CURRENT DEADLOCK FOR POWER SHARING SAYS BAIDHYA ONLY Kathmandu, 15 Dec.: CPN-Maoist Chairman Mohan Baidhya said on Friday that the present political deadlock prolonging as the major political parties were concentrating more on power rather than on crisis resolution, RSS reports.. Inaugurating the Sambad Dabali at Anamnagar in the Capital, Chairman Baidhya said that consensus should be sought by keeping people in center. Saying that consensus and agreements were signed in the past by betraying the people, he added all should be aware not to repeat the same fate. He said, "Consensus and agreement should be forged aiming to address the problems of women, madhesis, dalits, indigenous, peasants and workers, and issues of nationality." Baidhya also revealed that the President and top leaders of major political parties have reached near consensus behind the curtain. On the occasion, UCPN-Maoist Agni Prasad Sapkota cautioned that political power could be lost from the parties' grip if country's present situation was not understood well. Sapkota asked the opposition leaders to submit bases on how the country's problems could be resolved by making Sushil Koirala the prime minister replacing Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai. Likewise, CPN-UML leader Pradip Nepal said that political deadlock would not end until elections to the local bodies were held. Similarly, Nepali Congress leader Dr Minendra Rijal urged the prime minister to save the country for plunging into crisis. Nnnn FOLLOW-UP ON HASAMI MURDER URGED Kathmandu, 15 Dec.: National Muslim Commission today [Thursday] demanded the government to find out fact behind the murder of Shiwa Hasami of Bardiya and bring the perpetrator to book. , RSS reports from Butwal. The Commission has drawn its attention to the barbaric act of setting Hasami on fire to death. An Indian national, Babu Khan, temporarily residing at Guleriya, has allegedly set Hasami on fire with petrol on last December 7. Having serious burn injuries, she breathed her last on Wednesday morning while being treated at Bir Hospital, Kathmandu. The Commission has urged the authority concerned to make necessary arrangement of compensation to the victim family, stated a press release issued by Chief Commissioner of the National Muslim Commission, Mohammed Nirdos Ali on Thursday. “It is the meanest act, those involved in such reckless incident should be brought to stern action and all sides should put cautious measures to avert such incident in future,” the press statement reads. nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “The political parties that failed to form consensus government in the last five years, neither can form consensus government within the deadline nor hold the election within mid-April,” (Chairman RPP-Nepal Kamal Thapa, Republica, 15 Dec.) MAJOR TOP RABK FOR EX-PLA IN NA Kathmandu, 15 Dec: Though top leaders of the ruling UCPN (Maoist) had persuaded former Maoist army commanders to join the Nepal Army after assuring them of senior positions such as colonel and lieutenant-colonel, the latest draft proposal discussed at the cross-party special committee shows that the highest position the Maoist combatants will get is major, Kiiran Pun writes in Republica The draft organogram, obtained by Republica, for the proposed NA directorate in which the Maoist combatants will be integrated has allocated 16 majors for the former Maoist commanders while the higher positions will be taken up by Nepal Army officers. The directorate will be headed by a major general and there will be five brigadiers, eight colonels and 33 lieutenant-colonels in positions higher than the highest positions [majors], in which the former Maoist commanders are likely to be appointed. One division commander Yam Bahadur Adhikari and two division vice-commanders -- Padam Bahadur Tamang and Basudev Ghimire -- have already joined the national army in the hope of getting senior positions such as colonel and lieutenant-colonel. "Former combatants will get their topmost posts in accordance of their qualifications," special committee member Ram Sharan Mahat told Republica. Altogether 1,442 former Maoist combatants, including 71 for officer-level posts, have been undergoing training since Nov 25 at eight different locations. The training will last nine months for officer-level personnel and seven months for rank and file. According to the draft prepared by the special committee, while Nepal Army personnel will transfer to the directorate in their existing ranks, seniority for the former