UML CHAIRMAN CANCELS EUROPE VISIT Kathmandu, 20 July: UML Chairman Jhanlanath Khanal Thursday cancelled a fortnight’s trip of Portugal, Spain and Denmark hours after announcing it. He was scheduled to fly there Thursday. The UML chief cancelled the visit citing latest political development and the Role he may have to play, a statement said. nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE (Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar said the leadership of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML would be acceptable if they assured of the federalism with identity and constitution with federalism.” (Report in The Himalayan Times, 20 July) Nnnn NO PROTOCOL RANKING FOR FORMER KING—A FORMER HEAD OF STATE Kathmandu, 20 July: The Ministry of Home Affairs has prepared a new order of precedence in line with the new republican set-up, with the president at the top and second lieutenants at the bottom, Kiran Chapagain writes in Republica.. Currently under discussion at the political committee of the cabinet headed by the prime minister, the order of precedence -- a hierarchy indicating ceremonial positions with no legal standing -- has accorded a much lower rank to the army chief. The proposed order of precedence, which will replace a 21-year-old hierarchy, has no place for the former king although he is a former head of state, according to a knowledgeable government source. It has reserved the sixth order of precedence for former presidents. The ministry has prepared the new order of precedence as it had not been revised despite the political change in the country in 2006, with the country becoming republic in 2008, according to a senior ministry official. It has been prepared on the basis of the order of precedence in force in India and other countries, said the source on condition of anonymity. The No. 2 spot in the order of the precedence has been proposed for the vice-president, followed by the prime minister in No. 3. In the previous order of precedence that had come into effect following the political change of 1990, the prime minister was in the No.10 position. Similarly, the chief justice and the speaker of parliament have been placed in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Deputy prime ministers and former presidents occupy the sixth position. There have been some differences over th proposal. While some members of the political committee and senior bureaucrats have argued that former presidents should be placed above deputy prime ministers, Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar has demanded that a deputy prime minister be ranked before a former president. Likewise, the political committee is divided over the position to Supreme Court justices, according to a source in the committee. Though the apex court judges are at par with government ministers as per existing law relating to perks and facilities, they have been proposed for tenth position in the new hierarchy. The members of the political committee also are not in agreement about proposed order of precedence for foreign ambassadors as these have been placed above government secretaries . They have been placed in 13th position, one rung higher than the position of the chief secretary, the attorney general, heads of constitutional bodies and the army chief. Top bureaucrats argued at a recent meeting of the committee that foreign ambassadors to Nepal are at par with joint secretaries or under secretaries in their own countries and should not be placed higher than government secretary let alone giving them the same status as the chief secretary, said another source on condition of anonymity. The proposed order of precedence also places the army chief just below the chief secretary. In the previous hierarchy, he occupied a much higher level, the source said. "We have proposed a lower order of precedence for the army chief because the Indian army chief is below the cabinet secretary in that country," said the source when asked why the army chief´s positioning has been downgraded in the new order. "It is also to show civilian supremacy," he added. Every country has its own order of precedence for formal state programs and functions, showing how the state should treat an individual holding a specific position on such occasions. Nnnn ________________________________________ FORMER PLA COMMANDERS DEMAND PROBE OF CHAIRMAN Kathmandu, 20 July: In a sign of deepening troubles in the ruling UCPN (Maoist), six of the seven former PLA division commanders have resigned en masse from their party posts, alleging that Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was hatching a conspiracy to make a few division commanders scapegoats for huge financial irregularities carried out by PLA commanders close to Himself, Kiran Pun writes in Republica. The PLA ex-commanders also demanded a thorough investigation against former PLA supreme commander and Maoist Chairman Dahal and deputy commanders Barshaman Pun, Nanda Kishor Pun and Janardan Sharma over embezzlements running into billions of rupees. Sources close to the rapidly unfolding developments told Republica that the erstwhile commanders who walked out of their positions accused party headquarters of compelling some division commanders to embezzle party resources by frequently demanding millions from them. "We feel that Chairman Dahal was trying to make a