HETAUDA CEMENT FACTORU RESUMES PRODDUCTION Kathmandu, 24 Dec.: Hetauda Cement Industry has resumed production from Monday, RSS reports from Hetauda. The industry was closed after a furnace broke down six days ago. The problem occurred in the furnace frequently due to problems with the power supply, it is learnt. According to General Manager at the Industry, Rajaram Adhikary, the raw material, limestone, is brought from Majhimtar of Dhading district and from Makawanpur, daily. Nnnn GOLD GAINS Kathmandu 24 Dec.: Gold gained Rs. 180 per tola Sunday compared to Friday. The yellow metal was traded for Rs. 58,500 per tola. Nnnn WILL PRESIDENT CUT SHORT INDIA VISIT? KATATHMANDU: President Ram Baran Yadav has called a meeting of all parties representing the dissolved CA tomorrow morning to discuss the formation of consensus government before he embarks on India visit, according to Nepali Congress General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Prakash Acharya writes in The Himalayan Times. . If the parties failed to reach consensus by tomorrow but do so later while the President is away, he might probably cut short his six-day visit to India, claimed CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, who was appointed as spokesperson for the four political forces – Unified CPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front. When the leaders of the major parties briefed the President today about the progress report of the consensus talks, the President told the leaders that he was ready to cancel his India visit if the parties so wanted. According to President’s Press Adviser Rajendra Dahal, the President may cut short the visit if the parties reached a consensus while he was away. Top leaders of major political parties are preparing to reach a package deal on key political and constitutional issues and recommend Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala as next prime minister of consensus government under Article 38(1) of the Interim Constitution to President Ram Baran Yadav. The parties are still unsure whether they would reach consensus by tomorrow. It might take few more days to strike the deal, as UCPN-M and UDMF are yet to agree on some issues, said Khanal. “We are preparing to strike a deal in writing incorporating the key issues,” Khanal told THT. UCPN-M Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and leader Amik Sherchan, NC President Sushil Koirala and General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula, UML Chairman Khanal, MJF-Democratic Chairman Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Tarai Madhes Democratic Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur held discussions on the key political issues during the two-hour meeting with President Yadav this afternoon. The President also met the PM and asked him about the issues that could be raised during his India visit. nnnn. s RULING ALLIANCE OPPOSES REPLACEMENT CONSENSUS GOVT. Kathmandu, 24 Dec.:: If the opposition parties are hell bent on transforming the Baburam Bhattarai-led government into a consensus one even for a few weeks, as suggested by the PM himself, the ruling parties, who have formed Federal Democratic Republican Alliance, are determined not to let them have their way, Ram Kumar Kamat writes in The Himalayan Times.. Although Unified CPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal showed a little bit of flexibility towards opposition parties, saying the agendas, and not the government, were important to give an outlet to the current problems, there are no signs that the majority of the FDRA constituents would let him relent, said an FDRA source. “I do not think Dahal alone can take decisions now. He will have to back down,” the source said and added a majority of the FDRA parties blasted opposition parties in today’s meeting, saying they were as anti-federalist and status quoist as the forces that stood against the change brought about by the 2006 People’s Movement. Kabiraj Timsina, Vice Chair of Nepali Janata Dal said if the current government would have to quit, the FDRA would present its own candidates for next PM and it would not let Sushil Koirala or any other candidate contest the race unopposed. “I do not think parties will be able to forge consensus before the President embarks on India visit,” Timsina added. Sources said if the alliance would have to name its own candidate for the prime minister, they were ready to work on it overnight. Although FDRA did not take any new decision today, the leaders’ mood reflected that it would not change its previous decisions that have put the opposition in a quandary. The FDRA will deliberate on its next move tomorrow. Representatives of the alliance took stock of three proposals floated for a package deal: the nine-point riders set by the UMDF, three point decisions of the UCPN-M and five-point proposals of the 14 fringe parties within the alliance. Fourteen fringe parties have proposed to amend the Interim Constitution through a revived CA. “If we have to amend the constitution, we must revive the CA even for a day,” said FDRA Spokesperson Prem Bahadur Singh, highlighting the five-point proposal presented by the fringe parties. nnnn