NC AFFLIATED STUDENTS COME OUT ON PROTESTS Kathmandu, 22 Nov.: Students affiliated with main opposition NC took out protests in the capital and the rest of the country from nine in the morning Thursday and will burn effigies of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. Students are on limited protests from Wednesday opposing unilateral government announcement of a budget and constituent assembly elections The students have taken up a party agenda to intensify anti-government and anti-Maoist protests pushing the downfall of the 13-month government of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. Bhattarai and his party –UCPN Maoist-are sticking to government to hold constituent assembly elections to gain a two-third majority and impose their agenda to draft a delayed a constitution A basic law should normally be drafted through consensus while in Nepal parties are attempting to include their agenda in the document. Nnnn PARTIES VEXED, CAUTIOUS ON PRITICIZING PRESIDENT ON HIS MOVES THIS WEEK Kathmandu, 22 Nov.: Parties in opposition were a discontent and surprised lot yesterday after President Ram Baran Yadav approved the budget ordinance, but they said today [Wednesday][ that they did not want to drag the Head of State into any kind of controversy, Prakash Acharya writes in The Himalayan Times.. During a meeting held this afternoon at CPN-UML headquarters in Balkhu, 16 parties in opposition strongly condemned the government for unilaterally declaring fresh Constituent Assembly polls for April/May and bringing the budget ordinance and said a ‘strong movement is the only way out to dislodge the government’. UML leader Raghujee Panta said parties will declare strong protests after analysing the post-November 22 situation. Multiple sources who were present at today’s meeting told this daily that most of the fringe parties strongly criticised the President for not keeping his word and giving in to the government to approve the budget ordinance. “They called on big parties in opposition to condemn the President’s move,” said the sources. “Bigger parties though expressed their discontent and surprise, they decided not to drag the President into controversy.” A joint press release issued later stated that the budget ordinance had pushed the possibility of consensus even further. “This meeting takes serious exception to government’s yesterday’s move. Declaring fresh polls in April/May is yet another conspiracy after it failed to hold polls on November 22,” read the statement. Mohan Baidhya-led CPN-Maoist, Upendra Yadav-led Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal and a few fringe parties did not attend the meeting today. Nepali Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat termed the government move deceitful and said opposition parties would but retaliate. NC objects to poll declaration, budget A meeting of the Central Working Committee of the Nepali Congress on Wednesday concluded that the government move on Tuesday to declare polls and bring the budget was highly objectionable. The meeting, held after 16 parties in opposition discussed the recent development, concluded that the incumbent government’s arbitrary reign must come to an end. The NC meeting has decided to launch strong protests against the government, said CWC member Krishna Chandra Nepali. Some leaders, including Ram Sharan Mahat, had expressed discontent over President Ram Baran Yadav’s decision to approve the budget ordinance without consulting opposition parties. — Nnnn FORMER MAOIST FIGHTERS PLANT BOMB AT SITE WHERE DEUBA ADDRESSES PUBLIC MEET THURSDAY IN BHAJANG Kathmandu, 22 Nov.: A bomb disposal unit of the Nepal Army (NA) from Dadeldhura defused the socket bomb which is said to be planted by former Maoist combatants on the premises of a local Sunkuda Higher Secondary School in Pangang-2, Bajhang on Wednesday, Jagadish Rokaya writes in The Himalayan Times from Bhajang. Police have arrested Prem Bahadur Bohara (32) and Narendra Dhami (35) of Dhanchaur, Bajhang for their involvement the case. Preliminary investigation reveals that they were arrested from the jeep which they were riding on and and have been identified as former Maoist combatants. Syadi Police Station, Bakhanda informed that they got information about the plantation at around 10 am. According to DSP Udaya Tamang, the socket bomb is of 5-inch. Meanwhile, police have also impounded the jeep. Though the arrestees have been identified as former Maoist fighters, pamphlets with the message “save nationality, restore monarchy, save the country” were scattered near the building, Tamang said. Until the bomb was defused, locals were filled with terror after they heard of bomb plantation at their village. Sunkuda Higher Secondary School is the place where Nepali Congress (NC) senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba is slated to address an assembly on Thursday. nnnn ISRAEL, HAMAS CEASEFIRE ENFORCED Kathmandu, 22 Nov.: A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers took hold on Thursday after eight days of conflict, although deep mistrust on both sides cast doubt on how long the Egyptian-sponsored deal can last, Reuters repots from Cairo/Gaza.. Even after the ceasefire came into force late on Wednesday, a dozen rockets from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel, all in open areas, a police spokesman said. In Gaza, witnesses reported an explosion shortly after the truce took effect at 9 p.m (14:00 EDT), but there were no casualties and the cause was unclear. The deal prevented, at least for the moment, an Israeli ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave following bombing and rocket fire which killed five Israelis and 162 Gazans, including 37 children. But trust was in short supply. The exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, said his Islamist movement would respect the truce if Israel did, but would respond to any violations. "If Israel complies, we are compliant. If it does not comply, our hands are on the trigger," he told a news conference in Cairo. