DOLLAR SLIPS FURTHER AGAINST RUPPEE Kathmandu, 2 July: The US dollar slipper further against the Nepali Rupee Monday. The Nepal Rashtra Bank fixed Monday’s exchange rate at Rs. 89.30 to the greenback. The exchange gained Rs. 1.50 per dollar since Friday. The dollar has slipped after euro recovered. nnnn LEADERSHIP CHANGE AT MMC Kathmandu, 2 July: Jamlingh Ghale and his 17-memebr executive team has talen over the management of Manang Marshyangdhi Club (MMC). The team is a leading A Division football club. Nnnn CITY DEMOLITION TO HIT 6 EMBASSIES Kathmandu, 2 July; The demolition drive being conducted by the Kathmandu Valley Town Development Authority (KVTDA) is all set to knock down the walls of six Kathmandu-based diplomatic missions, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post. The KVTDA claimed the walls of the Japanese, American, Russian, French, German and Chinese embassies do not follow domestic construction norms. The campaign is being carried out in collaboration with the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, All the embassies, except the German mission in Gyaneshwor, are in the Lazimpat-Maharajgunj-Baluwatar area. While other missions expressed their concerns unofficially, the Japanese embassy is the only mission to have submitted a note of displeasure in writing, said a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Citing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities, the Japanese embassy pointed to a clause ensuring 'inviolable diplomatic premises' and asked for clarification on why the KVTDA had marked one of their walls for demolition without informing it. However, officials handling the drive told the Post that the demolition would continue as planned. "We sent a notice to Nirmal Niwas (in Maharajgunj), the residence of former king Gyanendra, and marked how much land it would lose during the demolition. A relative of the former king informed us that they would demolish the wall and rebuild it on their own. We agreed and expect others to follow suit," said Keshav Sthapit, the KVTDA Commissioner. "We expect all, including the diplomatic missions, to help us with our plans to give our city a new look." A second official said the diplomatic missions should have taken note of the host country's building and civil constructions code while building their missions and in the event where they failed to do so help "us now in our effort to do so. If they had followed the code, we would not have encountered such problems at all," said the official. "So why make a big fuss when the local people have complied already." The MoFA has urged the KVTDA to hold consultations with the missions before beginning the demolition. Government officials have committed to give the missions time to mull over their options and inform them prior to the demolition. "We do not work by using force," said Arjun Bahadur Thapa, spokesperson at the MoFA. "Whatever we do, we will do it with understanding from the missions." Following the Japanese embassy complaint, the demolition drive, which was relaunched on Saturday, had to skip the embassy wall at Panipokhari, Maharajgunj. "We are committed to demolishing all illegal structures, whoever possesses them, but will carry out the drive with the best coordination possible," said Sthapit. The KVTDA said it restarted the demolition of illegal structures after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Wednesday directed bodies concerned to continue the expansion and reconstruction of roads inside the Kathmandu valley. The road expansion drive was launched last November to ease traffic congestion in the Capital and in preparation for the 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit to be held in Kathmandu in the first half of 2013. The government has based its road expansion plans on a 1997 land survey. Some 315 structures, including private buildings, will need to be pulled down if the government is to press ahead with the broad-road initiative. Since the initiation of the drive seven months ago, around 45 km have been expanded and an additional 31 km will be widened in the next few months. This drive, govenment officials say, will give the city the much needed respite from growing traffic congestion. nnnn EC PREPARES FOR ELECTION ESPITE TALK OF CA REVIVAL Kathmandu, 2 July: ATHMANDU, JUL 01 - Even as Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has said that revival of the dissolved Constituent Assembly could be a way to break the current political deadlock, the Election Commission (EC) maintains that it is committed to holding fresh CA polls on the government-declared date, Bhadra Sharma writes in The Kathmandu Post. The EC is said to have been carrying on with its preparations and would speed them up after the government clears the existing legal hurdles. "As of today, we are committed to holding the elections on the date set by the government. Our daily activities are focused on preparations for the same," said EC Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav. On Saturday, PM Bhattarai