JOURNALIST JHA DEAD Kathmandu, 8 Aug.: Member of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Saptari Chapter Bibekananda Jha passed away on Tuesday night, RSS reports from Rajbiraj.. Jha had served the Mithila Weekly as an executive editor and also worked as a member of Working Journalist Minimum Wage Fixation Committee. He has long been suffering from kidney related diseases. He had had more than two-decade-long association with Maithili Literature Council and also served the Council as the Chair. The demise of Jha has caused irreparable loss to Maithili literary horizon, said past president of the Council Devendra Mishra. The late Jha is survived by spouse, two sons and a daughter. Nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “I have changed the working style of the PMO. It no longer looks into minor issues. If you have any problem, please go and talk to ministries concerned.” (New Chief Secretary Lilamani Paudel tells a delegation trying to met PM Bhattarai, The Kathmandu Post, 8 Aug.) “We, in the five-point agreement signed on May 3, had agreed to hand over the government leadership to the Congress only after the disputed issues of the new constitution were agreed upon. So, even now, we are not compelled to handover the government leadership to the NC without holding consensus on the unsettled issues. “If the parties want new agreement, it is not imperative that the Congress should lead the government without agreeing on the issues of new constitution. Anyone from the UCPM, NC or Baidhya could lead the government in the new agreement.” (Maoist Chief Prachanda, The Himalayan Times, 8 Aug.) nnnn nnnn JANAJATIS DIVIDED ON THURSDAY’S PARTY FORMATION Kathmandu, 8 Aug.: With the date scheduled for declaring a Janajati party approaching fast, ethnic leaders are sharply divided over the announcement of a new party on August, The Kathmandu Post writes. A national gathering of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) held in the first week of July had decided to form a new party. While leaders like Pasang Sherpa are all set to form such a party, ethnic leaders of big parties and a faction led by Nefin General Secretary Ang Kaji Sherpa have clearly stood against an announcement on August 9. Despite pressure piled by Ang Kaji and ethnic leaders of big parties, the Pasang group said the party will be announced on August 9 at any cost. The two-day meeting of a taskforce comprising Chaitanya Subba, Krishna Bhattachan, Shanti Rai, Pashang Sherpa, Shankar Limbu, Nanda Kandangwa, Joyti Danuwar, Mahendra Lawati and Jit Pal Kirat, held in Dhulikhel, Kavre, two days ago agreed to announce the party formation. Pasang Sherpa told the Post that the taskforce is prepared for the announcement. He said preparations are underway to announce a 100-member party through a general convention. According to their schedule, the party’s name, manifesto and Construction Coordination Committee will be announced on August 9. “Some friends of Nefin and ethnic leaders of big parties are asking not to declare the party now. But we think that this is the right time to do so,” said Pasang. “They can join us later if they want to, but we are not in the mood to postpone the announcement.’’ A highly-placed source said a group of Janajati leaders, including UML Vice-chairman Ashok Rai, Rajendra Shrestha and Ang Kaji Sherpa, are joining the UCPN-Maoist party. The source claimed that the leaders have held several rounds of meetings with Maoist Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal. According to their plan, they are likely to enter the Maoist fold soon after the party’s general convention scheduled for January-end next year. Ang Kaji Sherpa said his team does not support the announcement of the new party in haste. He said it will be a “big mistake” if they do not wait for leaders like Ashok Rai. According to him, Rai and his team are likely to formally break up with their party on August 9. “I am firm on the formation of a new Janajati party, but that would not happen overnight like some people are thinking. A party can’t be formed by making a concept in a closed room, it needs a lot of homework. It takes time,” said Ang Kaji. While he did not deny the possibility of them joining the Maoist party, he said it will not happen anytime soon. “Anything can happen in politics, but right now there isnt such a likelihood. At least for some months I have no intention of joining any party,” he said. nnnn HIDC SEEKS CONSORTIUM FINANCING Kathmandu, 8 Aug.: Hydroelectric Investment and Development Company (HIDC) has got off to a running start by holding talks with commercial banks on the possibility of joining them as a consortium partner. The central bank has allowed HIDC to finance hydropower projects identified by banks as a consortium partner initially while it gains technical expertise, Prithvi Man Shrestha writes in The Kathmandu Post. . The government-owned company has been in talks with a number of commercial banks planning to finance hydropower projects after they asked if it wanted to join them. “We are talking with Nabil Bank out of the four banks that approached us with potential projects,” said Ejendra Prasad Luitel, management coordinator of HIDC. “Himalayan Bank, Prime and Laxmi have sent us the names of the projects, but they have not provided any details.” According to HIDC, Nabil has proposed financing the 42 MW Mristi Khola Hydropower Project located in Myagdi district. HIDC and Nabil have held two rounds of talks over the project. After finding the project to be attractive, the HIDC board has decided to invite Nabil and the developers of the project to give a presentation this week. The rate of the power purchase agreement signed with the Nepal Electricity Authority is Rs 5.40 per unit which HIDC has found attractive. A senior Nabil official who wanted to remain unnamed said they were at the initial phase of discussions. “It is, however, good that an institution focused on hydropower development is ready to finance projects initiated by us,” said the Nabil official. HIDC officials said it would also look at financing other projects after the other banks provide the