NEPALPLAYS STRONGER PALESTINE IN AFC CHALLENGE CUP THURSDAY

NEPAL PLAYS PALESTINE IN AFC CHALLENGE CUP
Kathmandu, 8 March: Nepal plays a stronger Palestine in its first match of the AFC Challenge Cup at the Dashrath Rangashashala Thursday.
He match is a sellout with most tickets sold.
Nepal is playing to qualify for the semi-final
FIFA boss Stepp Blatter is launching Nepal’s most expensive soccer tournament st four in the afternoon.
.Turkministhan plays Maldives in the other match at APF ground in
Halchowk
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HOLI BEING CELEBRATED IN TERAI THURSDAY
Kathmandu, 8 March: Holi is being celebrated in terai Thursday.
The spring festival was celebrated in the hilly reason Wednesday as two revelers wee killed in the Valley Wednesday.
The chir erected in Basantapur one week ago, is being burnt in Tundikhel
Thursday ending festivities in the capital
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CHILEME HYDRO POWER PLANT CLOSED DOWN FOR LMECHANICAL REPAIR
Kathmandu, 8 March: Chileme hydro power plant closed down for lmechanical repair Wednesday.
The plan t in Rasuwa produced 22 MA during the rainy season and 12 MG iin he current dry spell.
The plant was shut down amid extree power shortage.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“We are celebrating Holi as per the calendar. Yet we are living with constant fear that leaders are pushing the country towards ruin,”
(Actors’ collective reaction in The Himalayan Times, 8 March)
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DONORS HEAP PRAISE
Kathmandu, 8 March::Donors participating in development work, praised Nepal’s efforts to draft the new constitution and its development work at the Asian Development Forum (ADF) meeting today [Wednesday], The Himalayan timesreports.

Finance secretary Krishnahari Baskota at the meeting, briefed the donors about the current macro economic situation and current position of the country.

Baskota said that the country has been gradually moving towards a logical conclusion of the peace process and has been achieving its development targets. “We are committed towards concluding the peace process within the stipulated time,” he said. The extended deadline to conclude the peace process and draft the constitution is May 27.

According to him, the government has already published the economic prosperity and good governance plan to strengthen development work. “The government has declared fiscal year 2012-13 as Investment Year and a board has been formed to facilitate foreign direct investment,” he said.

He assured donors about proper use of aid, saying the government is building a good relation among workers and employers and eradicating corruption. “Therefore, donors should support in Nepal’s development activities without any hesitation,” he said.

He pointed out the improving economic indicators to support his logic. “Growth in gross domestic production will increase to five per cent this year against 3.5 per cent last year,” he said. According to him, inflation will be limited to 6.8 per cent, revenue will grow 20 per cent, remittance will increase to 39 per cent and export will grow to 13 per cent. Last year, inflation was 9.6 per cent and growth in remittance was 12 per cent.

About 28 donors including China and Japan are participating at the Asian Development Forum meeting being held in Manila, Philippines on March 7-9.
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DEUBA AVOIDS EAST NEPAL PARTY TRAINING CAMP
Kathmandu, 8 March:: Nepali Congress senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba did not

attend a two-day training for party cadres in the east, although most of the central leaders participated in the event.

Deuba’s snubbing of the Central Policy Training Academy-organised programme comes at

a time when party President Sushil Koirala has not completely fulfilled all demands made

by the Deuba camp when the two leaders agreed to lay a four-month long row over sister associations to rest.

However, other leaders from the Deuba faction attended the training.

Deuba is learnt to have told party vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel, head of the academy, over phone that he be excused from the event as he had other pre-scheduled events to attend.

“He might not have felt comfortable attending the programme as party president Koirala has not completely fulfilled all his promises,” said a Central Working Committee (CWC) member close to Deuba.

Koirala and Deuba factions were at loggerheads after Koirala dissolved the central committees of some of the party’s sister wings without Deuba’s consent, a few months ago. The faction has also been boycotting the party’s central working committee meeting.

On February 4, the two leaders agreed to settle the dispute by forming ad-hoc committees to run the sister organisations. But ad-hoc committees are yet to be named for all associations. In addition, Deuba faction had demanded that it be given a

respectable share of the party leadership at all levels.

However, leaders from party establishment side say Deuba has a tendency of snubbing the party’s official programmes. “For instance, Deuba has not attended any of the meetings of the parliamentary party after he lost the the post of party leader to Paudel in June 2009,” said CWC member Narahari Acharya.

Party president Koirala, on the other hand, has not been able

to even fill vacant posts in the party even a year after he was elected party president. “So, both the leaders should correct themselves,” he suggested.

Establishment side’s CWC member Krishna Chandra Nepali said, “Deuba’s absence

in the training has negative

effects on both the party and Deuba himself. His presence could have sent a message of unity to party cadres.”
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NEW UML CAMPAIGN AFTER NATIONAL COUNCIL MEET
Kathmandu, 8 March : CPN-UML has introduced a new campaign aimed at creating pressure for accomplishing the twin tasks of peace process and constitution writing by May 27 when the renewed tenure of the Constituent Assembly (CA) expires, Titha L.Bhusal writesin Repblica..

UML, the third-largest party in the CA, came up with the new five-point drive during National Representative Council meeting attended by 950 representatives.

