DUTCH TOURIST DIEF IN FALL FROM HOTEL; REASON BEING INVESTIGATED

WIFE DIES, HUSBAND SURVIVES AFTER SELF-IMMOLATION
Kathmandu, 9 April: A wife died but the husband survived with injuries after self-immolation at Jorpati in the capital Saturday
.Laxmi Sahani died while undergoing treatment at TU Teaching Hospital and husband Mukesh is undergoing treatment at Patan Hospital.
The couple ailed from Rautahat.
Nnnn
DUTCH TOURIST DEAD IN FALL
Kathmandu, 9 April: Dutch tourist Ebovan Eok,23, died after falling off the sixth floor
of a hotel in Thamel Saturday.
Police are investing the death in in the fall
Nnnn


PLA CANTONMENTS TENSE OVER RANK ISSUE
Kathmandu, 9 April: Uncertainty over the combatants´ ranks in the Nepal Army (NA) hierarchy after integration has thrown the PLA cantonments into a state of confusion, Kiran Pun writes in Republuca.

Tension ran high in the PLA First Division in Ilam and Second Division in Sindhuli Sunday afternoon after combatants spontaneously gathered and began chanting slogans against "nepotism and favoritism" in the selection of commanders for senior NA positions.

"We don´t know what future holds for us. We are being kept in the dark about our positions in the NA after integration," said a commander from the First Division in Ilam, requesting anonymity.

The PLA personnel who are qualified for senior positions exceed the number of available positions in the NA directorate, and some commanders suspect that the PLA leadership might have recommended their near and dear ones for senior positions.

The Special Committee had decided to bring the combatants under the NA by April 12, but the new development is likely to delay the government plan.

Most of the combatants who are currently in the cantonments for integration are from the party establishment as those from the party radical camp led by Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya have already opted for voluntary retirement.

Talking to Republica, some junior commanders said they are being tagged as "radicals" for demanding transparency while determining their ranks in the directorate.

Low ranking commanders from the fifth division said they had been forced to opt for integration during the categorization process and accused the PLA leadership of not giving them the choice of voluntary retirement now. "They have already selected personnel for specific positions in the NA and are not even giving us the choice of voluntary retirement," said a junior commanders from the fourth division.

In the fourth, second and first division, senior PLA commanders had made public the names of those to be integrated or offered voluntary retirement. Those not satisfied with the selection had torn the name-list pasted on the walls in the cantonments.

Many junior commanders say they will not join NA if they are to get lower positions and also if the leadership recommends the names for NA positions violating the current PLA hierarchy.

"We suspect that the leadership is letting nepotism and favoritism rule while making recommendations for positions in the NA," said a junior commander.

When asked about the concerns of the junior commanders, Brigade Vice-commander Posta Bahadur Budha Magar said, "Those who are not satisfied have also requested in writing for review. We will see what we can do."
Nnnn



________________________________________

SURYA NEPAL INJECTS RS.4B
Kathmandu, 9 April:: Surya Nepal is all set to add 250 jobs in the domestic labor market, as the subsidiary of the Indian tobacco major ITC Ltd has injected additional investment of Rs 4 billon to establish a new tobacco factory in Tanahu, a hilly region of the country, Bhoj Raj Poudel writes in Republica..

The company, which has been going through a rough phase due to labor-related problems, has already started construction of the factory in 130 ropanis of land in Tanahu.

"We have the same business plan as we have for our existing factory in Simara," Rabi KC, corporate vice-president of the company, shared with Republica on Sunday.

Surya Nepal, one of the largest enterprises in the country, which started its operation in 1986, annually pays around Rs 7 billion in taxes and is one of the largest tax-payers.

Surya Nepal, which closed down its garment factory last year -- leaving around 700 workers jobless -- will create job opportunity for 250 people after production kicks off in the new factory.

"We will not reduce production ," KC said, "But we will not need a huge manpower strength due to high-tech equipment in the new factory."

The factory, while hiring the workers will focus on quality.

However, locals will be in a priority list if they are qualified enough and meet the company´s standard. The existing factory in Simara has around 350 workers.

