DEUBA CALLS FOR REVIEW OF SUPREME COURT VERDICT AGAINST KHUM BAHADUR KHADKA Kathmandu, 15 Aug.: Senior NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba demanded a review by a full bench of Tuesday’ s supreme court verdict sentencing party leader and former Home Minister Khum Bahadur Deuba to 18 month in jail and a Rs. 9.47 million fine for amassing unaccounted wealth. Khadka is a Deuba supporter in the divided main opposition NC. Deuba charged Khadka was sentenced in a ‘conspiratorial ‘style and only NC has been charged and convicted while leaders of others were spared. Conviction confirms widespread official corruption in the party. Four top leaders have been convicted by the courts and not the bureaucracy. With the conviction, Khadka is debarred from holding public office. Angry supporters vandalized several vehicles in front of Singha Durbar following a verdict of the apex court. NC fraternal organizations had threatened to launch protests of Khadka was convicted in an attempt to influence court hearing. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala himself was involved in several high-profile corruption cases including the Ladua affair; Koirala defied even court orders in sch cases maling a mockery of democracy and the due process to establish rule of law. nnnn UML MAN APPOINTED DEAN AT TUTH AMID HUNGER STRIKE AND THREATENED CLOSURE Kathmandu, 15 Aug.: Paying no mind to Dr Govinda KC's fast-unto-death protesting political influence in the appointment of high-level officials at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), the TU Vice Chancellor's (VC) Office has appointed Dr Dharma Kanta Baskota, who is said to be close to the CPN-UML, as acting dean. Dr Baskota was appointed on Tuesday after Dr Kumud Kumar Kafle retired that very day, Manish Gautam writes in The Kathmandu Post. . In opposition, Dr KC has decided to continue with his hunger strike. Talking to the Post, Dr KC said he will not accept the political appointment and will put his life on stake until and unless appointments to major posts are made from among senior and experienced staff at the hospital. Dr KC appealed to Dr Baskota to resign from his post for being a 'political appointee' and show his support for the protest. Meanwhile, almost all senior doctors jointly stated that they would not be able to work under the ongoing chaos in the TUTH with the appointment of the new dean and one of their own faculties staging a hunger strike. Doctors on Tuesday said they would shut down all services except the emergency and in-patient services from Wednesday. Similarly, the National Resident Doctors Association (NRDA) told the Post that they would not be able to work with all their senior doctors on protest. The NRDA is an association of students pursuing their medical degrees. Meanwhile, the Nepal Medical Association condemned the 'political appointment' at the TUTH despite protests from doctors. The NMA, issuing a statement on Tuesday, warned that if the government does not address the demands of the agitating doctors, they would be forced to take 'harsh action.' Nnnn MAOIST FORMER PLA FIGHTERS LEAVE NA CANTONMENTS IN HORDES WITH ASSURANCES OF RETURN Kathmandu, 15 Aug.: The Nepal Army has asked its units deployed in the 13 cantonment sites to provide a tentative update on the number of former Maoist fighters still living there, The Kathmandu Post writes. The move comes in the wake of reports published in The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur dailies on Tuesday that most former combatants had deserted the seventh division cantonment in Kailali, citing the delay in the commencement of integration and the release of salary and rations. "The Nepal Army has control over arms storage containers and is currently carrying out parameter security of camps as per the decision of the Special Committee," said a Nepal Army source. "However, we have not imposed any restriction on the movement of combatants in and out of the camps. The former fighters keep moving in their consultations with commanders. We, concerned about reports claiming that combatants have deserted their camps, have asked our local units for reports on the issue." Special Committee Secretariat Coordinator Balananda Sharma said they have information that a 'majority of the combatants in the seventh division' and 'many of the combatants' from the other divisions had left their cantonments. "They are running out of food and are leaving the camps," said Sharma. "Commanders are no longer living inside the cantonments; hence rations for last month have not been distributed." The Agreement on Monitoring of the Management of Arms and Armies signed in 2006 stipulates that only 12 percent of the total number of combatants can be sent off on vacation at a time. Both the Nepal Army source and Special Committee Secretariat officials said that a significant number of 3,123 combatants opting for integration are now outside their camps. "We have learnt that the departing combatants said that they would return when called by the party," said coordinator Sharma. Maoist commanders were not available for comments despite several contact attempts by the Post. nnnn