NA WITH NEW CHIEF BRIEFS TOP GOVT. MINISTERS Kathmandu, 26 Sept. :Nepal Army (NA) Tuesday briefed senior members of the cabinet, including Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar. The permier looks after the defence ministry portfolio. The briefing was arranged after the appointment of Gen. Gaurav Shumshere JB Rana as the new army chief. The NA sought government support for a 10-year master plan to upgrade the national army match its capability with other South Asian countries. nnnn. TALKS FOR UNIFICATION BETWEEN MADESHBADI PARTIES Kathmandu, 26 Sept. : Unification talks were held Tuesday between two Madeshbadi parties in government.- MJFL and TMLP; five Madeshi parties are in the government led by UCPN Maoist Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai. TMLP chaired by Mahanta Thakur is holding separate unification talks with MJFN headed by Upendra Yada which is not in government. Regional parties are conducting talks as elections have been announced for a Constituent assembly (CA) and to strengthen regional demands. Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar and Chairman of MJFL headed Tuesday on his party’s behalf and Minister Hridesh Tripathi on behalf of TMLP. Nnnn MORE PROTESTS PLANNED FOR POKHARA AIRPORT Kathmandu, 26 Sept.: More protests are planned in Pokhara Wednesday to press government to construct a regional/ international airport to service the lake city. Residents Tuesday closed the airport for several hours pushing demands. Following earlier assurances, Tourism Minister Post Bahadur Bogati Tuesday ruled immediate construction of the airport. Loans are being negotiated with China fir its construction. Nnnn PRACHANDA RETURNS FROM POKHARA WEDNESDAY Kathmandu, 26 Sept.: Amid hardening of positions between Maoists leading the government and opposition, Maoist Chairman Prachanda returns to the capital Wednesday from Pokhara and has to handle a national political and constitutional crisis after calling for constituent assembly (CA) polls. But talks have centered not on elections but of who will lead an election government with opposition deciding to intensify protests to bring the government of Prime Minster Baburam Bhattarai. Main NC is claiming the leadership of an election government Top Maoist leaders, including Chairman Prachanda, PM Bhattarai and now Krishna Bahadur Mahara have refused to meet opposition demands. The main issue of conducting election has been sidelined with a decision to hold it to end the deadlock. Nnnn FORMER KING ALSO RETURNS FROM POKHARA WEDNESDAY Kathmandu, 26 Sept. :Former King Gyanendra also returns to the capital from Pokhara Wednesday. He received spontaneous and tumultuous welcome from people in six western districts he visited despite obstructions from ruling and opposition parties during his puja of temples there. He kept in touch with people through his direct walks. nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “One powerful Madhesi force is needed whether we contest elections or resort to street protests.” (Jitendra Sonal of TMLP, The Himalayan Times, 26 Sept.) ‘Let’s first topple the Baburam Bhattarai government. Then the issue of the prime ministerial candidate [from NC) will be taken up.” (NC President Sushil Koirala, Kantipur, 26 Sept.) “The protests that we are planning would be so intense that the government would be toppled within a month.“We might also vie for the leadership. But that would be decided later. Main focus for now is to go for protests to oust PM Bhattarai and Pushpa Kamal Dahal.” (CPN Vice-chairman CP Gajurel, The Kathmandu Post, 26 Sept.) :The sense of enmity is still there in many former rebels.But, I am pretty confident that there will be no distance between them and other soldiers." (Balananda Sharma, Coordinator of special committee for integration, rehabilitation and supervision, Republica,26 Sept.) Nnnn GOVT. CANCELS CONTRACT FOR MELAMCHI WITH CHINA Kathmandu, 26 Sept : Melamchi Water Supply Development Board today terminated its contract with the Chinese firm for building the diversion tunnel under the Melamchi Water Supply Project. Ramesh Prasad Bhusal writes in Republica.. A week ago, Chinese contractor China Railway 15 Bureau Group Corporation had informed Melamchi Water Supply Development Board (MWSDB) that it would withdraw from the contract, citing some problems over payment and lack of support from the board. But after three days of submission of its withdrawal letter, the Chinese company had sought support from the government to resume work, saying it was ready to do so if its demands were fulfilled. However, MWSDB today said it rejects all accusations as was repeatedly clarified to the company and added that there wasn´t any problem with payments at all. It decided to terminate the contract as the company´s motive was found to be suspect. “We awarded the contract with certain terms of reference and a fixed amount was agreed while signing the contract, but the company time and again pressured us to increase the amount bid, something that was not possible. So we decided to terminate the contract,” said MWSDB Executive Director Krishna Acharya. The Chinese firm was contracted for Rs 4 billion in 2009 to construct the tunnel. The letter of