BHIMSEN IDOL REINSTATED AT BHIMSENSTHAN Kathmandu, 7 July: Bhimsen idol was reinstated at Bhimsensthan after upkeep in the Valley Friday night. The idol of Bhimsen is kept for two and half months in confinement once every 12 years. Nnnn NEPAL-CHINA TO DISCUSS 3-TIER SECURITY SYSTEM IN BEIJING Kathmandu, 7 July: In their bid to formalise a three-tier bilateral security mechanism, home secretaries of Nepal and China are meeting in Beijing from July 21. According to the Nepali Home Ministry, during the six-day talks, security cooperation and its effective arrangement on the Nepal-China border, among other crucial issues, will be discussed, The Kathmandu Post writes. The first meeting in this series was held in Kathmandu in 2010. This time around, Home Secretary Sushil Jung Rana will be leading an eight-member delegation comprised of the chiefs of the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force and the National Investigation Department, and officials from the Foreign Ministry. One of the vice-ministers of the Public Security Ministry will lead the Chinese team. Home secretaries of the two countries are meeting after two years to discuss bilateral security concerns, said Home Ministry Spokesman Shanker Koirala. Nepal and China are effortful to meet regularly at various levels but they have yet to formalise the proposed three-tier mechanism. The Cabinet has endorsed the agenda but failed to decide on signing a bilateral memorandum of understanding to formalise the mechanism. The reason behind the Cabinet hesitation is unknown. The MoU is about formalising the proposed three-tier mechanism between Nepal and China--at the secretary, joint-secretary and the Chief District Officer levels under the Home Ministry. Secretaries would meet every two years in alternative Capitals, joint-secretaries would sit for talks every year in Lasha, Kathmandu or Beijing and CDOs of the bordering districts would sit together as required, sources said. Nepal and China have started taking security and border-related issues from the Home Secretary to the district levels, gradually formalising bilateral mechanisms to check cross-border crimes and share information. Though such meetings between the two sides have taken place in the past, this one will be the first to be held in a formal manner. “Starting from the Home Secretary-level, both the sides have agreed to hold meetings in districts for effective coordination of border security as well as information-sharing,” said Home Ministry Spokesman Koirala. In the last week of May, the two sides agreed in Lhasa to initiate the process to sign an MoU to formalise the three-tier security mechanism. The two sides have also agreed to share information regularly through diplomatic channels. nnnn