few commanders scapegoats for the irregularities while he himself was the one who forced cantonment commanders to send millions and millions into his personal account,” said one of those opting to resign. The chain of command at all seven cantonments was structured in such a way that there could be no financial irregularities without close collusion between the deputy commanders and Chairman Dahal, he added. “But we see a clear intention on the party of Dahal to punish a few commanders while giving a clean chit to those who were actually involved in the embezzlements,” said the commanders. According to sources, Dahal´s statement on Wednesday about strong action against those involved in financial irregularities also instigated the ex-commanders to resign en masse. "The resignation en masse was an answer to the warning from Dahal, who in fact was the main individual behind the whole saga of irregularities," said a commander. Sources close to Dahal told Republica that he was planning to suspend 3rd division commander Dhan Bahadur Maski Magar, 5th division commander Kali Bahadur Kham and 4th division commander Tej Bahadur Oli on the charge that they were the main culprits behind the irregularities. Of the three division commanders, Maski Magar, Kham and Oli were party central committee members Similarly, 2nd division commander Suk Bahadur Roka Magar, 1st division commander Yam Bahadur Adhikari and 6th division commander Mahendra Bahadur Shahi have also tendered their resignations. Maoists form probe commissions The UCPN (Maoist) has formed two probe commissions and asked both commissions to submit their reports to party headquarters within a month. The three-member first commission led by Post Bahadur Bogati has been assigned to investigate financial irregularities at PLA cantonments and it includes politburo member Hitaraj Pande and central committee member Dor Prasad Upadhyaya as members. Similarly, the other commission, formed under the leadership of party standing committee member Amik Sherchan, has been asked to investigate the properties owned by party leaders. Politburo members Lokendra Bista Magar and Nabaraj Subedi are the other two members of the commission. nnnn ________________________________________ $1.2 MILLION ASSISTANCE FOR PASHMINA Kathmandu, 20 July: International Trade Center (ITC) will provide $ 1.2 million to support the development of chyangra pashmina. “ITC will provide us a fund, The Himalayan Times reports. of $ 1.2 million for the development of chyangra pashmina,” said president of Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA) Pushpa Man Shrestha. “We are going through a series of meetings with representatives from ITC to discuss about trade promotion and development of chyangra pashmina in international market,” he said. “We are hopeful that the allocated fund will support our initiative to develop chyangra pashmina yarn at the local level,” he added. According to Shrestha, ITC representatives have also shown interest to promote chyangra pashmina in the international market. “They are also willing to support product development, trademark promotion and in developing new designs.” Three ITC representatives from Switzerland are currently holding talks on various issues of pashmina industry and its products with representatives from NPIA, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Ministry of Commerce and Supplies. Pashmina, the soft and warm fibre of chyangra, was world famous for the past couple of decades but with the introduction of low priced and imitated pashmina wool, the market of original chyangra pashmina started to decline. However, along with NPIA’s initiative to reintroduce Nepali pashmina with the brand ‘Chyangra Pashmina’, it has gathered momentum with gradual increment in exports in the international market. ‘Chyangra Pashmina’ now is a registered brand and logo in 41 countries and the brand is waiting for its registration in South Africa, Brazil, Russia, Taiwan and the UAE. nnnn HOSPITALS OVERFLOWING WITH PATIENTS Kathmandu, 20 July: With monsoon in full swing, health facilities in the east are overflowing with various monsoon-related diseases, The Himalayan Times reports from Biratnagar. Cases of fever, pneumonia, typhoid, diarrhoea and snake bite are being reported in health centres every day. The number of patients has gone up by 50 per cent in more than 900 government facilities in the region, informed Eastern Regional Health Directorate, Dhankuta. “Every day, about 700 patients used to visit the OPD ward in the past, now the number has almost doubled,” Narayan Dahal, manager, Nobel Medical College of Biratnagar said. The hospital with a capacity of 721 beds is struggling to meet the demands of the growing number of patients, most of whom are elders and children, he informed. “We were already facing the problem of human resources. Now we don’t have enough beds to accommodate all the patients,” lamented Biratnagar-based Koshi zonal hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Umakanta Jha. Many other health facilities in the region, including private clinics in cities like Kakadbhitta, Birtamod, Damak, Itahari, Inaruwa, Dharan and Damak are said to be facing the same problem. Regional Health Director Ramdhan Meheta said his office has kept necessary medicine and health workers on stand by in view of increased pressure from patients. nnnn