NSC ASKS FOR MORE TIME TO COMPLETE FINANCE REPORT ON 6TH NATIONAL GAMES AMID IRREGULARITY CHARGES

NSC ASKS FOR MORE TIME TO COMPLETE FINANCIAL
REPORT ON 6TH NATIONAL GAMES AMID IRREGULARITY CHARGES

Kathmandu, 3 April: National Sports Council (NSC), the supreme national sporting body. Monday asked parliament’s public account committee for additional time
through a letter to submit a financial report on alleged financial irregularities at the just
concluded 6th national games in the far-West.
The report should have been completed Monday.
NSC Treasurer Indra Bahadur Thing said the financial reports from district and
regional sports offices hadn’t been received delaying the report.
Nnnn

BUDDHI BAHADUR PRADHAN TO OFFICIATE IN ENGLICH COUNTRY CRICKET
Kathmandu, 3 April: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has called up Nepali cricket umpire Buddhi Bahadur Pradhan to officiate in County season in 2012, Nabin Khatiwada writes in Republica..

Pradhan, one of the associate panel umpires of ICC, received the invitation letter from ECB Umpires’ Manager Chris Kelly on March 15. “On behalf of ECB, we are delighted to extend an invitation to Mr Buddhi Bahadur Pradhan to officiate during our first class cricket season in 2012,” reads the invitation letter sent by Kelly.

After receiving the invitation, Pradhan started visa application procedure to go to England. “I submitted my visa application today (on Sunday), if I get it, I’ll reach England by June 23,” said Pradhan.

As per the ECB invitation letter, Pradhan will be officiating three one-day matches of SET (Second Eleven Trophy) and three three-day matches of SEC (Second Eleven Championship). SET and SEC are competion for the second XI teams of the first class Counties.

Pradhan will oversee SET and SEC one-day and three-day matches between Middlesex and Hampshire from June 25 and 28, Essex and MCC Youth Cricketers fom July 2 to 5 and as well as Worcestershire and Lancashire from July 10 to 13.

“It would be a great exposure for me to officiate in the County cricket matches,” said Pradhan.

ECB will make arrangements for lodging and internal transportation for Pradhan while ICC will bear the air-fare.

“I had met English umpire Rob Belly in Bangladesh during the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers last year. He was impressed with my umpiring and asked me to write to ECB to officiate in their first class cricket,” said Pradhan.

“When I wrote to ECB Umpires’ Manager Chris Kelly, he asked me to consult ICC. I informed everything to ICC Umpire and Referee Administration Manager Brent Silva. Later, ICC and ECB made all the arrangement,” Pradhan added.

Pradhan and Sarika Prasad of Singapore are the only two ICC associate panel umpires from Asia. Pradhan is considered as one of the finest umpires from the associate countries. Pradhan along side New Zealand’s Chris Gaffaney had officiated in the final match of the ICC World T20 Qualifiers between Afghanistan and Ireland in the UAE recently.

Pradhan had already officiated 18 One-Day International matches and four T20 International matches.
Nnnn



________________________________________

PEACE MINISTRY PERPLEXED BY CONFLCITING DISPLACED NUMBERS
Kathmandu, 3 April: As the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction gears up to provide relief to those displaced by the insurgency, it has found that the task is going to be problemetic as displaced numbers presented by four different taskforces are markedly different, Gani Ansari writes in Republica..

Following formation of the Relief and Rehabilitation Division under the ministry in 2007, four various taskforces were formed on different dates to collect the statistics on the displaced and damages caused to private property and infrastructure among other things.

Secretary at the ministry Dhruba Prasad Sharma has himself raised question the authenticity of the number of the displaced counted by the present eight-member taskforce headed by Dipendra Pun Magar.

“The first taskforce put the number of displaced at 25,000 while the second and third put the number at 50,000 and 75,000 respectively,” exclaimed Sharma, adding, “And, now this present taskforce states that the number of displaced is 1,02516.”

The successive taskforces comprising political cadres collected the data on the displaced people through local peace committees and all-party mechanisms. Each taskforce, according to sources, found additional number of displaced not because the previous taskforces had left them but even fake displaced people, mostly party cadres, were included in the list.

"As the data was collected through all-party mechanisms, there is a tendency of including party cadres in the list to so that they can claim allowances and benefits to be provided by the government," said a source at the ministry.

According to sources at the ministry, Sharma has also expressed his dissatisfaction over the demand of budget by the Relief and Rehabilitation Division for the displaced peoples. The division has demanded Rs 840 million for the displaced peoples across 73 districts.

“Not all of those 1,02516 could be genuine displaced people,” an official at the ministry quoted Sharma as saying in a meeting last week.

Sharma also expressed concern over the possible misuse of the money meant for the displaced.

“I served as chief district officer in various districts during the insurgency and I know very well what type of people come to claim the relief money meant for the displaced,” the official quoted Sharma telling the meeting.

Each displaced person will get Rs 60 per day for four months and an additional Rs 300 to Rs 1000 as travel expense depending upon the distance.

According to the report prepared by the present taskforce, 6,809 people were disabled, 2,985 were kidnapped and altogether property of altogether 16,367 people were damaged during the insurgency.

Also, according to the report, 348 children lost their parents, 1,500 people were made to disappear, 1737 wounded and 1,415 people were imprisoned or detained.

According to the recommendation made by the taskforce, each person who lost cash during the conflict will get Rs 10,000 while Rs 80,000 will be provided to each person who lost gold.

Similarly, the government will provide Rs 25,000 for damages caused to clothes and kitchen utensils.

