ANOTHER DEADLINE WILL BE MISSED SATURDAY Kathmandu, 22 Dec.: A presidential deadline to assemble a national government nds Saturday. It will end in failure again because of differences Maoist rank and reluctance of Madeshi Morcha and Baburab Bhattarai faction in Maoists to handover power to N and UML. Maoist top leaders are meeting again Saturday to resolve differences in the party Saturday. Nnnn NO TO NC, UML LEADERSHUP OF GOVT. SAYS MADESH LEADER Kathmandu, 22 Dec : The ongoing meeting of United Madhesi Democratic Front (UDMF), an alliance of five ruling Madhes-based parties, is likely to harden its stance against the opposition parties´ demand for immediate exit of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, Republica reports. A leader present at the meeting said that the Front is not going to hand over the government leadership to the opposition alliance at any cost. "There is an unanimous view among the leaders to transforming the present government into a national consensus coalition under Baburam Bhattarai´s leadership," Dan Bahadur Kurmi Chaudhary of Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party-Nepal, who was present at the meeting, told Republica. He said that the Madhes-based parties wouldn´t accept leadership of Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML terming them as anti-federalists´ parties. "We won´t accept NC and UML leadership for the new government even if Baburam Bhattarai becomes ready for that," he said. He said that the Front´s member parties were holding elections for new Constituent Assembly (CA) in coming April-May. "The agreements reached in the dissolved CA and works done by the Assembly must be owned up and transferred as it is to the new CA and the disputes seen in the previous CA should be enlisted and transferred," Chaudhary said. He said that the new CA-cum-parliament should be elected for five-year term and that it´s role for statute drafting should come to end only after producing a new constitution whereas other parties such as NC and UML are giving for one-year or two for constitution writing and rest of the time only for legislative role. The Madhesi parties are also for limiting the tenure of election-government. "If the election-government fails to conduct polls on the announced date, the tenure of leadership of such government should automatically expire," he explained. However, Health Minister Rajendra Mahato, who is also the chairman of Sadbhavana Party (SP), indicated that the Front will remain flexible on the issue of who would lead the new government. "It is obvious that everyone should be flexbile and open for crucial agenda because no one can solve the country´s problem remaining rigid," Mahato told Republica. Ruling Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D), Tarai-Madesh Democratic Party (TMDP), TMDP-Nepal, MPRF-Republican and SP are member parties of the Front. Nnnn NRB SUGGESTIONS TO CHECK FRAUD Kathmandu, 22 Dec.: The good-for-payment check scam at H&B Development Bank has prompted Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the banking sector regulator, to introduce preventive measures so that similar incidents do not occur in future. In a directive issued on Friday, the central bank has said individuals and firms that are provided with good-for-payment checks can ask banks and financial institutions issuing such checks to furnish evidence that shows amount equivalent to that mentioned on the check is frozen in the system. The regulator introduced this option for check holders after H&B started issuing good for payment instruments worth millions of rupees without locking the amount mentioned in the check in the system. Since the checks were issued against accounts that had no funds, the instruments that should have been as good as cash turned out to be no more than pieces of papers. As many blamed weak internal control system of the bank for the fiasco, the central bank has laid the option of assigning at least two officers of the office that issues such checks to put their signature on the instrument, mentioning their name, code number and designation. “The check should also have the ofnnnnfice seal on it and the chief operations officer should be informed about issuance of such checks,” the directive says, while reminding all banks and financial institutions not to issue loans against good for payment checks. However, these conditions do not apply on checks issued to the government, the directive adds. The directive also says all banks and financial institutions must allot a risk weight of 100 percent to investments made on mutual funds while computing the capital adequacy ratio - a measure of capital reserves against assets at risk. Also, seed money allocated by banks and financial institutions to set up mutual funds can be incorporated while calculating the core capital, the directive adds. Nnnn