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had agreed to "exhaust this opportunity for an extended truce", but told his people a tougher approach might be required in the future. Both sides quickly began offering differing interpretations of the ceasefire, brokered by Egypt's new Islamist government and backed by the United States, highlighting the many actual or potential areas of discord. If it holds, the truce will give 1.7 million Gazans respite from days of ferocious air strikes and halt rocket salvoes from militants that unnerved a million people in southern Israel and reached Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for the first time. "Allahu akbar, (God is greatest), dear people of Gaza you won," blared mosque loudspeakers in Gaza as the truce took effect. "You have broken the arrogance of the Jews." Fifteen minutes later, wild celebratory gunfire echoed across the darkened streets, which gradually filled with crowds waving Palestinian flags. Ululating women leaned out of windows and fireworks lit up the sky. Meshaal thanked Egypt for mediating and praised Iran for providing Gazans with financing and arms. "We have come out of this battle with our heads up high," he said, adding that Israel had been defeated and failed in its "adventure". Some Israelis staged protests against the deal, notably in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi, where three people were killed by a Gaza rocket during the conflict, army radio said. Netanyahu said he was willing to give the truce a chance but held open the possibility of reopening the conflict. "I know there are citizens expecting a more severe military action, and perhaps we shall need to do so," he said. The Israeli leader, who faces a parliamentary election in January, delivered a similar message earlier in a telephone call with U.S. President Barack Obama, his office said. According to a text of the agreement seen by Reuters, both sides should halt all hostilities, with Israel desisting from incursions and targeting of individuals, while all Palestinian factions should cease rocket fire and cross-border attacks. The deal also provides for easing Israeli restrictions on Gaza's residents, who live in what British Prime Minister David Cameron has called an "open prison". The text said procedures for implementing this would be "dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire". Israeli sources said Israel would not lift a blockade of the enclave it enforced after Hamas, which rejects the Jewish state's right to exist, won a Palestinian election in 2006. However, Meshaal said the deal covered the opening of all of the territory's border crossings. "The document stipulates the opening of the crossings, all the crossings, and not just Rafah," he said. Israel controls all of Gaza's crossings apart from the Rafah post with Egypt. Hamas lost its top military commander to an Israeli strike in the conflict and suffered serious hits to its infrastructure and weaponry, but has emerged with its reputation both in the Arab world and at home stronger. Israel can take comfort from the fact it dealt painful blows to its enemy, which will take many months to recover, and showed that it can defend itself from a barrage of missiles. "No one is under the illusion that this is going to be an everlasting ceasefire. It is clear to everyone it will only be temporary," said Michael Herzog, a former chief of staff at the Israeli ministry of defence. "But there is a chance that it could hold for a significant period of time, if all goes well," he told Reuters. Egypt, an important U.S. ally now under Islamist leadership, took centre stage in diplomacy to halt the bloodshed. Cairo has walked a fine line between its sympathies for Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood to which President Mohamed Mursi belongs, and its need to preserve its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and its ties with Washington, its main aid donor. Announcing the agreement in Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said mediation had "resulted in understandings to cease fire, restore calm and halt the bloodshed". U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, standing beside Amr, thanked Mursi for peace efforts that showed "responsibility, leadership" in the region. The Gaza conflict erupted in a Middle East already shaken by last year's Arab uprisings that toppled several veteran U.S.-backed leaders, including Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, and by a civil war in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad is fighting for survival. In his call with Netanyahu, Obama in turn repeated U.S. commitment to Israel's security and promised to seek funds for a joint missile defence program, the White House said. The ceasefire was forged despite a bus bomb explosion that wounded 15 Israelis in Tel Aviv earlier in the day and despite more Israeli air strikes that killed 10 Gazans. It was the first serious bombing in Israel's commercial capital since 2006. Israel, the United States and the European Union all classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. It seized the Gaza Strip from the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007 in a brief but bloody war with his Fatah movement. "This is a critical moment for the region," Clinton said. "Egypt's new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone for regional stability and peace." In Amman, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged both sides to stick to their ceasefire pledges. "There may be challenges implementing this agreement," he said, urging "maximum restraint". nnnn