THREE BANKERS N THE RUN ARRESTED Kathmandu, 10 Nov.: Three bankers absconding since October 2005 after conviction by the special court were arrested Thursday by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police Sarvagya Ratna Tuladhar, Pradeep Ratna Tuladhar and Amar Raja Tamrakarwere arrested from Ason The Tuladhars and Tamrakar are promoters of T&T Industries Pvt Ltd They defaulted is settling a Rs 1.58 million loan from Nepal Bank Ltd. CIAA charged them at the special court. nnnn. NC CHALLENGES MAOISTS Kathmandu, 10 Nov : While maintaining that fresh election was his party´s ´roadmap´ to end the current political deadlock, Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala has challenged the ruling UCPN (Maoist) to compete with them in the elections, Kosh Raj Koirala writes in Republica.. Koirala also announced that NC, along with other opposition parties, will take to the streets to exert pressure on the current Baburam Bhattarai-led government for the formation of national consensus government. He said the election government was a must for holding free and fair election before May, 2013 and protests were the only way force the Bhattarai-led government out of office. "There is no other alternative [to election]. To chose any other alternative is to go down the path of downfall ," Koirala said while addressing a mass rally organized in the capital to mark the 97th birth anniversary of supreme leader Ganesh Man Singh on Friday. "Our aim is election. Please do contest the election and compete. I want to challenge you from here." While brushing aside the allegations of the Maoists that NC did not have ´roadmap´ to resolve the deadlock, Koirala argued that fresh election was the roadmap of the NC to bail the country out of the current political impasse. "We want to go to the election at the earliest. Fresh election should be held no later than May," he said. Thousands of NC supporters had first converged at Shanti Batika to offer their respect to the statute of late Ganesh Man Singh and walked past the Sahid Gate and New Road before converging again at Basantapur Durbar Square. "The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly was a political coup of Baburam Bhattarai. Everyone in the country has understood this," Koirala further said. Addressing the rally, NC senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, Vice President Ram Chandra Paudel, General Secretaries Prakash Man Singh and Krishna Prasad Sitaula, treasurer Chitra Lekha Yadav and CWC members Gopal Man Singh and Bhim Bahadur Tamang, among others, argued since the Maoists were bent on imposing a ´totalitarian rule´ by staying put in powers there was no alternative to oust the current government through street protests. They also warned the Maoists not to dream of establishing totalitarian rule in the country as that would push them to the same fate as that of ousted king Gyanendra Shah. On the occasion, senior leader Deuba argued that since the Maoists were out in planned manner to establish totalitarian rule by making all democratic institutional dysfunctional there was no alternative except to launch a stringent protests to oust the current government. "We have two options now: Either surrender or go for a movement. NC is never a party that chooses to surrender," he said adding that they should fully focus on intensifying the movement. Deuba, who has been rooting for revival of the CA as the best alternative to resolve the deadlock, argued he still believes that CA revival would be best option. He argued that they could go for fresh parliamentary election after promulgating a constitution through the revived CA while leaving contentious issues of the statute to be settled by an elected parliament. Likewise, Vice President Paudel announced that NC would eventually force the Prime Minister Bhattarai to step down from the post to pave way for the national consensus government through street protests. "Today the ousted king Gyanendra has started making public speech. The Maoists and Madhes-based parties are to be blamed for encouraging regressive forces to raise their heads," he added. nnnn WORKERS WITHOUT LABOUT CONTRACTMAY HAVE TO MAY HAVE TO RE-REGISTER FOR JOBS Kathmandu, 10 Nov : Thousands of Nepalis who were registered in roster for Korean jobs under Employment Permit System (EPS) in 2011 but failed to get the job contract so far would need to re-qualify on health test and register themselves again if they want to keep their hopes of getting the South Korean job still alive, Prabhakar Ghimere writes in Republica.. Such a situation surfaced mainly as many of their medical report, which is valid for a year, has either expired or others´ report too are expiring soon. And this will automatically lead to de-registration of their names from the roster. “If they want to re-register themselves, they would need to be qualified in the medical test and fill up the job application forms yet again,” said a source at the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE). According to the EPS Nepal Office data, a total of 15,500 youths had registered in its job roster after qualifying through the Korean language test and heath check up for Korean jobs in the year 2011. However, only 6,039 of them have actually signed labor contracts so far. “Remaining workers have either already been de-registered or will soon face de-registration if they did not undergo the registration process,” the source told Republica. Under EPS, the validity of Korean language test certificate is set for two years. But the Korean government can delete the names of the job seekers after a year of their registration in the job roster. To facilitate the re-registration, the EPS-Nepal Office is soon going to make public the names of job aspirants who need to undergo re-registration process. “The MoLE has already initiated the process to select the medical institutions to conduct the health test for those job aspirants,” the source added. In a measure to cope with the rising labor shortage, Korean government introduced EPS in 2004 allowing domestic firms to hire foreign workers. Korea has signed EPS pacts with 15 countries to source the workers for five sectors- agriculture, manufacturing, construction, fisheries and service. South Korea has signed EPS pacts with Vietnam, Mongolia, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and East Timor. Most of the Nepali workers who left for Korea for EPS jobs since 2008 are employed mainly in agriculture