UML STANDING COMMITTEE MEETS SATURDAY Kathmandu, 13 Oct. Opposition UML standing committee meets for the first time Saturday after Vice-chairman Ashok Rai and several other top Janajati leaders quit charging the party was agast demand for single ethnic federal unit with identity. Others are also threatening to quit announcing a party of janajatis. The party will discuss other issues as well. Janajatis of main opposition NC have also quit. nnnn ‘ROYAL’ TREATMENT FOR PEOPLE’S PM Kathmandu, 13 Oct.: It was a day reminiscent of the times of heyday of the Panchayati regime when schoolchildren were coerced into gathering and standing in line to greet the then, Madan Wagle writes in The Himalayan Times from Tanahu. royals. The kings may have gone and the country may have seen a sea change since, but politicians, it seems, still get a bang out of schoolchildren’s ordeal during their tours. Hundreds of students — from primary to higher secondary level — were kept hungry and made to stay under the scorching sun for hours to extend a warm welcome to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai who had reached Tanahun to lay the foundation stone of a campus in Piple, Bandipur today. “Our teachers told us yesterday that we have to be here early morning to welcome the prime minister,” said Sumi Thapa, a fifth grader, who was waiting for the prime minister to arrive with flowers in her hands. Eight-year-old Samundra Darai, a third grader at Pabitra Higher Secondary School, said, “It has been two hours I am standing and waiting. I am hungry and exhausted. The heat is getting unbearable.” The students were asked to arrive there at 8:00am, and they were standing in a queue for more than two hours without anything to eat. School teacher Purna Bahadur Adhikari said around 800 Grade I-XII students were there in Piple to ‘welcome the PM’ and that the wait was too long for the children as it was too hot and the kids were hungry. INSEC Tanahun representative Prakash Chandra Bhattarai said as the Cabinet has already endorsed a national workplan recognising schools as the peace zone, students cannot be used for such programmes of political parties and leaders. “Such moves are against the rights of the children. Small children in no way can be made to wait in line to welcome a leader.” Nnnn PM AIDE SAYS CA WILL BE REVIVED Kathmandu, 13 Oct.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s chief political adviser Devendra Poudel, who is also a central leader of the ruling Unified CPN-Maoist, today said the dissolved Constituent Assembly will be revived before Tihar that falls on November 15, The Himalayan Times reports.. Poudel made this announcement at a function here after his party on Tuesday officially decided to pursue the efforts to revive the dissolved CA after holding consultations with other major parties. UCPN-M Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been lobbying for the revival of CA, which he said could adopt a new constitution by incorporating the already settled constitutional issues and leaving the unsettled ones to next Parliament to decide. Dahal has also held several rounds of talks with Nepali Congress and CPN-UML stalwarts to this effect. But the opposition parties have viewed Dahal’s calls with suspicion, saying that he has failed to keep his word. “The new constitution will be adopted by incorporating the already settled constitutional issues,” Poudel reiterated his party’s latest decision. “We will go for general elections putting the disputed constitutional issues in the schedule of the new constitution.” He also said his party would maintain flexibility on number of federal units. Addressing the same function, NC leader Gopal Man Shrestha, who is close to former PM and senior NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, said reinstatement of the dissolved CA was a must to give people a new constitution. But NC President Sushil Koirala and General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sita-ula are against reviving the CA and they say even if the CA is revived, it will fail to adopt the constitution. But Jitendra Sonal, joint-general secretary of the Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party, said his party and the United Democratic Madhesi Front will not agree to adopting a new constitution without a clear outline on federalism — an issue which could not be settled, leading to CA’s dissolution on May 27. UML Vice-chairperson Bidhya Devi Bhandari, however, opposed the idea of reviving the CA, saying that an ‘already dead institution’ cannot be revived. “The idea of reviving it is akin to something described in a mythical story in which Lord Shiva keeps on carrying his deceased beloved, Sati, hoping that she would gain consciousness, until she is completely decomposed,” said Bhandari. However, UML is also a divided house as party Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal wants to revive it whe-reas senior leader KP Oli opposes the idea. UML’s standing committee has already decided that fresh election is the only way to end the political and constitutional crisis. But the NC and UML have maintained that the dissolved CA could be reinstated on the condition that the ruling UCPN-Maoist and UDMF reinforce a written commitment to the six-point deal reached among the major political forces on May 15. The May 15 deal talks about promulgating the new constitution with 11 multi-ethnicity-based federal units, leaving the issues of their names and boundaries to the would-be-formed Central Federal Commission to work out, subject to be approved by the next elected Parliament. But the ruling UCPN-M and UDMF backtracked from the deal two days later, setting the premise for CA’s death. Prez will step in soon, says Sitaula DANG: Nepali Congress General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula said on Friday that the President will step in anytime soon if the political parties fail to reach an agreement and end the political deadlock. Speaking at a party programme in Lamahi, Sitaula said the President is waiting for the parties to strike a deal