details. According to them, Himalayan Bank has proposed the 42.9 MW Anku Khola while Prime Bank has proposed the 25 MW Khani Khola I whose capacity is being enhanced to 40 MW. Laxmi has proposed two projects, 23.5 MW Upper Solu and 2.6 MW Shisa Khola. HIDC had asked seven commercial banks and two development banks to recommend projects above 25 MW in which it could invest as a consortium partner. Meanwhile, an HIDC official said that financing the project proposed by Laxmi Bank was not possible as it was below 25 MW. As per its memorandum of association, it can only finance projects above 25 MW. Established a year ago, HIDC possesses funds in the amount of Rs 6.7 billion obtained by various ministries and other government agencies. The company intends to generate resources from bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and other international organisations besides issuing debentures and bonds in the domestic market. It has a paid-up capital of Rs 8 billion, issued capital of Rs 10 billion and authorised capital of Rs 50 billion. nnnn CHANGING STANCES OF OPPOSITION PARTIES ON VOTE Kathmandu, 8 Aug.: A day after Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala said his party was ready to go either for Constituent Assembly or parliamentary polls, CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal made a similar statement today when he met a group of journalists in the Capital, Ram Kumar Kamat writes in The Himalayan Times.. The NC and the UML, who were, until a few days, on collision course with the ruling coalition over whether the elections should be for CA or parliament departed from their stance a day after a broader meeting was held with the President. “Our first priority is a new constitution so we decided not to make the name (CA or parliamentary elections) an issue,” said Dilendra Prasad Badu, spokesperson, NC, “But the current government must go and a new consensus government must be formed.” It is not yet clear whether the NC and the UML would also be interested to revive the CA, settle unresolved issues and promulgate a new constitution. The ruling coalition kept arguing all these weeks that there was no provision for parliamentary elections in the Interim Constitution and if that happened, it would put republicanism, democracy and federalism in peril. And this argument perhaps struck chord with many. The NC and the UML perhaps also want to change its perception among the public. By agreeing to go for Constituent Assembly elections, the NC and the CPN-UML also seeks to fight ruling parties’ charges of being anti-federalist forces. “The opposition wanted parliamentary election because in Parliament they can issue whips and control their MPs. We do not want that to happen,” said Sarvendranath Shukla, spokesperson for Tarai Madhes Democratic Party. Another reason why the opposition parties might have felt the need to gain public support was to mount pressure on Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to quit. The recent quashing of a writ that sought dismissal of PM Bhattarai made it clear how hard it would be for the opposition parties to remove Bhattarai. The issues of the new election date, amendment to the constitution, strength of the CA and formation of a new election government could take weeks to settle. While the ruling coalition may like to maintain the current strength of the CA for their tactical strength, the opposition parties would probably not let that happen. “The size and the term of the CA should be reduced and unsettled issues should be decided through referendum,” said UML leader Bhim Rawal. UCPN-M has taken positively the new development. “It seems that we are now inching towards an agreement. National and international stakeholders are also contributing to it,” said UCPN-M leader Haribol Gajurel. He added that if the CA was revived and political parties settle unresolved issues of the constitution, then the five-point deal would apply and the NC would get the chance to lead the government or else there should be a new agreement. “Our PM has repeatedly said that he would quit the moment when there is consensus on issues of constitution,” Gajurel added. Nnnn GOVT.MULLS IMPOSING ESSENTIAL SERVICE ACT TO ENSURE SMOOTH GAS SUPPLY Kathmandu, 8 Aug.: The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) will ask the Home Ministry to impose the Essential Service Act on the trade of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tomorrow [Wednesday] as cooking gas bottlers have threatened to halt supply, The Himalayan Times reports.. Nepal Oil Corporation has recommended the ministry to impose the Act saying it is urgent since the plants warned of halting LPG supply from today, said secretary at MoCS Lal Mani Joshi. He, however, said that the ministry will ask NOC to continue talking to the bottlers to settle the dispute between the government and bottlers. The corporation has been compelled to take the decision of imposing the Essential Service Act (ESA) keeping in mind the consumers, said acting managing director of NOC Suresh Kumar Agrawal. Among other things, the ESA bans all types of strikes in the import and distribution of petroleum products including LPG. Persons directly involved in strikes against essential services are subject to a six-month jail term or a fine of up to Rs 2000 or both, according to Essential Service Act of the country. Likewise, those inciting strikes or tacitly supporting the strike organisers are liable to a one-year jail term or a fine of up to Rs 1,000 or both. Earlier, LP Gas Industry Association Nepal had piled pressure on NOC to fulfill its 16-point demand and threatened to halt LPG supply. The association had claimed that it could halt the entire business since LPG was not under the jurisdiction of Essential Service Act. The intention of NOC officials is not clean though it has recommended the ministry to impose the Act, an entrepreneur said, adding that the association and some officials at the corporation have been conducting several rounds of meetings to raise the commission rate. “Members of the association are trying to bribe the NOC officials,” the entrepreneur claimed. nnnn