GOVERNMENT BRINGING BUDGET FOR REMAINING EIGHT MONTHS OF CURRENT FISCAL YEAR Kathmandu, 20 Nov.: A meeting of the cabinet Tuesday morning decided to recommend to President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav a budget for the remaining eight months of the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun said. The cabinet meets again Tuesday afternoon for a second session to continue discussions on the government income, expenditure amid deep differences with the opposition The parties outside government say only a national consensus government to hold national elections can announce a budget. Maoist Chairman Prachand also consulted President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav for 30 minutes Tuesday. The head of state has been calling for a package solution by reconciling differences on budget, government and elections. nnnn OPPOSITION INTERACTING WITH BUSINESS COMMUNITY TUESDAY Kathmandu, 20 Nov.:: Launching anti-government and anti-Maoist protests to topple the Baburam Bhattarai government by first interacting with embers of ‘civil society’. 15 opposition parties Tuesday are consulting the business community at Rashtriya Sabha Griha to collect support. The meeting comes mid threats by President Dr.. Ram Baran Yadav to intervene if the extended deadlock is not broken by Thursday. The opposition parties will make their position on a disputed clear amid threats from the community ot to pay taxes without a full budget. nnnn SOALTEE CROWNE PLAZA KATHMANDU INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED Kathmandu, 20 Nov.: Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu has won the World Travel Awards (WTA) 2012 AS Nepal’s Leading Hotel’. “We are absolutely delighted to win the award,” Soaltee Crowne Plaza Kathmandu general manager Nalin Mandiratta said, speaking at the award distribution ceremony in Singapore. “It makes us proud to be recognised on a global platform,” he said. nnnn PRESIDENTIL INTERVENTION UNACCEPTABLE SAY MAOIST Kathmandu, 20 Nov.: The UCPN (Maoist) on Monday said the party will not accept any political step that President Ram Baran Yadav may take without a broader consensus among political parties, The Kathmandu Post writes. Party leaders expressed confidence that the head of state will not make such moves unilaterally. “We will not remain idle if the President takes a step without consent from all the parties,” said Maoist leader Haribol Gajurel. He hinted that the party will hit the streets in protest if such a situation arises. President Yadav has informed the party leadership that he will take initiatives to end the current deadlock if the parties fail to provide the country a political outlet very soon. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said on Monday that the President has not set a deadline for the parties to forge consensus . The PM was speaking to journalists after receiving a memorandum submitted by the Revolutionary Journalists’ Association. Madhes-based parties in the government also affirmed their coalition partner’s stance that any step from the President should follow consensus among the parties. “The President could take steps to avoid a major political mishap. However, such steps should only come after taking the parties into confidence,” General Secretary of the Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party Sarvendra Nath Shukla said. Three-party meet a dud, yet again BHADRA SHARMA Amid mounting pressure from President Ram Baran Yadav to strike consensus , top leaders of major parties on Monday remained stuck over the leadership of the new government. Talks among top leaders of the UCPN (Maoist) , the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML failed to make headway as the opposition put forth the resignation of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai as a pre-condition to sit for talks, while Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal argued that the PM’s resignation should come as a package deal that will include contentious issues of constitution making, budget and fresh elections. NC and UML leaders rejected outright Dahal’s proposal. “It is up to you [Dahal] to create an environment for consensus by asking Bhattarai to step down. The ball is in your court,” a source quoted NC President Sushil Koirala as having said. The three-party meeting was held at Koirala’s residence after President Yadav asked top political leaders to hold serious talks and forge consensus on contentious issues by November 22. Dahal, who spoke separately with Koirala for a while, dodged the media and left the venue without saying a word. nnnn DEUBA SHUNNED IN HOME DISTRICT Kathmandu, 20 Nov.:Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba got a taste of discontent brewing within the party against its leadership when he visited his home district of Dadeldhura on Monday, DR Panta writes n The Kathmandu Post from Dabdeldhura.. The party's old-timers in the district boycotted the gathering that was addressed by Deuba. The man leading this protest was Raghubar Bhatta, a three-time NC district president and one-time staunch supporter of Deuba. "We shunned the function as our leaders have stopped understanding the sentiments of the activists. They have forgotten the party's ideology and principles and it is our responsibility to bring them on the right track," Bhatta said. Another Deuba supporter, Gobinda Bohara, said that the NC leadership was suffering from a 'drought' of vision and principle to run the party. Bohara, who served as the personal secretary to Deuba during his premiership, said the NC activists were unhappy with the ways of the senior leaders. The other NC leaders and activists to boycott Deuba's programme included Kailash Panday, vice-president of the district working committee; Lokraj Bhatta, district secretary; Dilliraj Joshi, district secretary; Hemraj Chataut, Mahasamiti member; and Ganeshraj Bhatta, general convention representative. Deuba rails against Maoists Addressing the NC gathering in Dadeldhura, Deuba said that the ruling UCPN (Maoist) wished to seize state powers. "The Maoists have not yet severed their ties with violence and killing. Their every act is driven by their desire to capture power and, therefore, they cannot hold the Constituent Assembly election," he said. The NC leader claimed that the failure of the Maoist party to adopt democratic practices was the reason the country had not got a new constitution. He said the Maoist armed rebellion had pushed the country 100 years back and after joining the mainstream politics, the party jeopardised the peace process. "The country's economy is teetering on the brink and the Maoist government is busy emptying the state coffers in the name of political transition," said Deuba. nnnn STAMPEDE DURING CHHATH KILLS AT LEAST 14 IN BIHAR Kathmandu, 20 Nov.: A power outage panicked crowds offering prayers on the Ganges River during a religious festival, sparking a stampede that killed six children and eight other people, police in eastern India said, AP reports from Patna.. Hundreds of Hindu worshippers had gathered along the riverbank in Patna, Bihar state, to pray to the sun god during the Chhath festival, according to police Superintendent Jayant Kant. People who had filled a makeshift bamboo walkway leading into the Ganges trampled one another as they fought to get to shore, he said. About 20 people were rushed to the hospital and about six were in critical condition, he said. Deadly stampedes are fairly common during India's often-chaotic religious festivals, which regularly include tens of thousands of worshippers. Nine people were killed in a September stampede during another festival in eastern India. nnnn