Surya Nepal has a plan to make this factory, which is under construction, a number one production factory in terms of environmental aspects. "We have a plan to use an environment friendly technology that gives us recognition worldwide," KC said with vigor.

The new factory will be a backup for the existing factory in Simara. "Now, the factory produces 3 million sticks of cigarette per day," KC said, "After the new factory starts production, we will halve the production in Simara and move it to Tanahu for the time being. In the long-run, we are planning to run all the units in full phase."

"There would be completely new labor force," KC said when asked whether the company would hire those who lost jobs after the closure of garment factory in Biratnagar. "We have already cleared our deal with workers in the garment factory."

According to KC, the company has granted Rs 1.3 billion to upgrade the physical infrastructure of a school in the locality. "We will start production within the next 14 months," KC said.

Surya Nepal, which produces four brands of cigarette, however, has no plans to introduce a new brand.
Nnnn


ADB TO DIVEST SHARES NEXT YEAR
Kathmandu, 9 April: If everything goes as planned, the government will complete the divestment process of Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) within a year, The Himalayan Times reports.

The government has been planning to divest 30 per cent of its shares in the Agriculture Development Bank under its reform programme.

“The technical committee will forward its recommendations on the process, bid documents, and minimum bid price within six months to the privatisation committee,” said joint secretary of the Finance Ministry Khum Raj Punjali, who leads the technical committee that also has representatives from the central bank, Finance Ministry, Securities Board of Nepal and the bank itself.

The privatisation committee will ask for bids from interested parties on the basis of the recommendations provided by the technical committee, he said, adding that the international standard framework is key for the bidder which could either be a foreign or a domestic investor to become a strategic partner of the bank which was established in 1968.

Earlier, Agriculture Development Bank had listed 30,375,000 unit shares at the share market at

a face value of Rs 100 per unit making it a total of Rs 3.03 billion

paid up capital of the listed shares. The bank’s share was traded at Rs 100 per unit today.

Currently, the government holds 51.78 per cent share in the bank. Out of the remaining 49 per cent, 30 per cent was issued to the public last year, another 14.14 per cent was distributed among its debtors in 2007, and 5.86 per cent of the shares have been allocated to the bank’s staff.

After the divestment of 30 per cent shares, the government will hold only 21.78 per cent.

Under the bank’s reform programme funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), it has to divest its shares to get the remaining loan from ADB. According to the agreement between Nepal and the multilateral donor, ADB has already provided $5.6 million loan and $8.7 million under cluster I, which Nepal received last year.

Under Cluster II, a $60.4 million loan and $12.1 million grant has

to be claimed by Nepal by this

December. But the government is

also planning to ask ADB to extend the time frame as it believes that the process will not be complete by the end of 2012 to claim the remaining loan.

Nepal had already received $30 million but to claim the remaining amount, the government has to divest its remaining shares in the bank. Though the loan could be used by the government, the divestment of the bank’s shares is a must, according to the agreement.

The divestment of 30 per cent shares will help Agriculture Development Bank raise fresh capital and expedite the capital restructuring plan as prescribed by ADB under the second phase of the Rural Finance Sector Development Cluster started in 2004.

The Manila-based agency had extended support to Agriculture Development Bank after the state-controlled bank nearly went bankrupt in 2003 with its non-performing loans reaching 47 per cent. Since then, ADB has injected Rs 8.7 billion into the bank as preference shares and has extended technical support by upgrading its IT infrastructure and providing IT related training to its staff.

In return, ADB had asked Agriculture Development Bank to completely overhaul its governance practices, management structure, business processes and the way it has been delivering services, along with divestment of shares owned by the government.
nnnn

GOVT.LOSING WATCH OVER PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Kathmandu, 9 April: Education experts today said the government is slowly losing control over private schools and colleges, The Himalayan Times reports.

Speaking at a Higher Secondary Schools Association, Nepal (HISSAN)-organised programme titled ‘Contribution and Future of Plus Two education in Nepal’, educationist Tirtha Khaniya said the government has been unable to manage private education institutions due to its own weaknesses.

