KUBER SINGH RANA TAKES CHARGE AS NEW IGP Kathmandu, 14 Sept.: Kuber Singh Rana takes over as IGP of Nepal Police Friday from Rabindra Pratap Shah who’s being superannuated. He’s a janajati. Rana has been described as a non-corruptible officer. He was appointed Thursday by the cabinet with the support of Maoists and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai amid initial opposition from Madeshibadi parties in government led by Maoists. Nnnn CPN MAOIST STRIKE FRIDAY Kathmandu, 14 Sept.: CPN Maoist has called a half-day Nepal bandh from three in the morning to 12 noon Friday pressing demands like reduction of spiraling prices; The party that split from UCPN Maoist shortened the strike duration Friday because of teej and children’s day. CPN Maoist chaired by Mohan Baidhaya, who was vice-chairman in UCPN Maoist before the split, is also pressing 70 demands Nnnn RECORD SEPTEMBER RAINFALL Kathmandu, 14 Sept.: The highest September rainfall in the Valley in September after 17 after 17 September 1985 was recorded Wednesday with 106mm rainfall recorded, according to Rajendra Shrestha of the Meteorological Forecasting Division The Valley received 106 mm rain in the last 24 hours. Altogether 69mm rainfall was recorded 17 September 1985. The Valley has recorded 279.2mm above normal rainfall in September Nnnn NEPAL PLAYS SRI LANKA IN SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN SOCCER SEMI-FINAL Kathmandu, 14 Sept.: Nepal plays Sri Lanka in Colombo Friday in the semi-final of the SAFF Women’s Championship. Nepal qualified for Friday’s semi-final beating Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan.topping Group B. India plays Afghanistan in another semi-final Friday. nnnn UML MADESHI LEADER IN CITIZENSHIP CONTROVERSY Kathmandu, 14 Sept.: With the Supreme Court order to scrutinise his citizenship certificate, former minister and CPN-UML central committee member Ramchandra Jha has been dragged into controversy for “acquiring Nepali citizenship in a dubious manner, The Himalayan Times writes. After the Supreme Court order, District Administration Office, Dhanusha, now has to justify on what grounds it issued a citizenship certificate to Jha. A division bench of Justices Bharat Raj Upreti and Bharat Bahadur Karki had directed the DAO on September 10 to clarify its 1988 decision to grant the citizenship certificate to Jha. The bench also summoned Jha. In response to a writ petition filed by Ramchandra Maharjan, the bench issued the order as the petition stated that Jha is an Indian national who acquired Nepali citizenship illegally. The petitioner claimed that Jha’s name was on the voters’ list in the Indian district of Madhubani together with the names of his family members. They said as he also possesses land in India, it was unacceptable that he should be granted Nepali citizenship. Jha claimed he possessed land in Madhubani as his mother inherited it from her parents. Jha also added that his father had already died when he acquired citizenship. nnnn TU ORDERS AFFILIATED COLLEGES TO ADOPT NEPALI NAMES Kathmandu, 14 Sept.: The oldest university in the country today [Thursday] directed all affiliated colleges to adopt a name reflecting Nepali culture and shun ‘English’ names within this academic year, The Himalayan Times reports. Tribhuvan University Planning Division today said it had directed affiliated colleges to change their names if they did not reflect Nepali culture and tradition. This comes as the Department of Education ordered the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) to issue a similar directive to Plus Two colleges. Prahlad Raj Pant, chief of the Planning Division, said that the university has directed affiliated campuses to replace their English names with Nepali ones within three months. A notice issued by the division said the affiliated colleges should submit a copy of the changed name to the College Management Committee by December 15. Pant warned that students from colleges that do not follow the directive will have their examination form and registration form rejected. “If the affiliated campuses fail to change their names within three months, we will not accept admission and registration forms from those colleges,” he clarified. The TU Executive Council had decided to this effect in Mid August. Pant said that all TU affiliated colleges would have to adopt a Nepali name before 2070 BS. He also clarified that colleges would not have to pay extra registration charge to change their names. TU Planning Division stated that the varsity has more than 800 affiliated colleges. Meanwhile, HSEB Member Secretary Bhim Lal Gurung said that although the government directed them to change the names, they were having difficulties executing the decision due to lack of specific directive. No public notice till now| Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) officials and agitating students signed an agreement to direct Plus Two colleges to replace their foreign names with Nepali ones within three months, HSEB officials are yet to issue a public notice. Devi Prasad Barakoti, chief at the Affiliation Division said they were discussing how much time should be given to the Plus Two colleges to change their names. nnnn NC VEERING TOWARDS CONDITIONAL CA REINSTATEMENT Kathmandu, 14 Sept.: An informal meeting of the Nepali Congress (NC) office bearers and Central Working Committee (CWC) members on Thursday concluded that the party should go for the reinstatement of the CA only if there is a guarantee of implementation of the deal that parties may reach before the reinstatement, Republica writes.. The meeting held NC President Sushil Koirala´s residence at Maharajgunj questioned whether the UCPN (Maoist) would be honest enough in implementing the deal reached before reviving the CA. "Nepali Congress has concluded that the document of agreement among parties and the name of prime ministerial candidate for national consensus government should be submitted together to the president to ensure guarantee of the implementation of the deal," said NC spokesperson Dilendra Prasad Badu. What if the Maoists refuse to implement the deal after CA revival, was the major concerns of all the members in the meeting. Some CWC members said that party should support CA revival for a brief period if there was agreement on all contentious issues of the new constitution beforehand, but some others argued the Maoists do not want a new constitution so the NC should support the idea of holding fresh election. During the meeting, NC CWC members argued that the current ruling alliance of the Maoist and Madhes-based parties was only trying to prolong its stay in power and that government´s pressing various ordinances on the president should be seen in that light. NC leaders argued that the Maoist first should be ready to form a national consensus government in a bid to convince other parties that it is really committed for national consensus. Nnnn INSURANCE REGULATOR SEEKS CLARIFICATION FOR ‘ILLEGAL’ EVEREST INSURANCE ACTION Kathmandu, 14 Sept.: The Insurance Board, the insurance sector regulator, has sought clarification from Everest Insurance on whether it has stopped issuing new policies as reported by the media, Republica writes.. The letter, which was issued on Thursday, has asked the non-life insurance company to submit the clarification within next three days, said a high-ranking official of the Board on condition of anonymity. "The news reports have drawn our attention and we want to know the truth,” the source said, adding, it is illegal for a public company to halt its normal business operation without taking consent of all its shareholders. Everest Insurance stopped issuing new insurance policies from Tuesday and warned to close down the company in the future to protest issuance of corporate governance directive by the Insurance Board. The directive, among others, bars insurance companies from generating business from its promoters, prevents one person from assuming the position of board director in multiple insurance companies and restricts more than one member of a family from assuming post of board director in the same company. Nepal Stock Exchange also suspended share trading of the insurer on Wednesday, after news reports said it had partially halted business transaction and was planning to shut down the company in the coming days. nnnn ________________________________________