termination was handed to the company today. MWSDB said the company was inefficient and the equipment it used was not of the required capacity. “We had already sent a 52-point recommendation made by engineers to increase technical manpower and buy advance equipment but it turned a deaf ear to our request. So there is no point sticking to the contract,” added Acharya. The company was contracted to construct the 26.3 km tunnel to divert 170 million liters of water per day from Melamchi to Sundarijal, where the water would undergo treatment before going into the bulk distribution system. However, the company has constructed only 6.5 km of tunnel over the last three years. The project was supposed to be completed by the end of 2013. According to Acharya, negotiations with the company failed after it repeatedly asked for an increase in the bid amount. “Their motive was to linger on and bargain for more money, which we won´t be able to provide under any circumstance; so there wasn´t any option other than terminating,” he said. The board said it will start a new bidding process immediately. The procedure would be completed within a week. “We want to select a new company within six months,” Acharya added. The board also said that equipment used by the Chinese company would be seized and and an valuation done.The final financial dealings with the company will be done only after the completion of the project. According to the officials, the board has already corresponded with the banks to return to the government the advance that was paid to the company. The company was given $6.2 million and 1.4 million Euros as advance on bank guarantee and these will be returned. If the bidding process is finalized within six months it is expected that the tunnel construction will be completed by the end of 2016. nnnn VIRAL FEVER KILLS 20 PERSONS IN TWO MONTHS Kathmandu, 26 Sept.: An outbreak of viral fever that claimed seven lives in just one week in Dailekh district early this month continues to affect people in other parts of the country with five new deaths in a week, Reppublica reports from Chitwan, Baglung.. Weeks after the Dailekh fever outbreak seems to have been contained, viral fever has claimed two lives in Chitwan and three in Sindhupalchowk districts in a week. According to the District Public Health Office (DPHO) of Chitwan, Lekha Regmi and her sister Menuka Regmi, residents of Gardi VDC-8 in Chitwan district, who were recently admitted to Bharatpur Hospital for treatment, died on Monday and Tuesday respectively. In Sindhupalchok district, three people, including a schoolgirl, died due to the fever in a week. Sunmaya Tamang, 65, of Hagam VDC-1, Dhan Bahadur Shrestha, 65, of Hagam VDC-3, and Anjali Neupane, 8, of Phulpingkot VDC-3 in Sindhupalchok district have died after developing intense fever for several days, according to the locals. Anjali was a third grader at Laxmi Devi Secondary School, Phulpingkot. Shreedhar Neupane, a local of Phupingkot VDC, told Republica on the phone that many people in his neighborhood have fallen sick due to viral fever. “There are sick people in every household,” said Neupane. “People are fearful that they may also catch the viral fever.” Phulpingkot health post and Jalbire Primary Healthcare Centre are overcrowded with sick people, according to Neupane. Padam Bhandari, a teacher in Phulpingkot VDC, said most of the students have already stopped attending classes due to the fear of fever. The District Public Health Office (DPHO) of Sindhupalchok has sent a team of health workers to provide medical treatment to sick people. In Chitwan, with the latest deaths of Lekha and Menuka, the number of people killed by the fever has reached 10 in two months. Earlier, four in Chitwan Medical College, three in Bharatpur Hospital and one in College of Medical Science, Chitwan had died of viral fever nearly two months ago. nnnn ALARM SOUNDED OVER TRADE IN BROWN SUGAR Kathmandu, 26 Sept.: The Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU) today [Tuesday] sounded the alarm over increasing trade of brown sugar in the Capital and said high demand was spurring traffickers. In its latest move, NDCLEU rounded up six persons, including a woman, in Gongabu and seized 530 grams brown sugar from their possession. The arrested are: Kali Maya Tamang aka Rita (28) of Nuwakot, Jiyalal Sahani (30) and Mahesh Prasad Kurmi (31) of Parsa, and Thapa Tamang (19), Jayaram Tamang (19) and Bai Lama Tamang (24) of Dhading. SSP Nawa Raj Silwal, deputy chief of the unit, said Kali Maya was found to be supplying the drug to retailers in Kathmandu after procuring it from Jiyalal and Mahesh Prasad. “She would receive the drug from the duo and make it available to retailers on demand,” he said. Jiyalal and Mahesh Prasad are Parsa-based drug dealers, who shuttle between India and Nepal to push the drug into cities such as Kathmandu, Pokhara, Dharan and Biratnagar. The 560-gram brown sugar, which was seized fetches around Rs 3 lakh in the gray market. It can be used to provide a single dose to around 3,000 abusers. “The arrested admitted that demand for brown sugar was increasing every day. This paints a grim picture of the drug trade,” SSP Silwal noted. Separately, NDCLEU arrested