Khaniya said the government was neither able to exercise control over private sector nor deploy it to meet the country’s education goals.”The priority of Education Ministry changes every time a new minister takes charge.”

Khaniya called on the private sector to assist the government in conducting important tasks such as designing curricula, training teachers and developing education infrastructure.

Educationist Bidhya Nath Koirala said allowing the private sector to run schools has had both positive and negative effects.

He said, “Private players have given quality education a boost. But they have faltered when it comes to addressing the needs of children in remote areas, where the state of education is poor.”

Nepali Congress central committee member Chandra Bhandari said the most important problem ailing the country’s education sector is the government’s donor-driven approach towards development of education.

He said that Nepal’s education policy is the work of Indian, Chinese and American agents, adding that it has become irrelevant.

“The ultimate objective of the policy makers was to trigger a collapse of the Nepali education system and take students abroad.”

Janardan Nepal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said, “Every education minister has their own set of priorities. This has sometimes overshadowed issues that need prompt action.”
Nnnn

MAOISTS THEMSELVES TO SELECT THEIR FIGHERS FOR INTEGRATION
Kathmandu, 9 April: The UCPN (Maoist) leadership, which failed to commence the second scheduled regrouping process on Sunday, has told the Nepali Congress leaders that they would select 5,000 to 6,000 combatants on their own and hand them over to the Nepal Army by April 12, Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post..
The Maoist leadership, however, was emphatic over one condition that the selected combatants should not be screened in such a way that a significant number of them get disqualifed. NC leaders sounded confident over the completion of the combatant handover process by the promised date, saying, "everything was on track." The fighters, however, would be screened by the Army as per its standard norms, they said.
"Prachanda has assured that the party would hand over the combatants to the Army by Chaitra 30 [April 12]. We have no objection if the Maoists want to first select the combatants by themselves since the Army is not going to visit the cantonments for the same," said Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Situala. "The Nepal Army will conduct the final selections of those referred to it based on its standard norms."
Situala met UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday morning, when Dahal assured that integration process would be carried out within the stipulated time frame.
On Saturday, Military in charge of PLA Barsha Man Pun had invited the commanders of the seven divisions for an 'urgent meeting' of the party's Integration Bureau in Kathmandu. Sources said they were invited to finalise the internal selection process. Commanders have checked the minimum requirements and tried to ensure that those to be sent for integration would meet the educational and health requirement and posses proper citizenship documents.
The internal regrouping was carried out by commanders at all the 15 cantonment sites to reduce the numbers of the combatants opting integration from the current strength of 9,705 to the ceiling of 6,500 agreed in the seven-point agreement. The selection will be endorsed by the Integration Bureau of the Maoist party scheduled for Monday.
Finance Minister Pun declined to divulge details but confirmed that commanders have instructed the combatants who can not meet the Nepal Army standards to go for voluntary retirement.
Later, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai admitted that party had carried out internal regrouping at the cantonments. "This is a complex issue, we have done the internal homework to ensure that combatants referred for integration meet the standard norms," a participant quoted Bhattarai as telling the Special Committee meeting on Sunday afternoon. PM has also urged non-Maoist representatives not to doubt his commitment to vacate the camps within April 12 deadline. He said internal discussions within the Maoist party would complete in a day or two and assured that the peace process would advance.
Bhattarai further said outstanding issues like ranks, structure of the general directorate, training period and selection mechanism can be discussed further even after handover of combatants opting integration to the Nepal Army. The Special Committee is likely to sit either on Tuesday or Wednesday to make an effort to forge consensus on those issues. "We expressed concern that the deadline could be missed if the process is deadlocked further," said NC leader Ram Sharan Mahat. "The prime minister has reaffirmed the commitment that the process of vacating cantonments will complete within the stipulated time frame."
Maoist politburo member and PLA Commander Chandra Prakash Khanal 'Baldev' said the party would reach a conclusion on advancing the process on Monday. "All of the commanders will be reaching to the respective cantonments early by Monday evening or Tuesday morning. The process of awarding voluntary retirement will start at the camps in full swing from Tuesday," said Khanal.


nnnn