FORMER KING DRIVES TO BAGLUNG, PARBAT TO OFFER PUJHA AT TEMPLES Kathmandu, 22 Sept.: Former King Gyanendra left Pokhara by car Saturday morning for Baglung an Parbat districts to offer puja and worship at temples in the districts Ten ruling and opposition parties Friday forced the cancellation of the last king’s visit of Myagdhi district by calling a bandh The parties for the first time disrupted the then king’s internal tour after failing to promulgate a constitution in four years to institutionalize a declared republic by an unelected parliament. The main political players are mainly engaged in capturing Singha Durbar putting aside responsibility to draft a basic law. Even now Maoists are refusing to quit government amid calls mainly by opposition NC and UML to replace government of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. Nnnn PROTESTS IN NEPAL AGAINST ANTI-ISLAM US FILM Kathmandu, 22 Sept. Angry Muslims in the capital burnt an American Flag in front of Tri Chandra Campus Saturday after bringing out a protest against am anti-Islam moie produced in the USA. They presented a memorandum to Prime Minister Baburm Bhattarai asking him to remind the international community of the protests in Nepal- a majority Hindu state where Muslims are in a minority. Protests were reported from Bhairahawa. nnnn GOVT. ENFORCING NEW DIPLOMATIC CODE OF CONDUCT Kathmandu, 22 Sept.: In line with international practices, the government is all set to revisit and review the Diplomatic Code of Conduct (2011), adding "sterner sets of rules" to be followed by politicians and public office bearers while interacting with foreign diplomats, Anil Giri reports in The Kathmandu Post.. The revised comprehensive diplomatic code, which will clearly define new diplomatic practices and conduct, is being drafted by Foreign Secretary Durga Prasad Bhattarai. Ministries of Home and Finance are helping Bhattarai to finalise the state decorum and domestic protocol order. From the Finance Ministry, Foreign Secretary Bhattarai got inputs and suggestions on how to make the foreign aid regime friendly to Nepal's development paradigm. Now onwards, without prior approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no foreign aid will be sanctioned and approved by the Cabinet. Following the international standard, the new code will not allow leaders, politicians, bureaucrats and others to randomly meet foreigners. "We should prioritise our national interests and determine our aid priority," said a senior official privy to this development. The present diplomatic code, besides specifying ways for diplomatic meeting, diplomatic correspondence, and Foreign Ministry's approval for all kinds of meeting with foreign dignitaries, states how the office bearers should present themselves in diplomatic meetings and functions. The new code will make it mandatory for former prime ministers to approach the Foreign Ministry while meeting foreign ambassadors, leaders and diplomats. This code will gradually be applicable to heads of political parties, too. "Leaders are responsible citizens and part of this country and state. So how can they be exempt from following the code?" asked another official. But officials say a human resource crunch at the Foreign Ministry makes monitoring and implementation of the code difficult. "Unless we address the shortage, we won't be able to effectively handle the code's implementation since it needs rigorous representation and participation." The current diplomatic code of conduct has given concessions to political party leaders who do not hold public posts while there is no concrete policy on receiving aid. "The new code will be fundamentally different from what we have now. It will be in line with international standards and will bring more sections under its ambit," said a senior government official knowledgeable about the development. "I have made it clear to former PMs that their meetings with foreign dignitaries, diplomats, ambassadors or leaders should come under the purview of the state," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha told the Post when work had just begun to draft the new code. Last August, the Foreign Ministry unveiled a Diplomatic Code of Conduct for sitting government officials, including the President, PM and ministers, to make official meetings, contacts, negotiations and communications with foreign governments, officials, diplomats and representatives of international organisations more systematic and "dignified." nnnn- SEBON TO INTRODUCE COMMODITIES REGULATION SOON Kathmandu, 22 Sept.: The capital market regulator is in a hurry to bring the commodities and derivatives market under the regulatory ambit at the soonest following the furore about shady activities of the exchanges, but the move has raised concerns about its effectiveness, The Himalayan Times reports. Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) had already submitted a preliminary draft of the regulation to the High Level Financial Coordination Committee on Monday. “The committee has given its feedback and we will incorporate those suggestions in the final regulation,” said chairman of Sebon Baburam Shrestha. The high-level committee comprising of the finance minister, finance secretary, chairmen of Sebon and Insurance Board, and governor of Nepal Rastra Bank had formally commissioned Sebon to regulate the commodities market as soon as possible. Commodities market has come under fire after Sebon released its study report on the undertakings of the exchanges last month. Even though the report did not find any illegal undertakings by these exchanges and the brokers, it, however, substantiated doubts that the market operation is not in favour of investors. Moreover, suspicious trading software, lack of transparency and bad corporate governance, have left investors vulnerable. Fearing similar activities, Sebon had already started proceedings to frame a regulation but the process got derailed as an amendment to the Securities Act to include the commodities and derivatives market under Sebon’s jurisdiction was halted due to the dissolution of parliament. “We still need to amend the Act, but for the time being we can regulate the market with the authority bestowed by Securities Act that says Sebon can regulate contractual trading, and since commodities market also trades contracts we can regulate them through that for the time being,” pointed out Shrestha. The draft spells out the clause regarding fit and proper criteria, disclosure, transparency, corporate governance and trading procedures. However, such hastiness in bringing the regulation has raised doubts that the regulation will be ill-conceived and only benefit the exchanges and brokers, and not investors. “A little delay will not