two persons –– Chandra Bahadur Neupane (29) of Bara and Sahaj Das Gupta (50) of Siraha –– with 80 grams and 50 grams of brown sugar in a separate operations. SP Sher Bahadur Basnet informed that white and brown sugar are mostly consumed by the rich whereas members of low-income class go for pharmaceutical drugs to serve their addiction. The law states that a person possessing 25 to 100 grams of brown sugar can be sentenced to 10 to 15 years in jail and fined Rs 75,000 to 200,000. Nnnn WEAK DOLLAR MAY HIT REMITTNCS Kathmandu, 26 Sept.: The appreciating Nepali currency against the US dollar might affect remittance income and export of Nepali products, The Himalayan Times reports. The appreciation of the Indian currency (IRs) with which our currency is pegged to has pulled down the exchange rate of the US dollar to Rs 85. In late June, the dollar had reached Rs 91.28 –– the highest ever –– after the Indian currency plunged to lower than IRs 57. Since then monetary intervention by the Indian central bank has saved the Indian currency from plunging further. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had fixed the dollar exchange rate at Rs 85.05 for today –– the lowest in the last four and a half months. By closing time today, the central bank had fixed it at Rs 85.24 for tomorrow. Today’s average of the dollar exchange rate fixed by 20 commercial banks stood at Rs 84.98. Even though Nepal’s financial conditions have nothing to do with the exchange rate movement, the fixed exchange rate regime with India takes the Nepali currency along its ride. India’s current reformist steps like removing subsidy on fuel and allowing foreign investment in retail stores has sparked global confidence in the Indian currency once again, pushing it up. “For the Indian economy, having a strong currency is favourable, but for a fundamentally weak economy like Nepal, a strong currency turns out to be unfavourable,” said economist Dr Chiranjibi Nepal. The cheaper US dollar translates to a decline in remittance income. Appreciation in US dollar had swelled remittance income by 41.8 per cent amounting to Rs 360 billion, last fiscal year. “Reduced remittance in the absence of a full budget can bring another round of liquidity crunch in the financial sector which will be detrimental to economic activities, as the rate of expansion in lending is still slow despite enough liquidity,” he added. Likewise, a weak dollar means Nepali exports will be expensive in foreign markets. Nepali exports to third countries is already meagre, as Nepali exporters have been unable to exploit the advantage forwarded by cheap Nepali currency. “Nepali exports will be unfavourably affected for being expensive due to the weak dollar,” added Nepal. Merchandise exports to third countries had increased by 17 per cent to Rs 24.6 billion, aided by the appreciation in the dollar. However, despite expensive dollars translating to expensive imports, it did nothing much to deter imports. Nnnn INDIA ADDRESSES GURKHA DEMANDS Kathmandu, 26Sept.: In a decision which will also bring benefits for thousands of Nepalese who served in the Indian army, the Manmohan Singh-led government finally approved a proposal earlier this week, fulfilling largely the ex-servicemen's demand for 'one rank-one pension, Mahesh Acharya reports in The Kathmandu Post from New Delhi,'. This scheme, which will cost the state coffers around 2,300 crores annually, is expected to end disparity in pensions among ex-servicemen retired from the same posts with the period of service but in different years. For an instance, a major general with 35 years of service gets around IRs 50,000 per month if he retires today, while the one who retired before 2006 gets IRs 38,000, according to Mail Today. An official of the same rank who retired in 1970s is getting only IRs 8,000, reads the Indian daily. Once implemented, the proposal will not only put an end to such disparity but also provide grant of family pension to differently-abled children of the ex-servicemen. The proposal will allow the mentally and physically challenged children of the deceased ex-servicemen to enjoy the pension facility throughout his/her life. According to the statistics made available by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), more than 123,000 ex-servicemen, previously working with the seven Gorkha regiments of the Indian Army, are residing in Nepal. There are also a few thousands residing in different parts of India who chose to leave their ancestral home back in Nepal after retirement from the Indian Army. As of 2010-11, pensions to the ex-servicemen residing in Nepal stood at 1,100 crores, says the MEA website. Meanwhile, the ex-servicemen of Gorkha regiments have expressed happiness over the Indian government 's recent decision. "We are very happy that our long overdue demand has been addressed," said Dehradun-based retired Brigadier NBS Bist--also the former president of Gorkhali Sudhar Samiti. Another retired Brigadier of Gorkha regiment PS Gurung told the Post that the decision would bring more relief to the ex-servicemen of lower ranks. "The disparity in pensions among the high-ranking officials had been much less than that among low-ranking personnel," he said. nnnn