The disabled peoples will get compensation as per the recommendation of a doctors´ team that will check the nature of disabilities.
nnnn


ONLY LIMITED AGREEMENT AT MONDAY’S SPECIAL COMMITTEW WHICH MEETS AGAIN WEDNESDAY
Kathmandu, 3 April: The meeting of the Special Committee (for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of Maoist fighters) today ended at midnight but failed to reach any substantial decisions regarding contentious issues related to the integration
Process, Lekhtath Pandey writes in The Himalayan Times.

Differences surfaced between Maoist and non-Maoist members in the SC regarding composition of a selection committee for integration and age, education and training period for the to-be-integrated Maoist fighters. CPN-UML’s Bhim Rawal and Nepali Congress’ Minendra Rijal said no agreement could be reached at today's meeting, which was followed by an ‘informal’ meeting of top guns of major parties, including Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and UML senior leader Madhav Nepal. The meeting was expected to unanimously endorse the action plan of the SC Secretariat.

Finance Minister and Maoist member in the SC, Barsha Man Pun, however, claimed that the plan of action had been approved, in principle, and added that the integration would move ahead in the spirit of the seven-point deal. “The plan of action has been endorsed. However, differences persist regarding the composition of the selection committee and training period for the to-be-integrated combatants,” said Pun, adding that these issues have been left for discussion for Wednesday for the want of time. According to him, t he Nepali Army will handle the responsibility of determining the ranks for Maoist fighters as per the seven-point deal.

UML’s Rawal, however, said the Maoist side raised the already resolved age and education issues, only to linger the process. “The issues had been already resolved after assuring the fighters that they would be given the leverage of one level, taking into account the date they joined the PLA," he said. “Even, the Maoist chief had given the nod, but the Maoist side at the last moment demanded that fighters' current qualification should be taken into account.” He blamed the Maoist side for failing to come up clearly about the training to be imparted to the fighters.

The action plan of the SC Secretariat does not mention PLA fighters' representation in the selection committee, and the Maoist representatives in the SC have taken exception to it. Similarly, the Maoist side also wants to cut short training periods for the fighters.

Emerging from an earlier informal meeting, Dahal had told media: “Things have been finalised. The SC will give the formal nod to them." NC’s Krishna Sitaula had said the leaders had agreed on vacating the camps and submitting PLA arms by April 12. “There will be no camps and arms after April 30.”
nnnn
BUDDHA BOY TURNS VIOLENT THRASHING SIBLINGS
Kathmandu, 3 April: Twenty-two-year old Ram Bahadur Bamjan, who is said to have been continuously meditating since 2005 and has been nicknamed the Buddha Boy, has been in the news of late for all the wrong reasons, Dwarika Bhandari writes in The
Himalayan Times from Pathalaiya..

It has been only a week since his followers freed two women (one Slovak and another Nepali) after keeping them in captivity. But now, it seems, Bamjan has started taking matters into his own hands. The Buddha Boy reportedly turned violent and beat up one of his brothers yesterday night and sister this morning.

Bamjan thrashed his brother after he, along with his two brothers and some others, reached the Halkhoriya jungle to urge him to initiate action against those who had ‘sexually harassed’ the Slovak woman in captivity. A section of the media had quoted the Slovak woman as saying that Darshan Limbu of Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangh, an organisation formed to protect Bamjan, had sexually harassed her.

Those who had gone to meet Bamjan accused Limbu of wielding a sword to chase them away and Bamjan of thrashing the eldest brother Ganga Bahadur and holding Ganga and other two brothers (Dil Bahadur and Babulal) hostage. All of them were released this morning.

Bamjan’s sister Raj Kumari said her three brothers had visited Halkhoriya to tell Bamjan that unruly behaviour of some of his followers was tarnishing Bamjan and Sangh’s image.

Bamjan’s mother and sisters had reached the Halkhoriya jungle this morning. Bamjan’s younger sister Asali Lama said even she was thrashed by Bamjan. “He beat me up when we reached there to free our brothers,” said Asali. “Guru (Bamjan) hit me on my head but said nothing.”

Mayadevi, Bamjan’s mother, who coincidently shares her name with the mother of Gautam Buddha, said she was disappointed after the incident. “His activities have let me down,” she said.

Bamjan’s brother Dil Bahadur, however, said ‘some individuals with their vested interests’ were trying to tarnish Guru’s reputation. He added that appropriate steps would be taken to press the police administration to initiate action against Dinesh Limbu.
A police team that had reached the Halkhoriya jungle to take stock of the situation on Monday morning bowed before Ram Bahadur Bamjan, paid obeisance to him and returned, leaving those who fell victim to Bamjan’s wrath seething. A police team led by Inspector KP Sharma, however, held discussions with members of Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangh. Upon his return from Halkhoriya, Inspector Sharma pledged to initiate action against the guilty if a case was filed but refused to go into detail. Bamjan’s aides did not allow media persons to carry cameras.
Relations between Ram Bahadur Bamjan and his family had soured after the latter expressed dissatisfaction towards the working style of Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangh. The family was not in touch with Bamjan for the past one year. Bamjan’s sister Raj Kumari said Bamjan had distanced himself from the family after they began to raise voice against the wrongdoings of Sangh members.
According to her, the family had also opposed Sangh’s decision to keep two girls — Dipshikha and Bishnu —inside the meditation centre. “Guru (Bamjan) dismissed our request to keep boys instead of girls,” she said. “After that we stopped visiting Bamjan, and they prevented us from entering the centre.”
nnnn