on their own. “If the parties fail to make any headway, the President will take an initiative to end the political deadlock in some days,” said Sitaula. “The President in his capacity as the guardian of the constitution has to take initiatives in order to end the present stalemate, or questions will be raised on his role as well,” he added. Sitaula suggested that the parties take a decision and go for a fresh CA poll in April/May next year. “At present reviving the CA is a meaningless option,” Sitaula concluded. Nnnn TOP UML LEADERS AGAINST CA REVIVAL Kathmandu, 13:Oct.: As a group of politicians including around 150 erstwhile Constituent Assembly (CA) members intensify their campaign for reinstating the CA, some noted CPN-UML leaders have strongly opposed the idea, The Himalayan Times writes. CPN-UML Vice-Chairperson Bidyadevi Bhandari and General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel categorically said on Friday that the proposal to revive the CA was simply unacceptable. They also fiercely criticized those involved in the campaign. Bhandari at an interaction in Kathmandu said that her party wouldn´t let anyone to turn back the clock by reinstating the CA. In a separate function in Lalitpur, Pokharel described the erstwhile lawmakers involved in CA revival campaign as hordes of anarchists. "Reviving the CA that failed to deliver new constitution even after repeatedly extending the tenure for four years is to push the country into a state of indecisiveness yet again," said Pokharel. He explained that the proposal was unacceptable also because such a move would be against the spirit of the Supreme Court´s verdict. The apex court in its ruling had said that the CA´s term couldn´t be extended beyond May 27. Stating that the UCPN (Maoist) leaders´ move to float the proposal to revive the CA was to fool the people once again and to prolong the party´s stay in power, Pokharel emphasized on fresh polls. Meanwhile, Krishna Gopal Shrestha, chief of the party´s Kathmandu valley committee, has fervently objected to some UML´s erstwhile lawmakers´ involvement in the campaign. In his strongly-worded statement, Shrestha said on Friday that some UML leaders were dancing to the tune of UCPN (Maoist) leaders´ who wanted to capture state powers. "We strongly object to some former [UML] lawmakers´ involvement and supporting the campaign that is led by the forces, who can´t face the elections, despite our party officially deciding to be prepared for fresh elections," said Shrestha. "It is a mockery of democracy that some of the erstwhile CA members have been holding meetings as if they were still legitimate lawmakers of the dissolved 601-member jumbo Assembly." Criticizing the former lawmakers for failing in their responsibility even after the CA´s tenure was repeatedly extended, Shrestha accused them of planning to give continuity to their tendency of using the CA membership merely as a job to enjoy salary and perks. Voices of Vice-Chairperson Bhandari and Valley Chief Shrestha hold significance also because both of them are trusted members of the party´s influential leader KP Sharma Oli. Over 150 erstwhile CA members from over two dozen political parties including UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML gathered at the CA building Baneshwar on Thursday and vowed to lobby for the Assembly´s resurrection. Dozens of CPN-UML lawmakers including the party´s chief whip Bhim Acharya were present at the gathering that was chaired by former CA Vice-chairperson Purna Kumari Subedi. Lately, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is trying to woo other party chiefs in favor of CA revival. While NC President Sushil Koirala is unwilling to revive the jumbo body, two other key leaders -- Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Paudel -- from the same party are for resurrecting the assembly. In a bid to garner support in his proposal, Dahal on Thursday talked to CPN-UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal. While criticizing Dahal for flip-flopping on his position between the two options of going for fresh elections and reviving the CA, Khanal reportedly didn´t turn down the proposal outright. As the debate for and against CA rivival and fresh polls intensify intra-party divisions in major political parties, CPN-UML has scheduled its standing committee meeting for Saturday to discuss the issue. Nnnn REALTY SHOWS SIGNS OF REVIVAL Kathmandu, 13 Oct.: The price cuts and other offers that land and housing developers announced in a bid to inject some life into the realty market-- which has remained sluggish for more than two years now -- has finally started to pay off, Milan Mani Sharma writes in Republica.. Developers said they have managed to pull relatively greater number of buyers over the last two months. Officials at the five land revenue offices (LROs) in Kathmandu Valley also said their offices, which previously wore a deserted look, have started to see some bustle again. Department of Land Reform and Management (DoLRM) officials said LROs in the Valley are registering an average of 75 fresh deals every day since late July, when the new fiscal year started. This is a significant rise compared to the daily figures for 2011 and the first six months of 2012. “The crowds and volume of transactions at the LROs are still nowhere near what they used to be two years ago. Nonetheless, the new trend has made us optimistic,” said Raju Basnet, a DoLRM official who keeps track of the realty market. Thanks to increased sales, the five LROs posted a 70 percent rise in revenue in the first two months of this fiscal year, compared to last year. According to data at the LROs, they together collected a total of Rs 606.55 million in revenue from fresh transactions over the first two months of 2012/13. The collections had stood at Rs 356.6 million in the same period last year. “The market has shown some signs of revival. And we expect it to gain more vibrancy during this festive month also as developers have unveiled numerous packages to lure buyers,” said Basnet. “Only concern is whether