FOREIGN MINISTER SHRESTHA TO LEAD NEPAL TEAM TO NAM MEET IN EGYPT Kathmandu, 4 May:: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha will be lead a eight-member Nepali delegation to a ministerial meeting of Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) being held in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. 9,10 May. The cabinet Thursday approved Nepal’s participation in the meet. Nepal and Egypt are founders of the movement. The NAM summit is being held later this year in August. nnnn DETAILS OF THURSDAY’S BREAKTHROUGH AGREEMNT Kathmandu, 4 May: The ministers in the Baburam Bhattarai cabinet resigned en masse just before midnight Thursday to pave the way for the formation of a national consensus government, Tirtha L. BHusal writes in Republica. The ministers submitted their resignations to the prime minister at the secretariat of the Special Committee following which the parties signed a five-point agreement to form a national unity government within two days as per the 7-point deal signed on Novemeber 1 last year. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayankaji Shrestha announced the resignations on behalf of all the Maoist ministers in the cabinet, while Minister for Physical Planning Hridayesh Tripathi made a similar announcement on behalf of ministers representing the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF). “We all the ministers representing the UCPN (Maoist) have tendered our resignation as per the political understanding to help facilitate and create a conducive environment for the formation of a national consensus government,” Shrestha, emerging from the meeting, told journalists waiting at the BICC premises till midnight. Similarly, Tripathi said, “I inform you that all ministers representing the United Democratic Madhesi Front have tendered our resignations, in view of the need to form a national consensus government for the promulgation of a constitution that ensures federalism based on identity and economic viability.” As per the five-point deal, the parties have agreed to form a national consensus government under the leadership of the Nepali Congress after completion of the draft of the new constitution and before its promulgation. The parties have also vowed to reach an understanding on the remaining disputed issues of constitution within three days. Though the parties had reached an informal understanding on Wednesday to form a national consensus government, there were differing interpretations of the understanding when the parties met Thursday afternoon to formalize it. Following an objection from the Madhesi parties over the understanding to ‘dissolve’ the current government, the parties held bilateral and trilateral meetings at the secretariat to find a middle path. At last, the parties decided to include the wording “ministers have agreed to resign to pave the way for the formation of a national consensus government” in the agreement. At the outset of the meeting of major parties, senior CPN-UML leader KP Oli had sought the resignation of the prime minister to clear the way for the formation of a national consensus government. “Why should Baburam Bhattarai not resign for the sake of a national consensus government when two prime ministers from our party had resigned for the sake of a national consensus government?” a participant quoted Oli as saying at the meeting. Some NC and UML leaders had also demanded that the actual date of formation of an NC-led government should be categorically mentioned in the agreement. This stance of the main opposition parties delayed the agreement by some hours. Toward the end of the meeting, some Madhesi ministers had argued that they should not be forced to resign from their posts immediately. However, in the end, each side conceded ground, paving the way for the signing of the five-point deal just before midnight. nnnn IMPROPER CLEANUPOF BOMBING SITE PROBLEM FOR MURDEROUS JANAKPUR BLAST Kathmandu, 4 May: Investigations into Monday´s Janakpur blast have been affected by carelessness on the part of local police, a senior police officer involved in the case has revealed, Suresh Yadav writes in Republica from Janakpur. Local police had opened the Ramananda Chowk for vehicular movement within two hours of the blast by cleaning the area and completing scene-of-incident report. The Central Investigation Bureau had sent a team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bhupendra Khatri immediately after the blast but the local police had cleared the spot before the team reached Janakpur. There were roads on either side of the blast site and vehicular movement would not have been affected even if the area was sealed but police cleaned the area in haste, the police officer said. The middle road, which passes through the blast site, was also blocked for a week to paint the huge gate at the place recently without much hiccup in traffic. “The haste in cleaning the area has created suspicion about the intention of local police to affect