedule of main opposition NC leaders, now assembles a day later Sunday amid increasing calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to push peace and constitution drafting.
‘Peace process and constitution haven’t made progress not only because of government an Madeshbadi parties,” the premier told a public meeting in the capital Saturday.
“All parties should be flexible during transition,” he added
Bhattarai has repeatedly defending his government claiming it has recorded progress with possibilities emerging of a breakthrough in concluding the peace process and constitution drafting.
Bhattarai Saturday received support from an unexpected quarter when a hard-line party faction headed by Mohan Baidhya extended support saying the party and government were being ‘encircled and hounded’.
But opposition UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal acclaimed leadership of the government
‘Maoists have gone back on previous agreements. Maoists should be more flexible as the largest party.
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MJF-R CENTRAL COMMITTEE CONTINUES SUNDAY FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE DAY

Kathmandu, 26 Feb.: MJF-R central committee meet continues for the fourth consecutive day Sunday under the chairmanship of acting party chief Rajkishore Yadav.
The party threatened reconsideration its participation in government following the conviction for corruption last week by supreme court last week of Communication Minister Jayarakash Prasad Gupta who has also been jailed for 18 months.
Gupta is also chairman of the party.
The party will now decide its future after discussions with government and Maoists dissatisfied with sidelining of the terai agenda by government and the party leading the government.
The party discussing its future plans and programmes has demanded sincere implementation of a four-point agreement that secured a coalition five months ago between the ruling parties.
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CAPITAL’S MINIMUM TEMPERARURE SUNDAY

Kathmandu, 26 Feb.: Minimum temperature recorded Sunday mornngin the capital was 6.8 degrees Celsius.
Mercury in the afternoon is expected to rise to 31 degrees Celsius.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“The UCPN (Maoist) which leads the government oppressed the people in the past and continues to do so at present.”

(UML leader KP Sharma Oli, Republica, 26 Feb.)

“Madesh parties have turned into a group of corrupt ”

(UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal, Nagarik, 26 Feb.)
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FORMER MAOIST FIGHTERS MULL JOINT VENTURES

Kathmandu, 26 Feb : After spending years in the battlefields to realize the ideals of revolution, most of the ex-combatants who opted for voluntary retirement and returned home are struggling to come to terms with their new lives, KIran Pun writes in Republica.

A group of 35 former commanders from the Maoist stronghold of Rapti, on the other hand, are browsing various options to begin joint ventures.

The ex-combatants have discussed various plans ranging from opening department stores to starting earthworm farming, asparagus farming or crusher industry.

“We are still mulling the options. But we have already agreed to register a company and get engaged in collective production,” said Ram Lal Roka Magar, former vice-commander of the fifth division.

Former rebels from Rolpa, Rukum, Dang, Pyuthan and Salyan, have decided to base the center of production in Ghorahi, the district headquarters of Dang, and expand their business westward.

They have been mulling investment of Rs 5 million in earthworm farming, Rs 5 million in crusher industry and over Rs 50 million in departmental store.

“Now we realize that opening a department store needs far bigger investment than we had earlier estimated,” Roka Magar.

The former combatants led by former division commanders Roka Magar from Rolpa and Nep Bahadur Kunwar from Salyan say they will soon hold a formal meeting on the issue, and include in the venture as many ex-combatants as possible.

Their party UCPN (Maoist) will not have any control of the joint ventures, and the former rebels will prioritize their business themselves.

“Now we will focus our attention on improving the financial status of our family and ensuring our future,” said a former commander active in the current discussions.
Rokka Magar, Kunwar, Udaya Chalaune from Jajarkot and Durga Prasad Chaudhary from Surkhet -- all of them division vice-commanders -- are the highest ranking PLA officials to opt for voluntary retirement.

The former PLA combatants have received Rs 250,000 to Rs 400,000 as the first installment of their voluntary retirement.

"Now, we are discussing earthworm farming, and crusher industry," said Bal Krishna Pokharel, former brigade vice-commander from Salyan.

The commanders say they spent the most productive years of their life fighting for the Maoist ideology -- 10 years in the jungle and five years in the cantonments.

“Fifteen years is a long time. Looking back at our own life, we see that the most productive years of our life were wasted. Our land has turned barren and many of us are left with broken families and without homes,” said Deependra Kumar Gharti Magar from Rolpa, who was brigade vice-commander of the fifth division.

They say they were wrong in believing that their problems would be resolved once the communes formed by the party came into operation. The communes were dissolved.

“Our joint ventures are not only meant to make money. We want to develop them into places where we can share our feelings, experiences and sufferings, and begin new lives,” Gharti Magar says.
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ANTI-GRAFT CELL AT PMO BEGINS WORK
Kathmandu, 26 Feb.: A separate unit of the anti-corruption cell also called ‘quality control’ at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has come to operation with the aim of monitoring irregularities and corruption in the executive, The Himalayan Times reports.

The anti-graft cell will deal with the public complaints related with the corruption coming directly to the Prime Minister, Chief Secretary and the complaints of corruption from the government’s hotline service ‘Hello Sarkar’.

According to the spokesperson at PMO Jagadish Regmi, the anti-corruption unit at PMO shows the government’s commitment against corruption as it involves the government directly for the effective implementation of action against corruption.

The anti-corruption units established in the line with ‘zero tolerance’ on corruption announced by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and was provisioned in the Anti-Corruption Action Plan-2010.

The anti-graft unit will also monitor such parallel units established across all ministries and report the progress to the prime minister. “Similar anti-graft unties are being set up across all the ministries. We have received information that some of the ministry already have set up such units,” said Khom Raj Koirala, undersecretary at the newly establish anti-corruption cell. According to Koirala, the unit will have categories on the complaints in terms of its urgency and nature and after initial investigation can assign it to related curative authority like the National Investigation Department, National Vigilance Centre among others for prompt investigation of the cases.

The government has appointed a Joint Secretary at the PMO as the co-ordinator of the anti-graft units across the ministry.
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FURTHER DETAILS OF MAOIST LEADERSHIP, YCL TALKS
Kathmandu, 26 Feb.: With assurance from the UCPN-Maoist top leadership that the Standing Committee’s decision to compensate its members would be implemented, the agitating Young Communist League (YCL) is preparing to take back its struggle plan, The Himalayan Times reports.

Earlier, YCL had announced it would gherao party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s Lazimpat-based residence and the party headquarters if the leadership remained indifferent to their demands.

On February 7, the standing committee had decided to provide compensation to YCL members, who had left the People’s Liberation Army to become part of the party’s paramilitary youth force, on a par with PLA combatants who chose voluntary retirement.

According to YCL Chairman Ganeshman Pun, the party’s top leadership today held discussion with YCL leaders and assured that they would come up with a concrete plan to compensate YCL members.

Asked how the party could find such a hefty sum, Pun said it was not only a matter of monetary compensation but also the question of managing a political problem of the country and keeping the organisational structure intact.

Pun said with the leadership’s assurance, albeit

verbal, their demand had been fulfiled. “We, on behalf of the YCL leadership,

will further discuss the

issue with our agitating members,” he said.

The YCL leadership had held discussion with standing committee member Netra Bikram Chand and PLA commander Nanda Kishor Pun yesterday.
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