NEPAL PLAYS SINGAPORE IN ICC WCL DIVISION IV MATCHES Kathmandu, 3 Sept.: Nepal plays Sinapore Monday in the ICC World Cricket League(WCL)Division IV in the island nation to qualify for the 2015 World Cup Teams from Nepal, Malaysia, Denmark, Singapore, Tanzania and the USA play matches to enter the Division-III, which will send top teams to the Cricket World Cup Qualifier in 2014. opponents. Paras Khadka (skipper), Pradeep Airee, Subash Khakurel, Gyanendra Malla (vice-captain), Anil Mandal, Prithu Baskota, Sharad Vesawkar, Basant Regmi, Sanjam Regmi, Shakti Gauchan, Binod Das, Amrit Bhattarai, Chandra Saud, and Rahul Kumar BK are in the Nepali squad. nnnn. QAF TO ASSIST ANFA TO CONDUCT LEAGUE MATCHES Kathmandu, 3 Aug.: Qatar Football Association (QFA) to extend assistance of $200,000-- $50,000== every year to ANFA to conduct league programme. ANFA Chief Ganesh Thapasaid this Sunday. nnnn ALARMING LEVELS OF ANTIBIOTICS FOUND IN MILK Kathmandu, 3 Sept.:Alarming levels of antibiotic residue have been found in milk samples from urban areas across the country, raising concerns about the health of the general public, Yadav Raj Joshi reports in The Himalayan Times.. Findings from a study being conducted by the Central Food Laboratory showed that of the 120 milk samples collected from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Pokhara and Kavre, 67 had unacceptable levels of drugs linked to many ailments. Intolerable levels of antibiotics such as penicillin and amoxicillin were detected in milk samples, said Jeevan Prabha Lama, Director General at the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control. She said farmers are attracted towards antibiotics due to the short-term benefits it brings. “For instance, farmers give oxacillin to buffaloes to stimulate milk glands,” informed Lama. “Milk samples from Kathmandu Metropolitan City were found to have an average of 300 parts per billion (ppb) of antibiotics,” said Kanchan Kumar Nayak, senior food officer of the department. As Nepal does not have its own standard to limit levels of antibiotic residue in milk, the country has adopted European Union standards. According to the EU standards, less than four ppb of antibiotics in milk is considered acceptable. “But milk sold in major towns in the country has levels exceeding 300 ppb,” said the officer. High levels of penicillin were found in milk samples from Lalitpur, the findings show. Similarly, amoxicillin residue was high in samples from Pokhara (Kaski district) and Bhaktapur. Samples from Chitwan had high levels of ampicillin. “Milk sold in Kathmandu metropolis had high levels of all three antibiotics,” said Nayak. Regular consumption of antibiotics cause inflaming of the urinary system, diseases of the skin, eyes and bones and brain cell damage, said Lama. “Respiratory problems among kids may be linked to consumption of antibiotics,” she said. Uncontrolled consumption of antibiotics has a more severe effect. “Disease-causing microbes develop resistance against antibiotics and the drugs become ineffective,” she warned. Meat contaminated KATHMANDU: A study conducted by the Central Food Laboratory has shown that chicken meat on sale is also not safe. “We found high levels of antibiotics in chicken being sold in the Valley and in Chitwan,” said officials at the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control. They said of the 50 samples tested, 10 were found to have high levels of antibiotics. Five had ‘extreme’ levels of drugs. Tetracycline, sulfonamide, penicillin, aminoglycoside and micro lead were also found in chicken. — Nnnn PROBLEMS IN LPG IMPORT Kathmandu, 3 Sept.: The import of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been disrupted for the last couple of days due to hurdles regarding excise duty at Indian customs, according to the LP Gas Industry Association Nepal, The Himalayan times reports. The association has asked the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies to initiate talks with its Indian counterpart to resolve the problem and ensure smooth supply of cooking gas, said vice chairman at the association Shiva Prasad Ghimire, adding that the problem has been created at the borders of Bihar and West Bengal. At least 14 bullets ferrying LPG have been stranded along the Bihar-West Bengal border due to the excise related problem, he said. “Other tankers have not loaded LPG due to this problem.” Both the Nepali and Indian governments had agreed to make some procedural changes in Duty Refund Procedure (DRP) from March 1. “Exporters can be under bond without payment of duty, under self sealing or physical examination as required,” the procedural change note mentioned. There shouldn’t have been any excise related problem, said spokesperson at the Ministry of Commerce of Supplies Deepak Subedi, adding that the problem might have been created due to lack of communication between importers and Indian customs officials. The ministry is yet to get the details of the problem since LP Gas Industry Association Nepal has failed to elaborate on the actual problem, he said. “The lack of clarity on the actual problem among LPG entrepreneurs is also a problem.” The problem in import will hit LPG supply in the festival season, an official at Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said, adding that if there is no shipment of LPG now it will hit supplies a month later. Meanwhile, NOC’s monthly loss has reached Rs 1.17 