22 NOV. DECLARED ELECTION NON-STARTER Kathmandu, 21 July: It has now become a certainty that fresh elections cannot be held on November 22 as declared by the government, Ananta Raj Luitel/ Santosh P Pokhhrel write in The Himalayan Times. . The Election Commission had told the government that all legal hurdles related to elections and election procedures must be cleared 120 days ahead of the poll date. The EC deadline expires on Sunday and possibility of forging consensus among political parties to amend the Interim Constitution to clear the decks for November 22 polls is nil. “There is no alternative to announcing a new date,” a highly placed source at the Office of the Prime Minister told The Himalayan Times. “Chances of amending the constitution and election laws in two days are slim.” The EC had said 13 constitutional and legal provisions must be amended by July 22 if the government is to hold elections on November 22. Acting Chief Election Commissioner Neelkantha Uprety told this daily that the EC on its part was all set to hold elections on the declared date, as it has already completed its technical preparations. “It is the government which should have cleared the legal and constitutional hurdles to facilitate the EC to do its job,” said Uprety. “It’s the political parties which should create an environment for holding polls.” A source at the EC said even after July 22, the EC would wait for one more week to see if the government did anything to pave the way for polls on November 22. “If not, the EC will hold discussions with the government for another date for the polls,” he said. nnnn ________________________________________ DETAILS OF ARREST OF BALKRISHNA, TRUSTED AIDE OF YOGA GURU RAMDEV Kathmandu, 21 July: Yoga guru Ramdev’s aide Balkrishna was arrested today by the CBI after a non-bailable warrant was issued against him by a special court in an alleged fake documents case, agencies report from Dehradun.. Ramdev is scheduled to start an agitation against corruption and black money issue from August 9 at Ramlila ground in New Delhi. CBI sources said Balkrishna was arrested by the agency after the special court issued a non-bailable warrant against him in connection with the case. On July 10, the agency had filed a case against Balkrishna in a case relating to alleged submission of alleged fake and forged documents to obtain an Indian passport. The agency has alleged that Balkrishna along with the then Principal of Sanskrit Mahavidayala, Khurja, in Uttar Pradesh had conspired to issue the fake educational certificates to the former, which he used to obtain passport. The agency has booked the duo under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery, and imposed additional charge for the alleged violation of the Passport Act against Balkrishna. “It was alleged in the complaint that the accused had wrongfully obtained an Indian passport. Inquiry established that the accused in connivance with some unknown persons has furnished false information and forged documents to the Passport office at Bareilly for getting an Indian passport issued,” the CBI spokesperson had said. The CBI had registered a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy against Balkrishna on July 23 last year for allegedly procuring fake degree and violating Section 12 of Indian Passport Act by furnishing fake documents to get Indian passport. The agency had also made a judicial request to the government of Nepal asking it to ascertain Balkrishna’s nationality but no response has come so far, CBI sources said. Balkrishna’s ancestral home is in Syangja district, but he was born in India. He was taken to Nepal when he was three months old but was brought back to India at the age of 11. nnnn KUWAIT BANS NEPALI MAIDS Kathmandu, 21 July: As a provisional ban on housemaids´ entry into Kuwait persists beyond the originally-stated period of three weeks, those preparing to fly to the country to work as domestic help are in a tight spot, .Om Astha Rai writes in Republica.. Officials claim the ban is necessary for preparing a guideline to protect Nepali women from malicious trafficking agents. Although there is no official data available, it is believed that a few hundred Nepali women, who are all set to fly to Kuwait after receiving housemaid trainings, are at the receiving end of the ban. Girija Sharma, acting executive director of Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB), responsible for regulating training institutes that offer short-term training courses on care-giving, says that more than 500 Nepali women have received training to work as housemaids in the Gulf in the past one month alone. According to Pushpa Raj Bhattarai, second secretary at the Nepali Embassy in Kuwait, the ban, which came into effect on May 26, was originally announced for three weeks. However, over one-and-a-half months on, the ban is yet to be revoked, which has left Nepali women workers in a tizzy. The ban was imposed following reports of Nepali women workers in Kuwait being subjected to exploitation. Till the ban exists, the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) will finalize a guideline, which is expected to prevent individual agents from sending Nepali housemaids to the Gulf. The guideline will also lay out all the prerequisites for authorized manpower agencies to send domestic helps. "It is what we have been demanding for long,”says Kamal Tamang, spokesperson for Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA). "If individual agents send housemaids to the Gulf, they can easily get away. But, if authorized manpower agencies send housemaids, they will take responsibility for rescuing and compensating the victims.” However, due to the delay in drafting the guideline, the ban continues to take its toll on Nepali women desperate to go to Kuwait. “The draft is still with DoFE,"”says labor secretary Som Lal Subedi. Meanwhile, officials at the Nepali Embassy in Kuwait have started exerting pressure on DoFE to finalize the guideline at the earliest, citing the urgency with which Kuwaiti recruiting agencies are seeking Nepali domestic helps. “With the Ramadan period beginning next week, Kuwaiti agencies need more housemaids,” says an embassy official. “If we fail to supply domestic helps during the Ramadan period, Kuwait will have a negative impression. It´s inimical to Nepal-Kuwait relation, too.” In 2010, the Ministry of Labor had opened Kuwait, along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Nepali housemaids. Earlier, Nepali women were going to the Gulf illegally through India and other third countries. Currently, around 200 Nepali women subjected to exploitation are staying at a shelter house provided by the embassy in Kuwait. nnnn ________________________________________ UML CALL FOR ELECTION REGRESSIVE CLAIM DISSIDENTS Kathmandu, July 21: Dissident Janajati leaders of the CPN-UML have taken strong exception to the decision of the party´s Standing Committee ruling out reinstatement of the Constituent Assembly and striping the leaders of their party responsibilities, Republica reports. "The decision of the party´s Standing Committee to reject reinstatement of the Constituent Assembly, to not allow promulgation of the constitution through the Constituent Assembly or hold elections for the Constituent Assembly reflects the party´s regressive thinking," Vice-chairman of the CPN-UML Ashok Rai said in a statement on Friday. Rai has been leading the dissident Janjati leaders. The dissident leaders issued the statement following a meeting held two days after the party decided to reject reinstatement of the Constituent Assembly and stripped them of their responsibilities on the charge of not carrying out party work. The Standing Committee decision was a rejection of the dissident leaders´ demand that the party stand for reinstatement of the dissolved Constituent Assembly. Dissident leader Prithvi Subba Gurung told Republica that the decision contradicts a recent decision of the Central Committee. A recent meeting of the Central Committee had decided to keep the party open to any option for resolving the present political deadlock. "We have concluded that the party´s decision will lead the country into regression," Gurung further said about the meeting of the dissident leaders. The leaders have also decided not to furnish clarifications to the party´s disciplinary committee after they were removed from their responsibilities without allowing them time to furnish the clarifications. "Only three comrades had received letters from the party seeking clarifications. We wanted to furnish our clarifications. But we have now concluded that following the decision of the Standing Committee there is no need to respond to the call for clarifications," Gurung said. The dissident leaders have also expressed their anger over the party not allowing them to hold discussions on differing views though the party adheres to democratic values. They have warned of severe consequences from the decision but refrained from specifying what they mean by severe consequences. Asked what their move will be if the party does not revoke the Standing Committee decision, Gurung said, "Let´s wait and see. Time will tell." nnnn ________________________________________