MAY DAY BEING CELEBRATED Kathmandu, 1 May: May Day is being celebrated Tuesday. Government declared Tuesday a public holiday. Two factions of Maoists, leading a government, are celebrating the day separately. nnnn GUIDELINES FOR RECOVERING HOUSE RENT Kathmandu, a May: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun released the ‘House Rent Tax Recovery Guidelines, 2068 and House Rent Tax booklet at a function organized at the Ministry of Finance here on Monday, RSS reports. Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Pun said the guidelines has been introduced with objective of bringing house rent into the tax net while the booklet gives the information essential for the house rent tax payer. The booklet shall also used to maintain a log sheet of the tax paid by the house rent tax payers, he added. House rent tax shall be collected by the Inland Revenue Department, the Metropolis, Sub-metropolis and municipality. As per the provisions of the Guidelines, the Department targets to distribute the ‘House Rent Tax Booklet’ to 25,500 tax payers within the current fiscal year, and bring them into the taxing net. A landlord is required to pay 10 per cent of the total income made through house rent in case of an individual and 25 per cent in case of an institution as house rent tax. Accordingly, the Department aims to collect Rs. 1.35 billion within the current fiscal year. At the program, Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Banskota and Director General of the Department, Tanka Mani Sharma said the Municipality and the Tax Offices shall inform the tax payers about the use of the ‘house rent tax booklet’ and other details of house rent tax. Nnnn VOTING ON CONTENTIOUS ISSUES IN CA WHICH MEETS TUESDAY Kathmandu, 1 May: The meeting of the major political parties and the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) held Monday to resolve contentious issues of federalism concluded inconclusively as the parties did not make any change in their previous stances, The Rising Nepal reports. The meeting of the UCPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML and UDMF held at the Secretariat of Army Integration Special Committee at New Baneshwor, could not strike any deal on state restructuring. Instead, the leaders hinted at resolving the issues through majority votes in the Constituent Assembly. Today’s meeting ended without holding formal discussion on the disputed issues regarding the form of governance, they said. The parties are scheduled to seek an ultimate meeting point on state restructuring, mainly on their numbers, boarders and name of federal units, and the form of governance Tuesday morning at a meeting with the members of Dispute Resolution Sub-Committee under the Constitutional Committee at Singha Durbar. Chairman of the UCPN-Maoist Puspha Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ said that the parties would not immediately go for voting. Chairman of UDMF Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar said that discussions were focused to forge consensus. "We will meet again tomorrow and reach a consensus regarding the disputed issues," he said. He said that the parties were close to resolve the contentious issues through dialogues but they differed over the procedures, Gachchhadar said. According to him, the ruling parties stressed the resolution of the contentious issues regarding federalism and form of governance at first while the opposition parties stressed the formation of a consensus government. He said that talks to form the new consensus government would begin only after sorting out all contentious issues of the constitution. NC leader Arjun Narasingh KC said that although the parties failed to find any meeting point on disputed issues, they were closer to finalise the contentious issues of the new constitution with majority votes. Referring to the formation of the new government, KC said that NC would take any decision to form the national consensus government if it was not formed immediately. He said that the latest activities of the Maoist party showed that they did not want to promulgate the new constitution. NC general secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula said that the parties discussed about the two options of resolving the contentious issues-- either through consensus or majority votes. He said that as the parties had limited time to resolve the disputed issues by majority votes, they focused on how to find a common point of consensus. "All parties have positive understandings of forming the consensus government led by NC before May 27. If it cannot be possible, mistrust among the parties will increase," Sitaula said. However, he made it clear that no trust motion would not be registered against the current government. He said that the consensus government would be formed within a few days. CPN-UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal said the leaders could not find any way out as they stuck to their own stands. "Stances of the parties have made the promulgation of the new constitution within May 27 more challenging," Khanal said. nnnn CAAN ASKED TO CONDUCT GROUND HANDLING Kathmandu, 1 May: Nepal Rastriya Karmachari Sangathan, the authorised trade union at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), has asked the CAAN management to carry out the ground handling activities at the Tribhuwan International Airport for providing quality Services, RSS reports. Until now, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has been doing the ground handling works at the sole international airport of the country. Issuing a press release on Monday, the trade union said that the existing laws have given the authority to the CAAN to carry out ground handling activities at airports. The authorised trade union further demanded for build up necessary infrastructures for ground handling purpose. Various lapses in ground handling and loss of baggage of customers while undergoing the ground handling in the TIA have attracted its serious attentions, the organisation said. Ground handling at the airports by the CAAN itself is necessary not only for providing quality services but also for improving the economic condition of the organisation, it said. nnnn