hurt much, but trying to regulate with half-baked laws will only backfire as exchanges will get a regulation they desire but there will be no guarantee that investor rights will be protected,” said a member of the study team that conducted the research on Nepali commodities market for Sebon. The commodities market has mobilised investment worth Rs 250 million, with Rs 13 billion investment from investors. And 80 per cent of investors lose their investment. There are seven commodities exchanges –– with the latest Everest Commodities Exchange –– operating in Nepal that provide a portal to buy or sell contracts of precious metals, crude oil, natural gas, base metals and agricultural products at an agreed price but transactions are held for speculative motive only. “Regulation needs to steer exchanges to facilitate commodities trading for hedging and arbitrage purpose too. Then only will its economic utility be realised,” said the study team member. Nnnn BRAIN BEHIND CAPITAL ROBBERIES ARRESTED Kathmandu, 22 Sept.:After spending months investigating rising incidents of armed robbery in the Valley, police have succeeded in apprehending the brains behind various such incidents, The Himalayan Times reports.. Vijay Gupta (37), who allegedly orchestrated armed robberies in various locations of the Valley in the past, was arrested by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Crime Division from Baniyatar yesterday. MPCD in-charge SSP Devendra Subedi said the Indian national was operating a robbery racket under the cloak of a hardware businessman. He is also the owner of Riddhi Siddhi Hardware Store. “Our primary investigation shows that Gupta was behind high-profile robbery cases recorded in the past. His arrest is a major breakthrough in the crackdown on property crime,” said DSP Subedi. Gupta, the leader of an eight-member gang, would mobilise his ‘well-trained’ associates rather than involving himself in the robberies. His involvement in a series of crimes came to the fore after two of his associates: Ramesh Thakur (20) and Ranjeet Kumar Singh (18) of Bihar were caught while trying to rob Gongabu-based Myagdi Dhaulagiri Jewellry Store on July 19. Two pistols and eight rounds of bullets were also seized from the duo. The gang had also opened fire in the air to terrorise the shop owner and others. Gupta, who came to Kathmandu 11 years ago, had procured a fake citizenship certificate allegedly issued by Sunsari District Administration Office. He had also managed to obtain a driving licence from Kathmandu on the basis of the citizenship certificate. Police have seized the forged documents and a map of ‘potential target areas’ prepared by the gang. Five other members of the robbery racket: Sanjog Pal, Deepak Bharat, Rajiv Bharat, Mani Singh Bharat and Gorakh Bharat are at large. DSP Himalaya Shrestha said Gupta’s involvement was established in two incidents of armed robbery in Kathmandu so far. “In one instance, the gang barged into the Teku-based house of Prakash Agrawal and held the family at gunpoint to loot four million rupees and a gold chain on January 24,” he informed. In another instance, they raided the house of Rajendra Shrestha at Sitapaila, took family members under control and decamped with cash and gold worth Rs 1.5 million on July 4. SSP Subedi informed that Mani Singh, one of the fugitive criminals, had smuggled a pistol into Kathmandu from his home village. “Gupta used to keep the weapon in his possession and provide them to his associates when needed,” he said. Police have also seized a sketch said to have been made by Gupta as part of his future robbery plans. Nnnn ONLINE SYSTEM TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT SECTOR Kathmandu, 22 Sept.: Stakeholders in the foreign employment sector are gearing up to introduce an ‘online system’ to stay connected with each other and address the communication gap that has resulted in anomalies. The system is expected to connect stakeholders, including the Department of Foreign Employment, the Department of Immigration, Nepali embassies abroad, the Consular Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and foreign employment agencies, among others. This new system will give online access to one another’s database. The lapse in communication has been the major reason behind delayed service and other serious anomalies such as fraud and human trafficking. Most of the offices concerned maintain handwritten files and old data keeping system. The online database will include personal details about workers — pre-approval, final approval, companies, manpower companies, details of the dead, imprisoned, status of outgoing and returnee, among others. The foreign employment department has already given the ‘access code’ of its online database to three Nepali missions in India, Kuwait and Malaysia. It plans to connect itself with the immigration department, other missions, manpower companies, orientation centres and other stakeholders soon. The department has been taking support from experts in updating details online. Director General at the foreign employment department Purna Chandra Bhattarai said they have so far been able to achieve the envisioned initial goals. The access code has helped recipient embassies identify widespread anomalies and take instant action against culprits. “After providing the access code, we have found how fraudsters take advantage of the lapse in communication,” said Bhattarai. While tallying information through the access code, the missions have found many workers using double contract letter. Nepali missions abroad have also started updating the status of returnee, imprisoned, dead and workers seeking deportation on their websites, beside other information, categorically. Nepali ambassador to Saudi Arabia Uday Raj Pandey said ‘it’s only beginning’. The embassy aims to make accessible the information online to public and stakeholders. The foreign employment department is giving the access code to the embassy ‘very soon’. The Consular Section of the Foreign Ministry is gearing up to store workers’ record in computerised database. According to Dilip Poudel, chief of the section, the new system will make all the data available in a matter of a mouse click. “The new system will fast track our work, keeping the entire record organised. Both the officials and service seekers are suffering due to muddled record keeping,” said Poudel. With an unprecedented rise in the number of migrant workers, the old, traditional data keeping was easily being manipulated by fraudsters. Although no exact data are available, the government records show over 2.5 million Nepali workers are legally working in various countries. The foreign employment sector contributes over 20 percent to the national GDP. nnnn