the investigations,” the officer opined. The officer claimed that police did not even cordon off the area and city after the explosion which is a basic reaction to any criminal activity. “The main basis for investigations was wiped out by cleaning the area well before the type of explosives used in the blast could be identified,” the officer contended. Chief of Dhanusha Police SP Purushottam Kandel, however, claimed that cleaning the area would not affect investigation in any way. “Police had completed requisite investigation within two hours,” Kandel said. SP Kandel had told the media the next day that gelignite was used in the explosion. But an officer involved in investigations of explosives for a long time argued that TNT (trinitrotoluene), a powerful explosive, could have been used. “Eyewitnesses claimed that milky white plume of smoke was seen at the site immediately after the explosion which indicates use of TNT and white powder. Explosion of gelignite is not accompanied by white smoke,” the officer stated. The officer claimed that manufacturing this type of bomb requires a specialist and cost well over Rs 200,000. “The underground outfits which scare locals with pressure cooker bombs and other home-made bombs cannot make such sophisticated bombs,” he contended. nnnn CANADA TO ACCEPT MORE BHUTANESE REFUGEES Kathmandu, 4 May: The government of Canada has agreed to allow more Bhutanese refugees to resettle in the North American country, a year after it stopped the process, The Himalayan Times writes from Damak. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees today informed refugees based in Jhapa and Morang about the decision. However, the number of refugees to be accepted is not clear. As per the decision, Canada is set to complete the new intake in 2012 itself, for which a Canadian mission is to arrive by October this year. The Canadian government had stopped accepting refugees in 2011 after it accepted 5,000 of them –– the number it had agreed to accept under the third country resettlement process. With the start of refugee resettlement in 2008, USA, the UK, Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway have been part of the process, besides Canada. Till April 15 this year, 62,673 refugees had been resettled in various third countries. USA alone has announced it will accept 60,000 refugees. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is now involved in the resettlement process. The refugees were elated to learn of the Canadian government’s decision. “Our family was divided, but with the recent decision of the Canadian government, we are glad that we can soon join our family members there,” said Bal Bahadur Gurung of Sector C-2 at Damak-based Beldangi Camp. Bal Bahadur’s brother Dilip, sister in law Kalpana and nephew and nieces are all in Canada. “Our application was refused after the quota was finished,” he said. Nnnn GOVT. INCREASES POWER PURCHASE RATE Kathmandu, 4 May:: The Ministry of Energy has decided to increase the power purchase rate for seven hydro projects that are under construction, The Himalayan Times reports. A minister level decision was made for seven small projects that are under construction as per the Subsidies for Private Constructed Hydroprojects Procedure 2011, which will allow the government to increase the power purchase agreement by 20 per cent at the existing rate. As of present, Nepal Electricity Authority buys electricity from private developers at the rate of Rs 4 per unit in summer and Rs 7 per unit in winter. After the increment comes into effect the purchase rate will be Rs 4.80 per unit in summer and Rs 8.40 per unit in winter. The ministry said this will encourage developers to complete the projects on time. The ministry also decided to provide a loan of Rs 20 million per megawatt of electricity for seven projects namely—United Modi(9.9 MW), Aankhu Khola 1 (8.4 MW), Lower Indrawati Khola(4.5 MW), Bijayapur Khola (1.4 MW), Jirikhola (2.2 MW), Middle Chaku (1.8 MW) and Lower Chaku (1.76 MW). “The government will provide the fund to NEA, which in turn will provide the subsidy at low interest rate to developers,” the decision mentioned. The loan payback period for projects is seven years from the date of commercial operation. Energy minister in the previous Jhala Nath Khanal-led government Gokarna Bista had prepared the subsidy procedure, which incumbent minister Posta Bahadur Bogati took up and based the decision on the procedure prepared last year. The ministry had prepared the procedure after national private developers repeatedly demanded that their burden be eased as the interest rate for the loan from banks had soared and the pressure on them had increased so much as to make their projects unfeasible at the power purchase rate that had been signed. The minister level meeting endorsed the proposal prepared by the Subsidy Committee Recommendation for Private Developer,s which evaluated the progress of projects report, date of commercial operation and financial management. Nnnn