NEPAL SBI BANK LTD CONSTRUCTING CORPORTE OFFICE BUILDING Kathmandu,2 Oct. Nepal SBI Bank Ltd..is constructing a corporate office building at Kamaladi. Notice was published Friday inviting .architectural/ engineering construction consultancy firms/companies to submit proposals. The bank is a joint with India’s Punjab National Bank. nnnn HASH REFINERY RAIDED, OWNER SMUGGLIG DRUG TO EUROPE Kathmandu, 12 Oct.: The Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU) raided a high-tech hashish refinery on the outskirts of Kathmandu, The Himalayan Times reports leading to the arrest of the brains behind the drug racket yesterday. According to SSP Nawa Raj Silwal, deputy chief at the NDCLEU, Pahalman Singh Ghale (56) was operating the hashish refinery from his house in Saraswoti-6. “Months of investigation into his involvement in collecting, processing, packaging and smuggling the narcotic has paid off with a haul of hashish from the refinery,” he informed. NDCLEU said it confiscated 10.5 kg of hashish readied for smuggling to third countries via air. Police have also seized tools and chemicals used for refining and packaging hashish. “A primary investigation suggests that Ghale had been involved in smuggling hashish to the Netherlands and Belgium in small consignments by adopting new modus operandi every time to outsmart the law enforcement agency,” SSP Silwal said. Racketeers have been attracted towards drug smuggling abroad, thanks to the growing demand for Nepal-made ‘quality hashish’ in the international market. One kg of hashish fetches more than $20,000 in Europe against Rs 10,000 in the Nepali black market. Some others associated with Ghale are said to be at large. Officials said a search operation was underway to nab the fugitives. In a separate anti-drug operation, NDCLEU rounded up four people with 220 gram heroin from Golfutar yesterday. The arrested are Bir Bahadur Tamang, Pradeep Kumar Baniya and Udaya Bahadur Karki of Kathmandu and Plas Sarkar, an Indian citizen. A person in possession of heroin exceeding 25 gram is liable to a jail sentence of up to 15 years if convicted as per the Narcotic Drug (Control and Punishment) Act. Nnnn TIME HAS COME TO DECIDE PLACEMENT OF FORMER PLA FIGHTERS IN STATE ARMY Kathmandu, 12 Oct.: With the screening of 1,460 former UCPN-Maoist combatants for integration in the Nepali Army complete, time has now come to decide their placement in the NA structure., The Himalayan Times reports. In the November 1, 2011 seven-point agreement, political parties had decided to set up a directorate general for national development and reconstruction after integrating up to 6,500 ex-combatants, and adding almost twice the number from the NA. The understanding became obsolete once the expected number of combatants to be integrated fell to 1,460 — a total of 71 for officer ranks and 1,389 for lower ranks. It was agreed in the earlier understanding to form a structure, by recognising the integrated ex-fighters as 35 percent and adding 65 percent more Nepali army personnel. Now, with 1,460 ex-combatants screened for a future in the NA, the total strength of the directorate will be 4,172. With such low numbers, questions have arisen whether it will be practical to set up a directorate-general level body within the NA. “It’s not a matter of speculation. It’s a question to be answered by the Special Committee (for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of Maoist army combatants),” said Balananda Sharma, Coordinator of the SC Secretariat. The Special Committee, in its August 28 decision, had said, the issue will be resolved and the structure of the directorate in the NA will be determined once the actual number of integrated ex-fighters become clear. Nepali Congress leader and Special Committee member Ram Sharan Mahat told THT that the directorate-general level structure (generally to be led by a Major General) could not be formed due to the low strength of the body. “We will determine its structure soon through the Special Committee,” he said. “In my point of view— a brigade or a directorate level body can be formed.” Earlier, top brass of the Nepali Army was lobbying hard to bring the policy of setting up a directorate-general level body accommodating the ex-rebels, with the prospects of a Lieutenant General as its head. Nnnn LEADERS DIVIDED, JANAJATI PARTY ONLY AFTER DASHAIN Kathmandu, 12 Oct.:: Janajati leaders have again postponed the date of a new party formation to between Dashain and Tihar. Immediately after the Constituent Assembly dissolved in May, they had announced formation of a new party on August 9. Then, they postponed the date to Dashain, in wait of Janajati leaders from major political parties quitting their respetive parties. Now, once again, the date has been pushed back. The deepening ideological rift between leaders and the sluggish pace of work confirms that the new Janajati party will not take complete shape until early December. Although leaders claimed to have completed 80 percent of the work to launch a new party , key issues of party modality, manifesto and structure have made no headway. The amalgam of leaders who seceded from major parties, various non-political forces associated with the Nepal Association of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) and Janajati intellectuals are now viciously contending to impose their line of thought in the party. The diverse schools of thought and political ideologies mostly manifest in issues of the party's guiding principle, its political course, class issues and the leadership structure. Leaders formerly of the CPN-UML, led by Ashok Rai, are standing strong for Marxist socialism as the guiding principle. They have also divergent positions on leadership structure, issues related to class and the underprivileged and suppressed communities. "There will not be a deviation from socialist federalism, which is highly likely to be the party ideology," said Rajendra Shrestha, a Janajati leader and a key person in formulating the new party 's guiding principle. The Ashok Rai faction has proposed that the new party be called the Federal Socialist Party. The federal socialist movement is strong in the Janajati front as over 500 Janajati and Madhesi leaders and cadres defected from the UML. On the other hand, Janajati leaders from the Nepali Congress have been advocating democratic socialism as the guiding principle. "The hangover of Marxism has not left the minds of some friends. There is no replacement for democratic socialism," said Kumar Rai, a former NC lawmaker. Intellectuals, too, have thrown their hat into the ring, offering several alternative possibilities to conflicting views on the guiding principle, leadership structure and modality. "Whatever the name, socialism should match global expectation. We hope to accommodate the best aspect of all types of socialism," said Chaitanya Subba, one of the members of a three-person taskforce, including Shrestha and Kumar Rai, formed to hammer out key issues in party formation. Subba also demonstrated the possibility of party-within-party or independent factionalism within the mother party. Regarding leadership, he said that they have opened up the possibility of multi-leadership or rotational leadership as options for a linear party structure. Meanwhile, the stance of Nefin-affiliated ethnic organisations, a major support base, is mostly on issues of inclusion, identity, ethnicity and the class struggle. A politically non-partisan force, comprising of 54 ethnic communities including Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Chepang, Tharu and Magar, hold great significance for the new party to strengthen its base. Kumar Tamang, chairman of Tamang Ghedung, said they will not support the party if it fails to carry on the agenda of inclusion, identity, ethnicity, class and multi-nationalism. Observers privy to the developments said that the strength of the new party will be decided by how it accommodates the diverse views on key issues. nnnn