and manufacturing sectors which are booming in the fourth largest economy of the Asia. Nepal and Korea had signed EPS deal on July 23, 2007 to send Nepali workers to Korea through the government level. Nnnn ________________________________________ LEGALITY OF LUMBINI ACCORD WITH CHINESE NGO QUESTIONED Kathmandu, 10 Nov.: Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Chair of Extensive Lumbini Development Project, has signed an agreement with Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), of which he is a co-chair, without approval from the concerned ministries, namely Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Law and Justice, the line ministry — the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) — and Foreign Investment Board, Ananta Raj Luitel/Bishnu .Prasad Aryal write in The Himalayan Times Although APECF signed the November 7 MoU, it will not invest a penny in the $3 billion project on its own. Yajna Prasad Gautam, Secretary at the MoCTCA, refused to sign the MoU on Wednesday. Then MoCTCA secretary Mod Raj Dotel had resigned last year rather than signing the MoU. The secretaries refused to sign the MoU as they did not get approval letters for the same from these ministries, according to a highly placed MoCTCA source. “Dahal was not authorised to sign such MoU with any foreign company,” the source told this daily today. “We have not received any approval letter from the concerned authority in this regard.” However, Arjun Bahadur Thapa, MoFA Spokesperson, said, “The matter is not related to us, so ask the MoCTCA.” Senior government officials were reluctant to be quoted fearing backlash. “The approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concerned ministries is a must before signing any agreement with any foreign agency,” Yagya Murti Banjade, former attorney general, said. “The approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is required to protect national interest and to legalise such approval.” The government had formed Lumbini Development National Directive Committee under UCPN-Maoist Chairman Dahal to develop Lumbini, the birth place of Gautam Buddha. Dahal has been advocating to develop Lumbini as per the plans of a Chinese company. Beijing Zhongtai Jinghua Investment Co (BZZH Inc) of China plans to develop five big projects, including a five-star hotel, on Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) premises in Lumbini. Dahal is one of co-chairs of the APECF, a little-known Hong Kong-based NGO that has forwarded documents in the name of BZZH Inc to Nepal government with a multibillion plan to develop Lumbini into a Buddhist ‘Mecca’. According to MoCTCA, the five projects include world’s biggest (80m high) Buddha statue, archaeological landscape garden, a five-star hotel with 120 guest rooms, Buddha museum and research centre and electric transportation and boating canal at the land under the Lumbini Master Plan of the LDT. However, the master plan does not permit hotels in its area. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, which looks into the world’s heritage sites, has objected to the plan to develop anything against the Lumbini Master Plan that contains the major components of New Lumbini Village, the Cultural Centre/Monastic Zone and the Sacred Garden. UNESCO can enlist it under endangered list if the plan is illegally implemented, said the government officials. UNDP provided about one million dollars for preparation of a master plan for the development of Lumbini. The plan aimed to restore an area of about 7.7 square km, to be known as the Lumbini Garden, centring on the garden and Ashoka Pillar, with an additional area of 64.5 km to be developed in its support. Shady deal in a nutshell • The ambitious plan has not got approval from ministries concerned • Pushpa Kamal Dahal does not have the authority to sign MoU • MoU with APECF still under wraps • Dahal himself signed MoU with his own NGO • APECF floats $3-billion plan, though it does not have a single penny in it Nnnn CONTRACT CONDITIONS FLOUTED WHILE SUBMITTING TELEOM LoI Kathmandu, 10 Nov.:: In yet another incident that the state-owned telecom service provider, Nepal Telecom (NT), is getting weak every other day, Huawei –– China-based global ICT solution provider –– has flouted the contract conditions ignoring its own declaration while submitting the Letter of Intent (LoI), Shiromani Dhungana . writes in The Himalayan Times However, the top level management at Nepal Telecom have said that they are left with no choice but to accept the breach of contract. Huawei had submitted a declaration letter stating that it would not engage in any new telecom business until the end of the installation and commissioning of 4.8 million GSM/UMTS lines under package-B of 10 million GSM expansion project of Nepal Telecom. But, according to a NT source, Huawei has started a new business with Ncell just two months after NT issued it a LoI. “The bidder shall submit a declaration letter stating that the bidder will not directly or indirectly engage in other new telecom business activity with other operators in Nepal,” Nepal Telecom had clearly stated in its tender notice. NT had stated that the provision would start from the date of issuance of LoI till the end of the project, that is, until the end of the extended warranty with managed service along with bid proposal. But Huawei engaged in a Rs 1.6 million packet service project of Ncell, claimed the source at NT, adding that Huawei signed the project contract on October 17, more than seven months after the LoI was issued. Nepal Telecom is not against any particular service provider, he said. “But the issue is that Huawei defied Nepal Telecom’s contract clauses in a tangible manner.” “This shows that Huawei has clearly breached the contract conditions,” said president of National Employees’ Organisation of Nepal, Nepal Telecom Sunil Kumar Mishra. “However, Nepal Telecom is at the receiving end at present since it has to expand the GSM line at any cost to be competitive.” The management at Nepal Telecom is mulling whether to write to Huawei seeking justification or to allow the company to complete the project, said a board member of NT. “On one hand, if Nepal Telecom seeks clarification from the vendor, it will hurt its market expansion drive,” Mishra said, “On the other, the bid document in the future will just be a formality and bidders will start flouting terms and conditions if it does not take action against Huawei.” nnnn