MEET OF BIG THREE AND MADECH MORCHA INCONCLUSIVE Kathmandu, 1 Nov.: A meeting of the Big Three—Maoista leading the government, opposition NC and UML and a five-party ruling coalition of Madeshbadi parties—was inconclusive Thursday. The meting was adjourned until Friday. The front and parties discussed constituent assembly (CA) elections, budget, among other issues. nnnn Nnnn ________________________________________ UML CHAIRMAN OPPOSES GOVT. DOLE FOR DISQUALIFIED MAOIST FIGHTERS Kathmandu, 1 Nov.: In a strongly worded statement Thursday, UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal objected to Rs. 200,000 government to disqualified Maoist combatants described by the opposition leader as child soldiers. UNMIN, a political arm of UN, put the group in that category. The former fighters have been protesting the categorization demanding its withdrawal. . Khanal said he was ‘seriously concerned’ with the government handout to former child soldiers calling the government move a violation of human rights and official corruption. Government would be spending Rs 600 million from state coffers, Khanal demanded the government decision be overturned. Nnnn PUTIN SPOKESMAN SAYS RECENT FLIGHT WITH CRANES DIDN’T INJURE THE RUSSIANGOVT. CHIEF Kathmandu, 1 Nov : Did Vladimir Putin´s flight with a flock of cranes end up grounding him? The Russian president´s spokesman says no, AP wrotes from Moscow.. In recent weeks, Putin has rarely left his official residence, sparking speculation that illness or injury had laid him low. On Thursday, the respected newspaper Vedomosti cited unnamed Kremlin-connected sources saying Putin´s September flight in a motorized hang-glider accompany migrating cranes had aggravated an old injury. But his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency RIA Novosti that Putin had an old injury, but it was not connected to the highly publicized flight. Peskov was quoted as saying Putin was making only infrequent trips to the Kremlin because he didn´t want his motorcade to disrupt Moscow´s notoriously bad traffic. The presidential motorcade forces the shutdown of large stretches of highway, an inconvenience that many irritated drivers mark by blaring their horns angrily as the president´s car races past. Putin has also put off several expected trips abroad, including to India, Turkey and Bulgaria. The Interfax news agency cited Peskov as saying there was no single reason behind those changes. The hang-glider flight with the cranes, which took place in September in Vladivostok, was one of Putin´s trademark adventurous media events. The 60-year-old Russian leader has assiduously cultivated an image of vigor and daring, including being shown swimming in a Siberian river and petting a tranquilized polar bear in the Arctic. Putin also is a skier and a judo aficionado. "Indeed he pulled a muscle. It happened before Vladivostok. He was suffering from some muscle pain then," Peskov said, according to Interfax. "Actually, we have never tried to conceal it because any athlete has lots of injuries, which, however, do not mean any restrictions of his activities," Peskov said. Nnnn