COLD HITS EASTERN REGION Kthmandu, 10 Dec.: Normal life in the eastern Terai region has been affected due to increasing cold coupled with thick fog for the past few days, RSS reports from Bhadrapur.. Movement of people in the eastern Terai districts including Jhapa, Sunsari and Morang has gone down due to thick fog and a sudden fall in temperature. With the sliding mercury, cold weather in the wake of the harvesting season has hit farmers hard. Wheat transplantation could not take place due to adverse climate, and potato crop is also likely to be damaged due to increasing cold. Sale of winter clothes has increased with the dip in temperature. Nnnn GAUTAM ADHIKARI AWARDED Kathmandu, 10 Dec.: Nepal Scouts Director Gautam Adhikari has been honoured with the 'Asia Pacific Regional Award for Good Service' on the occasion of the Asia Pacific Regional Conference of World Scouts Organisation, RSS reports. Adhikari was honoured in recognition of his outstanding leadership and significant contribution to the Nepal Scouts. The award is presented to one adjudged the 'best' from among national scout organizations in the Region, said the Nepal Scouts in its press note on Monday. Adhikari is the first Nepali national receiving the award. The Conference was organised from November 24 to 29 in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Nnnn CPN MAOIST LEADER DEV GURUNG SAYS ELECTION CALL SHOULD BE SCRAPPED Kathmandu, 10 Dec.: CPN-Maoist Secretary Dev Gurung said scrapping of the announcement of fresh election to the Constituent Assembly by the president is the best solution to the present political crisis in the country, RSS reports from Bhaktapur.. Taking part in an interaction programme organised by the Rafat Sanchar Club, Bhaktapur on Monday, Gurung said there was no alternative to returning to the situation of May 27. The May 27 move of Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai of declaring the election has made the constitutional bodies defunct and the President has no right to reinstate the CA but he holds the right to activate the constitution, he said, urging the President to be active to give an outlet to the nation. The new deadline given by the President to political parties for ensuring a national consensus government will go in vain again if the President does not go back to May 27, he said. He, however, said there was no way except for an agitation to topple the government. The announcement of new election is just an attempt of the government to lengthen its stay in power, claimed Gurung and said the Congress and UML have been wasting valuable time running after the government. nnnn