stated that the CA could be revived if the political parties so agreed and the Supreme Court supported the move for the promulgation of the new constitution. Majority leaders of all the parties have been demanding CA revival. The government has to amend some half a dozen electoral laws and the Interim Constitution before holding new CA elections. The EC has given the government until July 22 to amend contradicting clauses of several laws. "The EC will make public its position in case the government fails to amend the laws. But we are firm on holding the election," added Yadav. nnnn FORMER NC, UML LAWMAKERS DEMAND SHORT REINSTATEMENT OF PARLIAMENT Kathmandu, 2 July: Former lawmakers of Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML Sunday demanded reinstatement of the Constituent Assembly for a short period to end the constitutional crisis and promulgate the new constitution from a legal body, The Rising Nepal reports. A joint meeting of the lawmakers of the two parties held at Singh Durbar also pointed out the need of political consensus for the reinstatement of the CA. After the meeting, NC leader and former lawmaker Shobhakar Parajuli said that the meeting decided that reinstatement of the CA was the only legal and constitutional path to resolve the current political deadlock. He said that the top leaders of all parties should reach a consensus on the disputed issues of the constitution and revive the CA for a short period to promulgate the new constitution. He said, "Reinstatement of the CA was also essential to amend the interim constitution and the meeting decided to exert pressures on the party leaders for the restoration of the CA." CPN-UML leader and former lawmaker Rabindra Adhikari said that the interim constitution has not envisaged the dissolution of the legislature parliament and it could be reinstated as guided by the constitution to resolve the constitutional crisis. He said that the parties had no constitutional way to resolve the ongoing political crisis rather than reinstating the CA. He said, "The meeting decided to exert pressures on the party leadership to take decision in favour of CA’s reinstatement." He said that the two parties’ former lawmakers were ready to work jointly for the reinstatement of the CA. Meanwhile, CPN-UML leader KP Oli ruled out the possibility of CQA reinstatement. Speaking at an interaction organised by Press Chautari Nepal in Ramachhap, Oli said that the demand for CA revival was impossible in the current situation. He said that the Maoists dissolved the CA and its reinstatement would be meaningless. He said that the Prime Minister should pave the way for consensus government and added that the national consensus government was only a way to resolve the ongoing political deadlock. He said that the Maoists were trying to create anarchy in the country and added, "Our party UML will never accept any type of anarchy and tyranny." Nnnn SC DIRECTS GOVT. TO BRING PARTIAL BUDGET Kathmandu, 2 July The Supreme Court Sunday drew the attention of the government to introduce one-third budget of the new fiscal year as per the Article 96 (A,2) of the Interim Constitution, according to which the government has the right to present budget without exceeding one-third of the total expenditure, The Rising Nepal reports. A division bench comprising justices Damodar Prasad Sharma and Ram Kumar Prasad Sah, however, rejected the petitioner’s call to issue an interim order on the issue The petitioner advocate Raju Silwal had filed a writ petition demanding an interim order in the name of the government as it is going to introduce full-fledged budget without seeking consensus among the political parties in the absence of the Legislature Parliament. The petitioner had claimed that the government with a caretaker status, had no right to introduce full-fledged budget without forging consensus as per the Article 43 of the Interim Constitution. The SC conducted a hearing on whether or not it was necessary to issue a stay order on the writ petition. Lawyers from both sides- the government and the petitioner- had pleaded before the bench in today’s hearing. Meanwhile, leaders of key political parties have said that a caretaker government cannot introduce a full budget. Speaking at an interaction organized by Reporters Club here on Sunday, Nepali Congress leader and former Finance Minister Dr Ram Saran Mahat said that there is no possibility of the presentation of the new budget until a consensus government is in place. CPN-UML vice president Bidhya Bhandari said that a consensus government is pre-condition for presentation of budget. If NC fails to name its candidate for prime minister, the UML will nominate KP Oli for the same, she said. Secretary of the CPN-Maoist Dev Gurung said that the present government has no right to conduct a CA election and present a budget. UCPN-Maoist leader and Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Top Bahadur Rayamajhi said that political leaders had created roadblock by opposing both extension of the CA and its fresh election. nnnn