The five themes of the campaign include creating public pressure for ensuring peace and constitution in time, establishing party´s stronghold in the downtrodden communities, launching campaign against social anomalies and corruption, taking special initiatives for socio-economic transformation and an initiation to strengthen national interest and ensuring social harmony.

Under campaign for public pressure for peace and statute in time, the party decided to hold huge mass gatherings and demonstrations at seven regional hubs such as Biratnagar, Janakpur, Hetauda, Butwal, Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Attariya in the Nepali month of Chait.

"In view of the fact that the peace process and constitution writing have failed to gather momentum mainly due to Maoists´ inappropriate stances and their new conditions, our party has decided to launch massive campaign to ensure peace and statute in time," said the proposal acquired by Republica.

Under the proposal, the party has instructed the party´s district committee and other chapters to hold at least one seminar, publicity or other creative activities to advocate the party´s official position.

It has also instructed its leaders and lawmakers to strongly lobby in favor of the party´s official position at the inter-party talks, the CA, Constitutional Committees, the dispute resolution subcommittee and other platforms.

Penetration into downtrodden communities

Stating that most of the representatives at the NRC meeting expressed serious concern over party gradually loosing its hold in the proletariat and downtrodden communities such as women, dalits, Tarai-Madhes and indigenous-ethnic communities, the new proposal plans to penetrate into such groups.

It said the party´s wings representing women, dalits, ethnic and indigenous communities and the party´s trade union will identify issues and challenges in the communities and come up with a concrete plan of action for the purpose. "Based on that plan, the party will launch a three-month campaign for publicity and strengthening party organization among the communities," said the document. It has also proposed to offer special leadership training programs for the youths representing from such communities.

Initiative for socio-economic transformation

The party aims launch a massive campaign to make the party rank and file self-reliant by orienting them toward more productive and people-oriented activities. For that, all the district committees shall come up with plans and priorities for development and productive activities in their respective areas. Necessary infrastructure would be developed with a plan to launch a campaign to form cooperatives.

"The party now aims to mobilize more and more cadres on productive activities and only the essential human resources will be deployed as the party´s whole-time cadres," said the proposal.

Anti-corruption drive

The UML has concluded that social anomalies such as corruption, social discrimination against ´untouchables´, and domestic violence are still rampant in the society and it has vowed to lead a campaign for social transformation.

Likewise, the party also plans launch campaign for strengthening national interest and ensuring strong social harmony. For that the party will intensify inter-community dialogues with a view to dispel suspicions and mistrust among various communities.

The party said the proposal was brought to give continuity to the enthusiasm instilled in UML´s rank and file by the recently-concluded three-month campaign. It claimed that by rejuvenating the party rank and file, it aims to establish the third-largest party as the largest organization in the country.
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MASSIVE IRREGULARITY IN RANSFER OF EMPLOYEES
Kathmandu, 8 March : The government is found to have committed serious irregularities and shown carelessness in its recent decision to transfer over 1,800 civil servants, according to a study conducted by a committee formed to probe the
Transfers
As an instance of the height of irregularity, the probe committee has found that same employee was transferred to two different places and at times the employees transferred from a ministry were not even serving in that ministry.

Amidst widespread protests by various trade unions over the transfer of 1,811 civil servants, the government on January 18 formed a probe committee headed by Secretary of the Ministry of General Administration Dharanidhar Khatiwada.

Other members of the committee include Joint-Secretaries Kewal Prasad Bhandari of the General Administration Ministry and Dilli Ghimire of the Ministry of Law and Justice, and Under-Secretary at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) Narayan Timilsina.

The probe committee has found that most of the transfers were against the spirit of the Civil Service Act (CSA). While some of the employees transferred from a given office had already been transferred from there, in some other cases more than two employees are transferred to the same post.

Similarly, some were transferred before they had been at their post for two years. As per the CSA, a civil servant can be transferred only after serving two years in the current posting.

Likewise, some employees aged over 50 were found transferred to the Hill regions. Under the CSA, civil servants over 50 are not to be transferred to the Hill regions.

Non-gazette officers and office assistants should be transferred to places that are convenient to their homes but some of them were transferred to inconvenient places, again in breach of provisions in the CSA.

Likewise, some employees who were on sick leave also found themselves transferred and the Personnel Information System (PIS) entries of some of those transferred were found incorrect. Worse still, the minister himself is found to have signed the files on the transfer of peons, says the probe report.

Recommendations

The probe committee has recommended that the ministry resolve problems which can be addressed at the ministry level and forward to the cabinet the cases of transfers that need to be cancelled. The committee has recommended that the ministry concerned to do the needful if the transfer decisions require only some corrections.

The committee has also recommended necessary action against officials who prepared the transfer lists and those who approved the lists. The lists were prepared by section officers and presented by an under-secretary to the joint-secretary for approval.

Possible punishment

The officials involved in the transfer decisions would face departmental action. The ministry concerned can issue a warning against such officials or withhold promotions or grades or both.

The report submitted by the committed on January 26 was endorsed by a cabinet meeting held three days later. Sources said Minister for General Administration Ram Kumar Yadav is unhappy with the report.

Yadav on Monday transferred six officials at the ministry, flouting existing provisions that allow the joint-secretary at the ministry to effect internal reshuffles of employees. “Such a decision is taken from our (joint-secretary) level, but he took the decision on his own,” said an employee at the ministry on condition of
anonymity.
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