MAN KILLED, FOUR INJURED IN SINDHUPALCHOWK LIGHTNING Kathmandu, 4 Sept.: A man died and four others were injured after lightning struck them at Sindhupalchowk district on Monday evening, RSS reports from Chautara.. The deceased has been identified as 52-year-old Mingmar Tamang of Phulpingdanda VDC-6. Tamang and two other people were inside his house when lightning struck the house. Similarly, two people have sustained serious injuries due to lightning at Pangretar VDC in the district. They are undergoing treatment at the local health centre. nnnn SERIOUS DIFFERENCES CROP UP BETWEEN PM AND DPM SHRESTHA Kathmandu, 4 Sept.: Serious differences have cropped up between Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha over the foreign policy conduct. This manifested again during their recent visit to Iran where the PM held a one-on-one with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Non-aligned Movement summit last week. Shrestha ‘felt deeply humiliated’ by the PM who conspicuously sidelined him at the talks and denied access to the crucial bilateral meeting, according to a source close to the DPM, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.. Moreover, the Foreign Minister’s aides saw the move as violation of diplomatic code of conduct where none of the officials from the Foreign Ministry was present. There was also no de-briefing from the PM’s side after the meeting, a standard diplomatic practice, officials said. No official communiqué was prepared following the talks between the two PMs. Sources at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said there was no attempt on the Indian side to bypass Nepali officials. This happened because the Indian PM was busy because he was put at the podium at the inaugural session, a move that was not planned earlier. “This led to the cancellation of several bilateral meetings,” said the embassy source, “including those with Nepali officials.” The two PMs met for five to seven minutes after the inaugural session and it wasn’t planned either, said the embassy sources. “Because it was an unplanned meeting, no one was present from the Indian side either.” The talks focused on two issues—Nepal’s political situation and prospects of electricity export (200 MW) from India. The PM shared some contents of the talks with the DPM while still in Tehran. However, that was only after the DPM read news reports of the bilateral talks online and asked the PM whether such a meeting had taken place between them. The spillover of the Tehran summit started right after the Nepali delegation landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport late on Saturday when DPM Shrestha remained conspicuously absent from the press meeting addressed by the PM. This, however, is not the first time that the two Maoist leaders have been at loggerheads over the foreign policy conduct. “This is a downright disgrace for the Foreign Ministry and Minister Shrestha,” said former Foreign Minister Prakash Chandra Lohani on Monday, adding this is typical of a dysfunctional Cabinet. The cold war between the two started as far back as October last year in New Delhi where the PM embarked on his first bilateral visit to India and signed the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (BIPPA). After the BIPPA signing, Shrestha has been constantly telling journalists and party colleagues that even the Indian PM had asked Bhattarai “to think carefully whether the bilateral agreement will have any political fallout back home.” “But the PM still went ahead and signed BIPPA,” Shrestha told the Post. “I have been opposing the move since then and I am of the view that the accord was ill-timed.” In December last year, Shrestha took exception to the PM’s early public disclosure of the dates of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s Nepal visit. “That was a very premature act on the part of the prime minister and that has been perceived as a serious diplomatic lapse,” the media quoted the DPM as saying. Still, party insiders see the differences between the two “more in conduct than on policy issues, though they view New Delhi differently.” “Please note, both are party vice chairmen, both come from the same district, Gorkha. “That makes them natural competitors in domestic politics which manifests in their conduct,” said a party leader who has maintained close ties with both the leaders. “Both do not have a stronghold in the party organisation and both are constantly vying for support from the party chairman,” said the leader. There is a deep division and confusion in the Maoist party over what is nationalism and how should Nepal conduct its foreign policy and that finds it reflection in the way the two leaders approach their foreign policy, the leader said. Nnnn BLINDED NEPALI SOLDIER IMPROVES PERSONAL RECORD AT LONDON PARALYMPICS Kathmandu, 4 Sept.: Nepal athlete Bikram Bahadur Rana set a new personal best at the Paralympics, capping an extraordinary journey to the British capital from the Himalayan nation where he was blinded by Maoist rebels, Phanindra Dahal writes for AFP.. Aided by a guide runner, the former warrant officer came fourth out of four in his T11 200m heat for blind and visually impaired athletes on Monday, clocking a time of 26.95sec, more than four seconds behind the quickest qualifier. He was ultimately slowest of 18 runners overall but the former soldier, one of only a two-strong national team at the Games, is lucky to be in London at all, after nearly losing his life in the forests of central Nepal. Nine years ago he and his foot patrol triggered two roadside bombs left by Maoist rebels hiding in the forest. The explosion forced Rana to the ground, blinded and with blood pouring from an open wound in his neck as he scrambled for his rifle while bullets whizzed past and shrapnel burnt into his face. Now 31, Rana told AFP before travelling to London that he has vivid memories of his last day of active service as a government soldier battling the 10-year Maoist insurgency that finally ended in 2006. "It was the morning of September 12, 2003. A few rain drops were falling from the sky and we had reached a road area in dense forests," he said. "I was with two other soldiers when a bomb exploded. Both of my friends died on the spot and I was severely injured. My eyes were hurt, my face was covered with blood and there were wounds across my body." Rana searched desperately for his gun, coughing acrid black smoke and blinded in one eye, as a group of Maoist rebels sprang from the roadside trees and opened fire. His life was saved when his comrades drove the insurgents back into trees. His last memory before losing consciousness was the silence that descended. "I also heard music which sounded like water flowing in a small river but I found out it was the noise of the flow of blood from my neck and abdomen," he said. Doctors battled to save the sight in one of his eyes in the coming days but after two weeks in an army hospital he was totally blind. "I did not return to work for three months after the incident. I stayed at the hospital and with my relatives. But I did not want to live life doing nothing," said Rana, who lives in Kathmandu with his wife and two children. As part of his recovery, Rana was persuaded to visit the Nepal Association of the Blind, where he was inspired by an army major who was taking computer classes despite also having been blinded in the insurgency. He started classes himself and as part of his training at the association's headquarters in Kathmandu he was introduced to sport for the blind by a visiting cricket coach from Pakistan in 2008. "I started competing in para athletics in 2008 and I became regional and national champion in the 200 metres in 2009," he added. Rana clocked 12.85sec in the 100m at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Para Games, finished ninth among 32 runners and gaining a wildcard entry to the London Games. The road to London hasn't been easy for Rana and teammate Maiya Bishankhe, a women's 100m runner who was born with only one forearm. They have received little help from the authorities in Nepal, a country which does not invest in Paralympic sport and where facilities for disabled athletes are few and far between. Rana, who is on Nepal's provisional squad list for the Blind Cricket World Cup in Bangalore, India, in November, says they have had no advice on special diets and have not been provided with footwear and clothing for the Games. He admitted that he did not expect to be among the medals but said getting to London was a major personal victory. "I feel very proud of my accomplishments. Despite being blind, I will be able to compete carrying the flag of my country," he said. "I think the opportunity I have received being a blind athlete has made the country proud." nnnn