UML CHAIRMAN KHANAL, MAOIST CHIEF PRACHANDA HOLD DISCUSSIONS Kathmandu, 10 Aug.: UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal held telephonic dialogue with Maoist Chairman Prachanda to end a prolonged political crisis Friday morning. There was no end of an impasse. The meeting is being held four days after President Dr.Ram Baran Yadav asked parties in dissolved constituent assembly during a five-hour luncheon meeting to resolve differences and end a deepening constitutional and political crisis. Positions have hardened even after an attempt by the president to negotiate a resolution to the differences. Nnnn FOREIGN MINISTRY PERMISSION OBLIGATORY TO GET FOREIGN AID, LOAN Kathmandu, 10 Aug.: The government has made it mandatory for anyone taking any kind of foreign aid or loan to seek prior “suggestions” from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), given that it is in line with the foreign policy and priority, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post. . This is the first time that the ministry has been included in foreign aid negotiations. The decision to this effect was taken by the Cabinet on July 1. “It must be ensured that prior suggestion or acceptance from MoFA should be taken into consideration while agreeing on any kind of foreign loan or aid. Otherwise, a representative from the MoFA should be included in the negotiations team,” the Cabinet decision says. The negotiations team must also provide the terms and conditions put forward by the Nepali side to the Cabinet while agreeing on the aid or loan. MoFA has already started regulating the work of International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) in Nepal and has asked them to register with the Aid Management Platform at the Ministry of Finance. Earlier, Nepali missions abroad were included in loan or aid negotiations and presided over and dominated by the Ministry of Finance. MoFA was never included in the negotiations or the agreement process. “All foreign aid or loans should be guided or dictated by foreign policy parameters. If they are found to be beyond the parameters, MoFA will not accept the loan or aid,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha. Such a proposal was tabled in the Cabinet by Shrestha himself. After the Cabinet decision, the Finance Ministry for the first time in July sought MoFA’s feedback on the soon-to-be launched biometric National Identity Cards (NICs). The Finance Ministry was all set to announce a global bidding for the NICs and was going to accept financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank. During the negotiations, MoFA can suggest amendments or scrapping altogether the proposed aid or loan. It can also advise government agencies to accept or deny the loan. “This move will lead to better and more coordinated efforts while also easing the loan agreement process. It will also bring about transparency in foreign aid and loans,” a Finance Ministry official privy to the development said. Nnnn ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPT. ARCHIVING RARE PRESERVED DOCUMENTS Kathmandu, 10 Aug.: Some of Nepal’s finest historical assets dating back to the eighth century are preserved carefully at the National Archives under the Department of Archaeology (DoA), Ankit Adhikari writes in The Kathmandu Post. More than 30,000 centuries old handwritten texts on traditional Nepali papers, palm leaves, birch barks and various other mediums along with microfilms of over 180,000 ancient texts and scripts are in its storage. “More than just texts, this collections is a reflection of culture, civilisation and the transformation of religions,” says Prakash Darnal, chief of the National Archives. According to him, the manuscripts are reservoirs for a number of endangered scripts such as Ranjana and Bramhi. “As long as these archives are intact, these scripts are safely recorded in our pages,” he says. The ancient texts in the collection are in various languages and scripts, namely Nepali, Sanskrit, Newari, Tibetan, Maithali, Hindi and Awadhi. Many of the texts are unique in their usage of gold and silver ink. While some are legends and myths, others are moral stories passed down from generation to generation. There are dramas and hymns, and treatises on astrology, medicine, philosophy and religion. Among the collection are 8,000 rare Tibetan manuscripts and block-prints dating back from the 11th and 12th centuries through to the 19th century, relating to oriental history, culture and religion. A palm leaf manuscript of the Hindu Skanda-Purana, copied in 810 AD in Lichchhavi (Gupta) script is one of the oldest available Nepali manuscripts. An eighth century Saddharma-Pundarika, a palm-leaf Buddhist manuscript in the Sanskrit language but also written in Lichchhavi script, is another of the oldest treasures in the National Archives. The archives also possesses Nyayabikasini (Manavdharmanyaya Shastra), King Jayasthiti Malla’s legal code, believed to be the oldest Nepali written code of law dating back to 1308 AD. Additionally, there are a number of copper-plate inscriptions and approximately 3,000 rubbings, primarily from stones. Royal decrees, orders issued by past governments and authorised officials, treatises, and sundry historical letters, including Shyaha Mohars, Lal Mohars, Sandhipatras, Ekchhapatras, Dwichhapes, Rukhas and Eshtihars, form another section of invaluable documents in the collection. Lal Mohars (official decrees) from King Grivana Yuddha Bikram Shah, dated 1812 AD, deputing Kedar Nath Jha to look after the palace books is yet another interesting document. According to Darnal, the King’s Lal Mohar signifies the beginning of royal interest in books and ancient scriptures. “Many of the ancient manuscripts we have now were collected and preserved by Kedar Nath Jha after the decree was issued,” says Darnal. “The collection in the royal palace continued until Bir Shumsher shifted it to the Bir Library at Ghantaghar in 1900.” After that, the collection was shifted to the DoA after its establishment in 1952 and then again to the National Archives in 1967. Between 1970 to 2001, the manuscripts were preserved under microfilm by the Nepal German Manuscript Preservation Project. Apart from its own collection of 30,000 texts, the National Archives also collected scripts from various other sources to place under microfilm record, totalling 180,000. nnnn