UML DISSIDENTS LAUNCHING PARTY THURSDAY Kathmandu, 3 Oct.:UML Vice-chairperson Ashok Rai said Tuesday Dissidents from his party will leave the party Thusday. The move comes as five janajati parties announced a front with two Madeshbadi parties in the opposition. nnnn NEPAL PLAYS UAE IN HOME GROUND Kathmandu, 3 Oct.: Nepal plays home-side UAE Wednesday in the ACC Trophy Elite Cup. Nepal has yet to beat the UAE in the T20 format. Nepali is playing an international after victory in the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 and promotion to Divisiosn-3 in Kuala Lumpur. Nepal is in Group B of the tournament UAE, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Nepal plays Kuwait on Saturday and Saudi Arabia Sunday,and Hong Kong 9 October Afghanistan, Malaysia, Oman, Bhutan and Maldives are drawn in Group A. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals. Nnnn Nepalplays ________________________________________ MEDIA GOOGLE “The Bhattarai-led government's only objective is to earn money, even at the cost of national sovereignty. It has sold even our national property such as rivers and airports.” (Chairman of CPN Maoist Mohan Baodhya, The Kathmandu Post, 3 Sept.) Nnnn “If we have to frame a new constitution, then the UCPN-M strength must be altered. How can a party which has been na-med after a foreign leader (Mao Tse-tung) preach nationalism?” (UML leader KP Sharma Oli, The Himalayan Times, 3 Oct.) nnnn ANOTHER COCAINE HAUL IN CAPTAL Kathmandu, 3 Oct.:- In another blow to drug smuggling in the Capital, police arrested five individuals--two Nepalis and three Indians--in possession of nearly 1 kg cocaine , which was about to be traded for over Rs 10 million, Ankit Adhhikari writes in The Kathmandu Post.. A team deployed from the Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharajgunj on Saturday nabbed Kedar Bahadur Raut, 41, and Chhatra Bahadur Limbu, 34, from the Balaju area with 480 gm of cocaine . Raut and Limbu share an apartment in Jorpati. After interrogation, Raut and Limbu revealed that they were working as couriers for Indian nationals, Ritesh Dutta, 29, Toli Ori, 23, and Togey Ori, 22, from Kolkata. After arriving in Nepal via Kakadbhitta two weeks ago, the Indian nationals had been staying at the Thamel-based Agaman Guesthouse. After getting a lead, police raided the hotel room, leading to the arrest of the Indians and the seizure of additional 490 gm cocaine . Police, however, refused to disclose information about the persons to whom the cocaine , packed in two different satchels, was about to be delivered. According to police, each bag would fetch at least Rs 5 million. According SP Sher Bahadur Basnet of the Narcotic Drugs Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU), cocaine being traded in Kathmandu is extremely surprising. "Considered one of the most expensive drugs across the globe, cocaine does not have an identified market in Nepal," said Basnet. "Usually, the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is used as a transit point in the international trade of expensive drugs like cocaine . However, this time, the drug was about to be traded in Kathmandu itself. This is surely a bad sign for all of us." This is the second time police have seized cocaine in Nepal. Earlier in January, the NDCLEU unit deployed at TIA, arrested a Thai woman, Suparerat Mcintosh, 36, with 1 kg cocaine . Nnnn SUPREME COURT JUSTICES COMLAIN AGAINST TOKYO EMBASSY Kathmandu, 3 Oct.:: Supreme Court justices have expressed serious dissatisfaction with the ‘diplomatic negligence’ shown by the Nepalese Ambassador to Japan Madan Kumar Bhattarai to a high-level judicial delegation led by apex court justice Ram Kumar Prasad Shah, which returned home last week after completing its 12-day official Visit, Ananta Raj Luitel complains against Tokyo embassy. “We felt embarrassed there due to the ambassador’s negligence,” a member of the delegation told The Himalayan Times. Despite formal communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to receive the delegation at the airport and provide support to the team, embassy officials did not respond. “Neither did the ambassador come nor did he send any official to receive us in the airport,” the judge said adding, “We felt embarrassment at the airport when there was no official from our embassy while a high ranking official from the Japanese side was there.” Supreme Court Justice Sushila Karki and appellate court Chief Judge Keshari Raj Pundit, Justices Yagya Prasad Basyal and Supreme Court Registrar Lohit Chandra Shah among others had accompanied Justice Shah on their official visit to Japan to study case management system. They landed in Japan on September 17. According