MAOISTS FORM 12 COMMIITTEES TO MAKE CONVESTION SUCCESSFUL Katahmandu, 9 Dec.: Maoists Saturday formed 12 committees to make a general convention in Hetauda from 2 February successful. The party organization committee meet formed the committees to make a forthcoming general convention successful. Chief of the department Krishna Bahadur Mahara said Chairman Prachanda has been appointed chief of an investigating and monitoring body. Nnnn PHAPLU AIRPORT SERVICING EVEREST REGION REOPENED Kathmandu, 9 Dec.: Phaplu airport servicing the Maoist Everest region a, popular trekking destination, has been reopened by Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal after repairs. The airport was damaged during the Maoist insurgency. nnnn WOMAN DEAD IN CITY FIRE Kathmandu,9 Dec.: A woman died Saturday in a fire at Dallu Saturday. She choked and did. nnnn AMID FOOD SHORTAGE IN BAJURA, PEOPLE CROSSING OVER TO INDIA Kathmandu, 9 Dec.: Facing an acute food shortage in their villages, people of Bichhya and Rugin VDCs have started venturing to India in hordes in search of jobs, Arjun Shah writes in The Kathmandu Post from Bajura. The two VDCs make the most food-deficit area in the district. According to the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), produces at Bichhya hardly last two months. Moreover, suspension of the distribution of rice among the locals under a food-for-work programme launched by the Support Activities for Poor Producers of Nepal (SAPPROS Nepal) with help from the World Food Programme for the past six months has made the matter worse. The SAPPROS Nepal said it had suspended the programme due to security concern for its employees. "People, devoid of any means of sustenance, are leaving for India in search of jobs," assistant accountant of Bichhya VDC Jaya Bahadur Bohara said. Dhanrup Sunar of Yuna said that five members of his family had gone to India without any food remaining at home. He said most locals had left the village in search of employment opportunities. Local people said they found it easier to make a living previously as the SAPPROS Nepal was distributing rice. Bohara said local people used to buy food with the income from the sale of medicinal herbs. He, however, said they had no way out as they could not find medicinal herbs this year. He said locals do not have money enough to purchase subsidised rice at the Kolti depot of the Nepal Food Corporation, which is a two-day walk from the villages. According to the DADO, Bichhya, spread over 43,766 hectares and housing 541 families, is the biggest VDC in the district but has just 100 hectares of arable land, of which only 16 hectares is irrigated. nnnn EGYPT MILITARY ISSUES WARNING Kathmandu, 9 Dec.: : Egypt´s military warned Saturday of ´disastrous consequences´ if the crisis that sent tens of thousands of protesters back into the streets is not resolved, signaling the army´s return to an increasingly polarized and violent political scene, AP reports from Cairo.. The military said serious dialogue is the "best and only" way to overcome the nation´s deepening conflict over a disputed draft constitution hurriedly adopted by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, and recent decrees granting himself near-absolute powers. "Anything other than that (dialogue) will force us into a dark tunnel with disastrous consequences; something which we won´t allow," the statement said. day, Dec. 7. (AP) Failing to reach a consensus, "is in the interest of neither side. The nation as a whole will pay the price," it added. The statement was read by an unnamed military official on state television. Egypt´s once all-powerful military, which temporarily took over governing the country after the revolution that ousted autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, has largely been sidelined since handing over power to Morsi weeks after his election. But it has begun asserting itself again, with soldiers sealing off the presidential palace with tanks and barbed wire, as rival protests and street battles between Morsi´s supporters and his opponents turned increasingly violent. The statement said the military "realizes its national responsibility in protecting the nation´s higher interests" and state institutions. At least six civilians have been killed and several offices of the president´s Muslim Brotherhood set on fire since the crisis began on Nov. 22. The two sides also have staged a number of sit-ins around state institutions, including the presidential palace where some of the most violent clashes occurred. Images of the military´s elite Republican Guards unit surrounding the area around the palace showed one of the most high-profile troop deployment since the army handed over power to Morsi on June 30. A sit-in by Morsi´s opponents around the palace continued Saturday, with protesters setting up roadblocks with tanks behind them amid reports that the president´s supporters planned rival protests. By midday Saturday, TV footage showed the military setting up a new wall of cement blocks around the palace. Tensions have escalated since Morsi issued new decrees granting himself and an Islamist-dominated constitutional assembly immunity from oversight by the judiciary. The president´s allies then rushed through a constitution and he announced a Dec. 15 nationwide referendum on the charter. Morsi has called for a national dialogue and scheduled a meeting on Saturday, but opponents say he must first cancel the referendum on the draft constitution and rescind his recent decrees. Only veteran liberal opposition politician Ayman Nour attended the meeting with Morsi on Saturday. The other eight delegates were Islamists. The president has insisted his decrees were meant to protect the country´s transition to democracy from former regime figures trying to derail it. Nnnn