billion, according to the corporation. NOC will incur a loss of Re 0.15 on a litre of petrol, Rs 13.49 on a litre of diesel and Rs 412.28 on a cylinder of cooking gas, based on the price list sent by Indian Oil Corporation on September 1. However, Nepal Oil Corporation will make a profit of Rs 3.74 on a litre of kerosene, Rs 9.60 profit on a litre of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) domestic and Rs 21.09 on a litre of ATF international. The mounting losses have started affecting the supply of petroleum products, said spokesperson of the corporation Mukunda Prasad Dhungel. Supply will be affected in the next few weeks if the government fails to address the current problem. Govt mulls price hike The government is thinking of hiking the price of petroleum products citing huge losses, according to a source at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies. “Vice chairman at the National Planning Commission Deependra Bahadur Kshetri, who leads a committee formed by the government to recommend a way out of the current problems of petroleum pricing, has floated the idea of reducing the tax structure on petroleum products,” the source said. However, the Finance Ministry has been refusing to accept the proposal forwarded by the committee saying that it will affect the development projects of the country. It is likely that the committee will recommend the government to hike the price gradually, the source claimed. nnnn CHINA UNLIKELY TO BUILD NEW LHASA, KATHMANDU LINK Kathmandu, 3 Sept.: Senior Chinese officials and academics say Nepal is not part of China’s strategic gateway to South Asia,Ajaya Bhadra Khanal writes in The Himalayan Times.. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has positioned Nepal as a bridge between China and India, however, given the topographical terrain, China’s engagement in South Asia is being planned through a completely different route. China is carrying out massive infrastructure projects and logistics in Yunnan province in southern China to connect not just to Southeast Asia, but also to South Asia and East Africa as well, Ai Ping, Vice Minister of the International Department of Central Committee of Communist Party of China said. “Nepali people must get realistic,” Ai said. He was answering questions raised by the media during a recent banquet at the IDCPC to honour a group of visiting Nepali media delegates. The Gateway Strategy started in December 2009, after Chinese President Hu Jintao announced that China would turn Yunnan into a social and economic corridor towards South and Southeast Asia. Construction has begun on 12 railroads connecting Yunnan with other parts of China as well as Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. The connection to South Asia is through the Southern Silk Route and consists of the Kunming-Myanmar Road, China-India Road and Guangtong-Dali railway. The route through Myanmar connects to Bangladesh and northeastern part of India. As a result, China is not likely to invest in the Lhasa to Kathmandu train route, which may yield returns in 100 years, says Ai Ping. “However, if we build infrastructure through Myanmar, it can give results within 40 years,” he says. “Nepal, however, is still very important as a bridge between South Asia and western part of China,” Prof Wang Hongwei of the Institute of Asian Pacific Studies told THT. Given the difficulty of connecting western regions to the mainland, China could prefer the region’s trade with South Asia,” Prof Wang said. The view was shared by Hu Shiseng, Director of Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceania Studies of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations said. “Nepal can be a very important tourist destination for Buddhist pilgrimage,” he said. “Its role for stability of Western China is also important.” According to Chinese officials, transport is an important part of the Gateway Project and the government is investing more than 500 billion yuan. Other than for the stability of Tibet, Nepal does not figure prominently in Beijing’s plans. “China does not have a specific interest in Nepal,” Ai said. “We want it to succeed economically,” he said. “What we want to see is just stability. If you don’t have stability, you won’t be able to help China’s stability, particularly, Tibet,” he said. “It’s not only a moral policy, it’s also a realistic policy,” he said. Nnnn YOUNGERR LEADERS CROSS PARTY LINES TO DEMAND CA REVIVAL Kathmandu, 3 Sept : A group of influential second-rung leaders from major political parties have stood in favor of reinstating the dissolved Constituent Assembly (CA) as the best option for ending the current political crisis, Republica reports. Janardan Sharma of UCPN (Maoist), Prakash Sharan Mahat of Nepali Congress (NC), Surendra Pandey of CPN-UML and Dev Gurung of CPN-Maoist, among others, aired their views at an interaction participated by nearly 80 former CA members in Kathmandu on Sunday. Former Peace Minister Sharma, who is close to UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said that CA reinstatement is one of the most viable solutions to end the protracted political stalemate. "Our party is for giving top priority to the [CA] reinstatement option," said Sharma. As the prime minister´s party, UCPN (Maoist) would claim officially that the party´s first priority is to hold fresh polls because the government has announced fresh CA polls. But Sharma