this trend will be sustained over the second and later quarters of the fiscal year,” he told Republica. Developers said the market picked up mainly after some of the players, reeling under the pressure of loan repayment deadlines, started offering special discounts, slashing prices by as much as 30 percent. Such discounts have not been across the board, however. “Only developers reeling under the crisis are offering the discounts and they are making the offers only in personalized negotiations,” said a developer, requesting not to be named. Transactions up outside Valley The market has shown movement not just in the Valley. Officials keeping track of price movements and the market said that transactions in major cities outside the Valley have also gone up in recent months. Reports from LROs outside the Valley suggest that land and house sales have picked up mainly in Morang, Rupandehi, Kaski, Sunsari and Chitwan. As a result, the volume of revenue collected by the LROs in those districts has soared significantly, said Tulasi Ram Vaidya, an official at DoLRM. According to data provided by the department, the LRO in Morang collected Rs 20 million in revenue from fresh transactions in the second month (mid-August to mid-October) of this fiscal year, which is more than double what it collected in the same month last year. LROs in Rupandehi and Kaski mobilized revenue of Rs 17.5 million and Rs 16.6 million respectively during the month, while LROs in Sunsari and Chitwan collected Rs 15.3 million and Rs 14.5 million. During the slowdown their collections had dropped to less than Rs 10 million. “The market has shown some movement in districts like Dang, Jhapa and Dhanusa as well,” said Vaidya. Officials have linked the rise in transactions outside the Valley to the recent cut in prices and increase in property sales in Kathmandu. “Property prices in the districts have not dropped to the extent seen in the Valley. So our hunch is, with prices going down in the Valley, people outside could be selling their property in order to buy in the Valley,” said Vaidya. The realty market, which became overheated in 2009, subsequently slowed down and stagnated after Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) imposed a cap on realty loans in December of that year, citing the hefty exposure of banks and financial institutions to speculative buying. In recent months, however, the central bank has relaxed some of its provisions on home loans. Nnnn NINE SICK ENTERPRISES TO GET GOVT. RELIEF Katjmandu, 13 Oct.: Nine sick industries are all set to receive relief package from the government,The Kathmandu Post writes.. After a technical committee formed by the Ministry of Industry verified their sickness, some of these industries are also enjoying facilities like tax waiver, extension of loans repayment date, loan restructuring and interest waiver, among others. A ministry source said the verification process was about to complete. “These nine industries will be awarded relief packages in the first phase as per the recommendation of the committee,” the source said. The industries are Aarati Wire Industry, Sirish Herbal, Birat Leather, Birat Shoes Industry, Bishesh Textile, Kharel Wooden and Metal Furniture and Sumi Pharmaceuticals. The ministry had formed the committee in the first week of August to study applications filed by 29 business firms claiming themselves sick. The committee was asked to find out whether those industries were actually sick and deserve the relief package. For an industry to be eligible for getting the relief package, its production has to be less than 20 percent for the last five years, as per the committee-set criteria. “The committee has already conducted on site visit of the nine industries, and their financial status is being analyzed,” said Chabindra Parajuli, joint secretary at the ministry. A committee member, however, said the structure of the relief measure will be finalized once the financial analysis is completed. “The financial analysis will be completed within the next two weeks,” said the member. “Recommending appropriate schemes, the receivers’ names will be forwarded to the Cabinet for final approval.” The ministry had begun exercise to provide relief package to sick industries after the Cabinet endorsed the report of the Sick Industry Rehabilitation High-Level Taskforce led by National Planning Commission Vice-chairman Deependra Bahadur Kshetri. The report had recommended that the government take measures to revive sick industrial units or provide them easy exit. The ministry so far has received requests for relief from over 200 enterprises from hydropower, tourism, hotel and restaurant, construction and service sectors. As per the recommendation of the report, the ministry will classify sick enterprises into three categories-fully sick, sick and close to being sick-and introduce incentive packages accordingly. The ministry plans to form an easy exit policy for fully sick enterprises within a two-year period. Parajuli said as a nominal care for sick companies would suffice, the ministry would offer them three- to five-year packages for rehabilitation, loans at low rates and tax exemptions, among others. Officials said the ministry was studying ways to save enterprises which are on the verge of sickness. “Our efforts at amending most of the industry-related bills are directed towards the same purpose,” said Parajuli. The government will be amending a number of industrial laws including the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, Industrial Enterprises Act, Company Act and Labour Act and introducing the Intellectual Property Act and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act. nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) Chairman Narayan Man Bijukchhe on Friday said that the head of the state should declare emergency to give an outlet to the existing crisis. “He warned that the country would face bloodshed if the Unified CPN-M did not leave their stance to divide the country on the basis of ethnicity.” (Report on The Himalayan Times from Dhangadi, 13 Oct.) nnnn