Maoist combatants will be determined in accordance with the date of their joining the PLA as registered with UNMIN. In the case of same ranks, seniority will be decided in accordance with the date of joining the PLA. According to the draft, the former PLA will get 16 positions of major out of 78, 30 positions of captains out of 90, 25 lieutenants out of 47, 14 subedars out of 91, 42 jamadars out of 212, 170 sergents out of 585, 193 corporals out of 660, 180 lance corporals out of 515, and 790 privates out of 1,640. The directorate will be headed by a major general. One major general, five brigadiers, eight colonels and 33 lieutenant-colonels will be entirely from the Nepal Army. Similarly, among the lower posts, the six subedar majors and 204 non-combatants are allocated for the Nepal Army alone. The special committee also decided to form the directorate into a directorate-general, titled National Development Security Directorate, under a major general. After a fewer than expected number of combatants opted for integration, it was not clear how the directorate was to be formed. According to the seven-point deal among the major political parties --UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front -- it was presumed the directorate would have a strength of 6,500 with 35 percent from among the Maoists and the remaining 65 percent from state security forces. Finally, only 1,442 Maoist combatants joined the national army. Earlier, the special committee had envisaged a directorate general of 18,571 [with 6,500 (35%) former PLA and 12,071 (65%) from the Nepal Army]. The UCPN (Maoist) had cantoned over 32,000 combatants in total. Later, 19,602 of them were verified by UNMIN, the United Nations mission in Nepal. Of those verified 9,000 plus opted for integration and the rest chose voluntary retirement. Under the directorate-general, there will be four directorates -- disaster management, industrial security, forests security and development projects. According to the draft, the disaster management, forest security and development project directorates will each have two battalions (2 × 575 or 1,150). Nnnn OPPOSITION NOT INPRESSED WITH PM's STATEMENT Kathmandu, 15 Dec.: As Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai lobbies for support from the opposition parties to amend election-related laws and constitutional provisions by bringing an ordinance, leaders from the major opposition parties rule out the possibility outright, Republica reports. Officials at the prime minister´s office claimed that Bhattarai is for leaving the office only after creating an environment that would ensure polls in the coming spring. But leaders from Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML described the latest statements from the prime minister as yet another tactic to prolong his stay in power. "I suggest Prime Minister Bhattarai not to hang on for extra couple of weeks on one or the other pretext that would not only hurt the country but would also damage the prime minister´s reputation," NC leader Minendra Rijal, who is involved in interparty negotiations, told Republica. CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal described the ruling leaders´ statements as propaganda spread in a bid to divert public resentment against the prime minister. "The prime minister seems to have sensed public anger in the recent days. Therefore it is an attempt to confuse the people by creating an impression that he does not intend to cling on to power," Rawal told Republica. Prime minister´s personal secretary Ganga Shrestha argued that the prime minister is sincerely negotiating with leaders from other political parties to ensure that the next Constituent Assembly (CA) will start works based on the works done by the dissolved CA. "The prime minister wants a political deal to institutionalize the works done by the dissolved CA before he leaves the office," said Shrestha. Some officials at Baluwatar claimed that Bhattarai has already held informal talks within and outside his party and some key leaders have shown positive response to his proposal. "Our party chairman [Pushpa Kamal Dahal] and some leaders from other parties are positive about the prime minister´s proposal that he would leave the office by ensuring election in April -May," said the official. Both Rijal and Rawal informed that the prime minister has so far not floated any proposal in the interparty negotiations. "There has been no progress at all toward thawing the deepening mistrust between the ruling and opposition parties, let