PARTY CONVENTION PUT OFF AFTER EXPLOSION IN BIRGUNJ Kathmandu, 6 May: One person was injured in string bomb explosion in Birgung Sunday that triggered a stampede. Rastriya Janaprajatantrik Party was holding its general assembly which was called off. Nnnn 11 MINISTERS IN NEW BHATTARAI GOVT. Kathmandu, 6 May: Eleven ministers from the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and various Madhes-based parties have taken the oath of office and secrecy Saturday night as a part of the five-point deal reached among three major parties and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) to form a national consensus government under Baburam Bhattarai, Republica reports. The new cabinet has two deputy prime ministers - Narayankaji Shrestha of UCPN (Maoist) and Bijay Gachchhadar of UDMF. NC has however, has not been given the post of deputy prime minister. Both the NC and Maoist ministers have also not been assigned portfolios, but all the UDMF ministers will retain the same ministries as they held in the previous government. The other main party, CPN-UML said it would announce names of the ministers representing the party by Sunday. This is the first national consensus government formed after the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in April, 2008. The ministers sworn in by Prime Minister Bhattarai in the presence of President Ram Baran Yadav at Shital Niwas include Narayankaji Shrestha, Post Bahadur Bogati, Barshaman Pun, Dina Nath Sharma and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi from the Maoist and Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Surya Man Gurung from Nepali Congress. Likewise, Bijay Gachchhadar, Hridayesh Tripathi, Raj Kishor Yadav and Mahendra Yadav of the UDMF also took the oath. But Rajendra Mahato, Chairman of Sadbhawana Party, one of the constituent parties of the UDMF, could not take oath as he is currently in Janakpur to attend the party´s general convention. Of the already assigned portfolios, Gachchhadar holds home and defense ministries in addition to DPM, Tripathi and Mahato will hold physical planning and works and health ministries respectively. Likewise, Raj Kishor Yadav holds ministry of information and communications and Mahendra Yadav is irrigation minister. The parties agreed to form a 27-member cabinet comprising six ministers each from the Maoist, NC, UML and the UDMF as well as two ministries from fringe parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA). NC failed to name four other ministers allocated to them after Sher Bahadur Deuba faction boycotted a CWC meeting that was called to finalize name of ministers representing the party. Two new ministries formed, six reconstituted The first cabinet meeting held after inducting 11 new ministers Saturday night renamed and reconstituted six and formed two new ministries. Sources said the cabinet meeting decided to rename the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives as Ministry of Agriculture Development and form a separate Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviations. Likewise, Ministry of Labour and Transport was reconstituted as Ministry of Labour and Employment, removing the component of transport to other ministry. The meeting decided to reconstitute Local Development Ministry as Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, bringing a component of federal affairs that was with ministry of culture, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works and Transport Management, incorporating a component of transport that was with Labour and Transport ministry. Similarly, the cabinet reconstituted Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation by incorporating culture component. The meeting formed a separate Ministry of Urban Development. The meeting appealed all political parties in the parliament to join the government and urged all agitating parties in different parts of the country to exercise restraints and call off all their strikes. The meeting held at the prime minister´s office in Singha Durbar late Saturday night also expressed deep sorrow over the loss of life and properties due to flash flood in Kaski district. Nnnn • 4 5 • • • • LALPRASAD SHARMA, ISHWORI NEUPANE 1 FLASH FLOODS SWEEP AWAY MANY IN SETI Kathamandu, 5 May: Thirteen people died and at least nine others have gone missing after a landslide near Machhapuchhre mountain region triggered a catastrophic flash flood, sweeping settlements and breaching the riverbanks downstream on Saturday morning, Lal Prasad Sharam/Ishwari Neupane write in The Kathamandu Post from Pokhara. A powerful outburst of the landslide-choked Seti wreaked havoc in the downstream settlements, including Sadal and Kharapani. Security personnel involved in the rescue operation said as of evening, 13 bodies, including of five women, were recovered from the muddy slush left behind by the flood. The bodies had been swept away as far down as Nirmal Pokhari, not far away from Pokhara. SP Shailesh Thapa Chhetri of Kaski District Police Office said the rescue personnel also recovered some severed limbs. Among those dead, only two were identified as of Saturday evening. Police released their names as Archana Shrestha from Bagale Tol of Pokhara and Gopal Tamrakar of Kharapani. Nine persons have been reported missing in the flood, including three Ukrainian nationals identified as Oleksandr Dubinskiy, Alla Polonchuk and Ivan Malaknov. Similarly, the other missing were listed as Dhungey Buda, Dorje Tamang, Chasmey Buda, Bishnu Gurung, Chet Bahadur Thapa and a person identified only by his surname Bhujel. Security personnel and the local people fear the number of the dead and the missing could be much more. Those who survived the flood with injuries were admitted to the Manipal Teaching Hospital and Western Regional Hospital in Pokhara. Since it was Saturday, there were many people on picnic and some enjoying the hot spring dip at Kharapani. There were also people working on embankment construction site and those collecting sand and stones on riverbanks. “There was nothing unusual. People were enjoying picnic, some were relaxing in the hot spring pools by the river and others working. And out of nowhere came this swelling dark murky water with debris, sweeping away many people,” said Uddha Bahadur Gurung. Police said the flood swept away at least 18 houses at Sadal and Kharapani along with four trucks and a tractor. A 200-meter section road leading to Kharapani and two suspension bridges were also damaged. The actual damage caused by the flood, however, could not be ascertained immediately. Victor Jung Rana, chief of the Western Regional Division of the Nepal Army, said the landslide had taken place at the altitude of around 11,500 feet. After conducting an aerial inspection of the landslide-hit area, Rana said there was no imminent landslide threat. Govt team to coordinate relief work The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has formed a committee headed by Home Secretary Sushil Jung Rana to coordinate the relief work being taken on behalf of the government in the aftermath of Saturday morning’s floods in Kaski district. According to a statement issued by the ministry, the panel includes experts from ICIMOD, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, and representatives from the security forces. The ministry also sent a Nepal Army helicopter to oversee the flood-hit areas and identify other risk zones, if any. “The MoHA team will also be focusing on building effective response mechanism through public awareness in an event of further crisis due to floods,” the release read. Another team headed by Chief District Officer of Kaski has started collecting data on the casualties caused by floods. Issuing a statement, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai expressed his condolences to the families of deceased. “The government requests the public to remain calm and patient at the moment of this crisis,” the statement read. Meanwhile, issuing separate statements, Nepali Congress and UCPN (Maoist) have expressed sadness over the nature’s blow and asked the government to provide immediate relief to families of the victims. nnnn