PARTIES HOLD INTER AND INTRA-PARTY TALKS TO COME TO AN AGREEMENT ON A CONSTITUTION Kathmandu, 25 April: Parties intensified inter and intra-party discussions Wednesday to resolve differences on articles and themes to be incorporated in a proposed constitution by Wednesday to avoid voting in a constituent assembly from Thursday by majority vote. Wednesday is the last day for parties to arrive at a consensus on themes and articles. Parties have to come to a consensus by Wednesday on themes to avoid a vote. The main constitution drafting committee drafting is also meeting Wednesday as parties say they areclose to an agreement on reconciling differences. Meetings were delayed Wednesday as parties observe the death anniversary of Manmohan Adhikari. nnnn NEPAL PARTICIPATING IN ASIAN JUDO CHAMPIONSHIP Kathmandu, 25 April: A three-member judo team left Tuesday for Uzbekistan to participate in the Asian Judo Championship from 26 to 29 April. Two players Sushila Adhikari and Upendra Thapa and coach Rishi Ram Pradhan are in the squad. Adhikari will participate in the women’s 52kg category and Thapa in the men’s 73kg weight category. nnnn RHINO MAULS MAN TO DEATH Kathmandu, 25 April: A man was mauled to death by a rhino at the Chitwan National Park Monday. Nara Bahadur, 78, was killed. nnnn POLICE LEAVE CANCELLED AS SECURITY REINFORCED Kathmandu, 25 April: With just a little over a month to go before the May 27 deadline for promulgation of the new constitution and expiry of the Constituent Assembly, Nepal Police Headquarters has issued a circular to all units directing officials not to go on leave until further notice, The Himalayan Times reports. “All police employees, from IGP to constables, have been told, in writing, not to go on leave, with the exception of mourning due to bereavement and maternity leaves, with effect from yesterday,” said DIG Binod Singh, spokesperson for Nepal Police. “The decree shall be applicable to all regional police headquarters, Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s Office, regional police training centres and district police offices,” said Singh. Singh explained that the move was part of the security measures that had been put in place in anticipation of all kinds of untoward incidents that could take place in the run-up to and after May 27. Nepal Police Headquarters has also directed all police unit chiefs not to accept resignation from any employee until further notice. They have also been instructed to make special security arrangements near vital installations and border areas in order to prevent untoward incidents. Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs had directed all security bodies under its purview to stay on high alert as May 27 was drawing near. DIG Singh informed that the order may be extended on the basis of future intelligence reports. Nepal Police said it has been working closely with Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department to counter potential threats to law and order in the eventuality of protest rallies and bandhs enforced by various political parties and outfits over the new constitution. As many as 5,479 security personnel, including three SPs, 15 DSPs and 60 Inspectors have been deployed in Kathmandu Valley alone ‘to maintain law and order’. nnnn ENERGY MINISTRY DEMANDS RESPONSIBILITY IN EXECUTING WEST SETI WITH CHINA Kathmandu, 25 April: Two weeks after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai directed the Ministry of Energy (MoE) to handover the task of concluding West Seti deal to Investment Board, the ministry on Tuesday said that it wants the responsibility of taking ahead the works on the West Seti Hydropower Project, Ashok Thapa writes in The Kathmandu Post. In a letter sent to the government, the MoE has asked Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to let it implement the deal in cooperation with the board. The MoE letter was in response to PMO directive that sought the ministry’s stand about the decisions made by the NRMC on West Seti deal. The ministry has said the newly formed board does not have human resources to handle the large project like West Seti. “There is a need of technical manpower to carry out works, including site visit, cost review, power development agreement (PDA) and observation of construction work to take ahead the project,” reads the letter. “Till the board has such human resources, the ministry should be allowed to take the responsibility of the project in cooperation with the board.” According to the MoE, it has already prepared a draft of the PDA, making it easier to deal with China Three Gorges Corporation International (CTGI) and sign the PDA if the responsibility is given to the ministry. With the MoE playing a lead role in govt-CTGI agreement over the West Seti, the ministry is of the view that it should be allowed to implement the project. “It was us (ministry) who revived the West Seti project, hence the authority should rest with us to implement it,” said a senior MoE official. Following MoE’s failure in expediting PDAs of large hydropower projects, Prime Minister Bhattarai had directed the ministry to hand over the task to the Investment Board two weeks ago. Prime Minister Bhattarai had also instructed the board to take over the responsibility of resuming PDA negotiations and concluding the West Seti deal with the Chinese company. As per the Investment Board Act, hydropower plants with a capacity of 500 MW and above come under the board’s purview. The board has been formed to provide a one-window solution to potential investors in mega projects. The ministry in its letter has stated that there has been no procedural and legal lapses in the MoU signed with CTGI. “No authority has been abused in the MoU as it was done with approval of Energy Minister and Secretary,” read the letter. The parliamentary committee had said that there had been