alone making any headway as of today [Friday]," said Rijal. Also Rawal claimed that the prime minister has not even come up with any concrete proposal before the opposition parties. While the prime minister´s aides claimed that Bhattarai wants to leave the office only after ensuring that the election will be held in the coming spring and other parties wouldn´t derail the political course, leaders from opposition parties maintained that they can´t allow the current government to take any decision in this regard. "We can´t allow the present government to bring any ordinance to amend election-related laws and constitutional provisions because Bhattarai has lost credibility and the trust of other political parties," said Rawal. Nnnn ________________________________________ . MAURICE HERZOG DEAD Kathmandu, 15 Dec.: French mountaineer Maurice Herzog, the first person to scale an 8,000-metre peak, has died at the age of 93, AP reports from Paris. Herzog died early on Friday, said Pierre You, the president of the French Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing. A photograph of Herzog waving a French tricolour atop the 8,091-metre Annapurna in the Himalayas on June 3, 1950, made front pages around the world. He and climbing companion Louis Lachenal both lost fingers and toes to frostbite during the expedition, which Herzog later recounted in a best-selling book. Though Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest three years later, Annapurna was not scaled again for 20 years. (Climbing history was made with the ascent of Annauprna during the Rana period. The mountain was the first 8,000 meter high peak climbed beginning the ascent of the world’s highest peaks.) nnnn 78-YEAR JAIL FOR TWIN MURDERS Kathmandu, 15 Dec.: Passing a verdict on more than 24-month-old murder cases, Banke District Court today slapped a 78-year jail term each to eight persons, including main accused Meraj Ahmed Sai, for abducting and killing two students Kapil Dev Dwibedi and Liladhar Bhatta, Surendra Kafle writes in The Himalayan Times from Neplgunj. . A Sanjay and Richa, parents of Kapil Dwibedi, who was slain two years ago, after the main accused Meraj Ahmed (below) and other seven were sent to jail, in Nepalgunj, on Friday. single bench of Judge Shekhar Prasad Paudel issued the verdict. Police head constable Sakir Ali Behan has been handed down a 44-year jail sentence for playing the role of an accomplice in the crime. The court, however, gave a clean chit to rights activist Chandreswor Prasad Singh, saying there were not enough evidences against him to establish his role in the crime. Kapil, 15, and Liladhar, 16, were students at Nepalgunj-based Jayabageswori Higher Secondary School and were abducted on September 30, 2010. Liladhar was murdered on October 4 and Kapil on October 6. Kapil’s family had even paid Rs 1 million ransom to the kidnappers to secure his release. Krishna Prasad Paudel, an official at the court, said main accused Meraj has been slapped with 78-year jail sentence (39 years each for killing two) along with confiscation of his entire property. The court has also directed Meraj to return Rs 1 million to Dwibedi family. The other murder accused who were handed down 78-year jail term are Ibrahim Maniyar, Kailash Kumar Gadriya, Rajitram Kurmi, Ramsobhit Kurmi, Najir Kha, Rajjwal Ali Sai and Insaf Ali Sekh. Ramsuresh Kurmi, the mastermind of the crime, and other accomplices Rijawan Sai, Satrudhan Kurmi, Kaldin Kadariya Jiyahul Siddi and Manoj Barma, are still at large. Meraj has been kept at the prison in Palpa. He was sent to Palpa after he was found to be hatching an abduction plan in Nepalgunj jail. Ramsuresh, chairman of the management committee of Banke-based Nepal Rastriya Primary School, had masterminded the abduction and murder. He had called Kapil and Liladhar to his home in Indrapur and abducted them and then demanded Rs 1 million from Kapil’s father Sanjay Dwibedi, head teacher at the school. However, it was Meraj who had murdered Liladhar and demanded Rs 5 million ransom from the Dwibedi family. When Dwibedi said he could pay only Rs 25,000, Meraj had called the Dwibedi family, telling them the location where they could find Kapil’s body. Then the Dwibedi family had agreed to pay the ransom. But, Meraj, even after receiving the ransom, killed Kapil at the direction of Kurmi. Kapil’s father Sanjay and mother Richa said finally justice has prevailed. “We know our son will never come back, but we are glad that the court has punished the murderers,” said Sanjay and Richa. nnnn