CAPITAL’S MINIMUM TEMPERATURE 1.6 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: The minimum temperature recoded in the capital in the last 24 hours was 1.6 degrees Celsius. The maximum was 17 degrees Celsius. Nnnn NIGERIAN FOOTBALLER DIES Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: Nigerian football player who was to play for a local club during current league died of a heart attack Wednesday, published reports said.. Austin Ndife, 21, arrived for trial Monday. Kumar Lama of Baudha also died Sunday. He was suffering cancer. . APF PLAYS THREE STAR IN FOOTBALL LEAGUE THURSDAY Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: APF plays Three Star in the Martyr Memorial A Division Football League Championship Thursday at Dashrath Rangashala. Sarashwati plays Jawalakhel in another match. Nnnn . BALL NOW IN PM’S COURT Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: The entire debate and discussion on choosing a new prime ministerial candidate has finally come to center on the struggle between two leaders of the ruling UCPN (Maoist), Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, who is also party vice-chairman, Kiran Pun writes in Republica... Until a few weeks ago, the negotiations used to be among leaders from the major political parties, such as UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML. But lately it has narrowed down to discussions within the UCPN (Maoist). Leaders from the opposition alliance led by NC and UML, who have already fielded NC President Sushil Koirala for the top executive post, have been awaiting the Maoist party´s official decision. "The ball is now in the prime minister´s court but it will not remain there for long even if he so wishes. It will roll on. How can there be movement over the deadlock without a decision from the Maoists?," Bhim Rawal, UML leader, who was involved in negotiations among the major political parties, told Republica. According to Rawal, Chairman Dahal had tried to break the deadlock but Bhattarai resorted to threats and Dahal in the end could not come up with a decision from his party. Lately, Dahal has been lobbying within his party, within the ruling coalition and among other politicians over the issue of nominating a new prime ministerial candidate while keeping options open, but Prime Minister Bhattarai and his camp is firmly against leaving office any time soon, let alone accepting Koirala´s candidacy. Dahal, at a meeting of his party and also at a meeting of the Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA), which is headed by himself, said he could accept Koirala´s candidacy if the latter was ready to accept the ruling coalition´s conditions. But Bhattarai has been insisting that the present coalition should hand over government leadership only after transforming the present government into a national consensus coalition by bringing the NC and UML on board. Bhattarai has already floated a proposal to nominate Dahal as the next prime ministerial candidate from the party if the NC and UML refuse to join the present government for a brief period. In response to the opposition parties´ demand that Bhattarai quit his post, Dahal had asked them to name a candidate for new prime minister. Dahal had thought that the NC would not be able to pick a candidate. But, the NC decided on party president Koirala. The opposition parties then asked Dahal for his party´s official decision. An informal agreement between the major parties agreed on Koirala´s candidature, but Bhattarai not only rejected that at a meeting held the next day but also called a meeting of FDRA, of which Dahal is chief, at Baluwatar, his official residence. Bhattarai also boycotted a meeting of the party´s office-bearers held to resolve matters. As a result, the rift between Dahal and Bhattarai has widened and the deadlock has been prolonged. Bhattarai faction leaders have also proposed Dahal for Prime Minister. Dahal, for his part does not want to prolong the deadlock. There is a compulsion for him to take a decision while he has a comfortable majority in the party. But he will be termed anti-federalist if he proposes Koirala and will also be blamed for throwing out a government of his own party. The Bhattarai faction has been projecting Koirala as anti-federalist all along. The deadlock will end if the Maoists take a decision. The president will only nominate a new prime minister in accordance with Article 38(1) of the Interim Constituent, i.e. at the recommendation of the political parties. "Dahal is more flexible and is showing eagerness to end the deadlock but Bhattarai remains rigid," Jhalak Subedi, a political analyst, told Republica. nnnn________________________________________ INDIAN POWER DEVELOPER SUTLET DEMAND Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: The government and Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, which is developing 900 MW-Arun III hydropower project, held discussion on a slew of issues such as completion of access road and policy consistency on project development agreement (PDA), among others, on Wednesday, Republica reports.. "Sutlej asked us to build access road to the project site and increase the concession period--the period for which a developer retains project ownership--in the meeting," a government official who took part in the discussion told Republica. The government can give a maximum of 35 years of concession period to a developer as per the existing Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) Act. However, the government has given only 25 years of concession period to Sutlej. The government, which is responsible to build access road to the project site, has just completed opening tracks. According to the official, the meeting between Sutlej--state owned Indian power developer--and the Nepal Investment Board (NIB) mainly focused on laws and their consistency. "Sutlej has asked Nepal government whether it can import required construction materials from India," the official said on condition of anonymity. A team of officials from the New Delhi based head office of Sutlej, led by R K Agrawal, managing director of the Business Development and Management Service, Sutlej, visited Nepal aiming to finalize the deal towards inking on PDA. "The PDA with Sutlej for Arun III will be completed by next two months if the negotiations continue on the same pace," the official further said. Additionally, Sutlej has sought strong commitment from the government on different policies such as income tax, excise duty on the export of produced power, value added tax and allocation of amount for forestry development from the total income of the project. "The officials from Sutlej enquired whether the government can ensure consistency of the existing income tax policy during the entire project period," said the official close to the developments. According to the official, Sutlej officials made it clear that they wouldn´t be able to spend five percent of their total income on the forestry sector. The government had introduced a law recently that requiring hydropower producers to spend five percent of their total income on the forestry development. "That´s not practical for us," the official quoted Sutlej team. Arun III is a run-of-the-river project based in Sankhuwasabha district. Sutlej was selected to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) through a global bidding in 2008. As of now, Sutlej is on the verge of completing survey license. Nnnn MANDELA RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL Kathmandu, 27, Dec. Former South African President Nelson Mandela was released Wednesday from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection and having gallstones removed, a government spokesman said, AP reports from Johannesberg/ . The 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon will continue to receive medical care at home. Mandela had been in the hospital since Dec. 8. In recent days, officials have said he was improving and in good spirits, but doctors have taken extraordinary care with his health because of his age. Mandela was released Wednesday evening and will receive "home-based high care" at his residence in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton until he fully recovers, said presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj. "We thank the public and the media for the good wishes and for according Madiba and the family the necessary privacy," said Maharaj in a statement, using Mandela´s clan name, a term of affection. The statement requested that Mandela´s privacy continue to be respected "in order to allow for the best possible conditions for full recovery." David Phetoe, a resident of the Johannesburg township of Soweto, reacted with joy when he heard that Mandela was no longer in a hospital. "It´s not always the case, when people offer great expectations, that those expectations are fulfilled," he said. "In this case, we say in the same tone, in the Christmas mood and in the Christmas season, let him stick around for a while!" Mandela is revered around the world as a symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation, his legacy forged in the fight against apartheid, the system of white minority rule that imprisoned him for 27 years. The Nobel laureate served one five-year term as president after South Africa´s first democratic elections in 1994. Although the country today struggles with poverty and inequality, Mandela is widely credited with helping to avert race-driven chaos as South Africa emerged from apartheid. South African President Jacob Zuma was among those who joined Mandela´s wife, Graca Machel, and other family members in wishing a Merry Christmas to Mandela at his hospital bedside in Pretoria, the South African capital. "I think he is an icon of hope and we are very excited" that Mandela is out of the hospital, said Sipho Sibiko, a Soweto resident. "I personally know that he is one of the people that inspired me. He inspires a lot of people and we are excited that he has been released. We wish him many more joyous years and good health." nnnn