didn´t hesitate to support the reinstatement proposal during an interaction among the former lawmakers. A former energy minister Mahat expressed his wholehearted support for the former lawmakers who have been lobbying for CA reinstatement. In NC, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been pushing for reinstatement of the Assembly, while the party President Sushil Koirala is has reservations about this idea. Pandey, a former finance minister, claimed that there is no option other than reinstating the CA to salvage the country from the present political morass. "Presence of a legitimate legislative body has become a must for amending election-related provisions in the interim constitution and at present only the CA can play the role. So one can´t simply avoid CA to solve the stalemate in a legitimate way," UML Politburo member Pandey told Republica. A section of political leaders have been arguing that president can give a way out to the stalemate by invoking the constitutional provision that allows the head of state to exercise his right to remove constitutional difficulties. But Pandey described the idea as unconstitutional one saying that only a legitimate legislative body can make amendment to the constitution. The newly-formed CPN-Maoist party has been vociferously lobbying that any decision should be taken only through a round-table conference participated by major political parties as well as other major stakeholders. However, CPN-Maoist Secretary Dev Gurung said during the interaction that his party wouldn´t stand against CA reinstatement if the option is acceptable to all other political forces. NC´s former lawmaker Mohan Pandey, one of the leaders strongly lobbying for revival of the dissolved body, said that all the key speakers invited from the major political parties supported their movement without any reservation. "Also, most of nearly 80 former lawmakers who attended the interaction frankly stood in favor of the legislative body´s revival," said the NC´s youth leader. According to him, even the leaders who were against the idea of reviving the 601-member body have now "come to accept the proposal as the most pragmatic solution after realizing the ground realities." The CA saw its demise on May 27 without promulgating new constitution as the political leaders kept on bickering over some of the thorniest disputes in constitution writing such as the system of governance and a federal set up. Nnnn SECURITYAGENCIES UNDER HOME MINISRY BEING REVAMPED Kathmandu 2 Sept.: With the arrival of new home secretary Navin Ghimire, the Ministry of Home Affairs has geared up for reforms in multiple security-related areas, including restructuring of the ministry, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the National Investigation Department to make the security apparatus timely and compentent to meet new security challenges, Kiran Chapagain. Writes in Republica. According to sources at the ministry, different taskforces have been formed to prepare plans to usher in reforms in the aged-old structure of the ministry, Nepal Police (NP), Armed Police Force (APF) and the National Investigation Department (NID) to make the security agencies under the ministry competent to meet security challenges in the changed context and in view of the country going for federalism in near future. ´The taskforces have been given different deadlines. The ministry will get all the plans in six weeks," said the source familiar with the development. Besides, the ministry has also geared up to prepare an internal security plan that will be a part of the national security plan that is being prepared, said another source at the ministry, seeking anonymity. Similarly, the ministry has also started works on preparing a master plan to strengthen district administration offices, realizing that the offices badly needs to be upgraded to carry out responsibilities of more than 80 laws. Their reforms have long been due, according to the source. Likewise, the ministry has floated the concept of technology-based security for Kathmandu, concluding that securing the city manually is going to be an uphill task in the changed context. Another taskforce is already working in full-swing to materialize the vision. Besides, works are in progress to prepare a separate law to govern metro police. In addition, the ministry has asked the Nepali Police and the Armed Police Force to prepare their strategic plan for three years along with five-year career development plan in each service. Lately, the ministry has also taken up the issue of growing demand of security service from private companies, concluding that such security service should be regulated by the ministry. "They can be registered with any government agency but now they should be regulated, given the fact that they are mushrooming," said another official at the Ministry of Home Affairs. In another reform initiative, the minister, according to the source, is making preparations to launch a community police movement, with slogan of ´friends of police´, so that the community policing become effective. Last, but not the least, the ministry is also working to prepare guidelines for constructions to be carried out in places surrounding vital installations like president´s office and residence, the prime minister´s residence, police offices, army headquarters, among others. "We will start implementing all the plans," said the source. nnnn