abuse of authority on the part of the MoE as the negotiation team, formed to prepare financial and technical concept for the West Seti project, directly signed the MoU with the Chinese company. nnnn PMO SEEKS MORE CLOUT Kathmandu, 25 April:- What could be seen as a 'micro management' of state affairs, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has started dealing with all kinds of issues due to ineffectiveness on the part of line ministries, The Kathmandu Post reports. Although such a move is motivated by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattatrai's wish to make the PMO a powerful state organ, some bureaucrats are not reportedly happy with it. They complain that the move has sometimes brought conflicts between the ministries and the PMO, said a senior bureaucrat, seeking anonymity. "As we are entitled to resolve a number of issues or implement decisions, we have prepared a cluster and strived to address them on a priority basis," said a PMO secretary. The prime minister has started consultations with the chief secretary and secretaries while taking a call on crucial issues. For instance, a day before his televised address to the nation on April 12, the PM held a comprehensive meeting with senior officials. The PMO sources said the office has taken up some important issues including corruption control, implementation of the recommendations made by the Universal Periodic Reports on human rights and those made by the National Human Rights Commission. The PMO is working towards implementing the important national projects, ensuring a smooth supply of petroleum products to big projects, constituting a committee to set up Open University, formulating a new law for Investment Board and preparing power development agreements for the development of some hydroelectricity projects. "We are going to repair and construct new roads inside the Kathmandu Valley which were demolished in the past few months. Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire has instructed Home Secretary Sushil Jung Bahadur Rana to maintain law and order around May 27 in view of new security challenges," said another secretary at the PMO. Meanwhile, some officials have proposed making the PMO a centre of excellence, which will have more units to look into an array of issues and work in close coordination with other ministries. Some officials at the PMO admitted that the office could not document the achievements made during PM Bhattarai's tenure and institutionalise them, and failed to implement or monitor many directives issued to the line ministries. The PMO needs some dedicated units to look into foreign affairs and national security related issues, Secretary Lila Mani Poudel said. "We have failed to set up such a unit. As a result, we are not able to gather reports from our missions on a regular basis. Establishment of such unit would help accord due importance to diplomacy and foreign relations," Poudel said. nnnn COMMODITIES EXCHANGES IGNORE SEBON’S DIRECTIVE Kathmandu, 25 April::Regulating the commodities market will be a Herculean task for the capital market regulator. Due to lack of cooperation from commodities exchanges, the study committee assigned to conduct a research on the commodities market to aid the drafting of regulations for the sector was unable to come up with a strong report, The Himalayan Times reports. “The commodities exchanges have even refused to answer questions regarding their daily turnover and activities, to the committee formed to study the commodities market despite being mandated by the High Level Financial Coordination Committee,” informed an official at Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) which has been commissioned to undertake the role of a regulator of commodities market. “The assumptions that commodities exchanges are doing something fishy seem to be true as their evasive behaviour is suggesting that they have something to hide,” pointed out the official. The High Level Financial Coordination Committee had asked the capital market regulator to conduct a detailed study in order to draft the regulation. The study committee that has already submitted the first draft is supposed to submit the final report by mid-May. Based on the findings of the study, Sebon and the concerned regulators will design the regulation. However, properly regulating the commodities market along with the capital market seems to be next to impossible for Sebon with its limited organisational capacity. “With less than 20 officers, expecting Sebon to effectively regulate commodities exchanges and their brokerage houses is very difficult,” pointed out former chairman of Sebon Surbir Paudyal, stressing on the need to improve the organisational strength of the capital market regulator. “The commodities market is complicated and interconnected with the international market and has ample space for manipulation. To detect any misconduct in trading, the human resource at Sebon has to be equally competent,” added Paudyal. His views were seconded by another former chairman of Sebon Dr Chiranjivi Nepal. “As it is, regulating the stock exchange, brokers and listed companies is difficult for Sebon, and now being asked to regulate the technically intricate trading of commodities will not be easy,” he said. Dr Nepal suggested on establishing a separate entity or a separate body within Sebon with well trained human resources that have proper knowledge regarding the market if it undertakes the responsibility to regulate the commodities exchanges. At present, there are six commodities exchanges operating, with another in the pipeline. These exchanges are operating without any regulatory rein but are supposedly handling billions of rupees. There is no disclosure of their financials and how the commodities are being traded which has put the money of general investors in a vulnerable position. nnnn