to another judge, Ambassador Bhattarai had telephoned Justice Shah at the ninth day of their visit and explained his inability to provide them any support and invited them for tea at his residence, but Justice Shah turned down the invitation. The team members said Bhattarai had insulted them so they declined the invitation. The team had visited Japan’s Ministry of Law and the Supreme Court and other judicial authorities, but not a single official from Nepal’s embassy accompanied them. After returning to Kathmandu on September 29, Justice Shah reported the ambassador’s negligence towards judiciary to Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. A member of the delegation said the apex court would soon decide whether to lodge a protest with MoFA on the issue. The justices have requested the Chief Justice to send a written complaint to the ministry. Ambassador Bhattarai admitted failure to receive them at the airport. “I was busy with the other schedules of Tourism Minister Posta Bahadur Bogati, so I failed to manage time for the judicial team and to send my juniors as well,” he told this daily over telephone. He, however, said he had not received the flight details of the delegation. He also said when he went to meet them at the hotel the judges were busy. According to him, he had telephoned and apologised to Justice Shah. Acting Foreign Secretary Arjun Bahadur Thapa, however, said, “It might have happened due to misunderstanding.” According to him, receiving and providing support to any visiting VIP in any country is a courtesy practice and must be followed. Nnnn NEW TRANSIT ROUTES SOUGHT Kathmandu, 3 Oct : The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) has started consultations with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to finalize the drafts of letter of exchange (LoEs) which it plans to forward to the southern neighbor soon for the early utilization of the five new transit routes, Prabhakar Ghimere writes I Republica.. “The Ministry of Law and Justice (MoLJ) last week gave its clearance on the draft LoEs. Now we are awaiting consent of the MoF. Once okayed, we will send them to India through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA),” Lal Mani Joshi, secretary at the MoCS told Republica. If every thing went well, the MoCS officials said the government will send those drafts to India within a week. “We will move on to sign those LoEs once the cabinet of both the countries endorse the contents enshrined on them,” said Joshi. Though India and Nepal exchanged initial drafts of LoEs last year, the two sides have acted slowly in getting the deals signed, which is crucial for operationalization of the new transit routes. India in February 2011 had given its nod to open land routes between Vishakapatnam sea port and four major customs, rail route between Birgunj dry port and Vishakapatnam and also Rohanpur (Bangladesh)-Singhabad (India)-Jogbani (India) and Phulbari-Banglabanda in order to facilitate Nepal´s foreign trade. However, sources at the MoFA said the whole process of finalizing the LoEs moved slowly because Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha is not positive about signing the pact fearing that the provision of additional lock envisioned in them could invite criticisms from his opponents. MoCS officials, on the other hand, said the proposed extra system was already supported by experts and business community. “There is no need to fear the additional lock on container along the transit routes as even the traders and experts are positive toward it, stating that it will lessen the hassles to ship the goods along those routes,” said a source at the MoCS. India has already introduced additional lock system on Kolkata-Nepal route from August 2011. Sarad Bikram Rana, executive director of Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Committee, said the government shouldn´t delay for signing the LoEs with India as the agreed trade routes were crucial for boosting Nepal´s trade with India, Bangladesh and overseas countries. “We will be relieved from the monopoly of Kolkata port if we operationalize Vishakapatnam port and operate through new routes. Traders will get more choice along with better facilities and transparent process of cargo handling on those routes,” said Rana. India had long been putting pressure on Nepali officials to agree on the additional lock system before the renewal of the transit treaty, which expires on 5 January 2013, citing security concerns and cases of transshipment of goods destined to Nepal in India. China - Nepal´s second largest trade partner - has also been practicing additional lock system on cargos entering the country through Tatopani customs. Nnnn