PM TO INTARACT WITH RADIO NEPAL LISTENERS Kathmandu,30 Dec. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai will interact with listeners of state-owned Radio Nepal at 8.10 in the evening Sunday. The premier launched the Janata Sangha Pradhan Mantri programme when he assumed office to interact directly with people. The head of government also spends one night month with a family in a village. Another monthly programme to visit his parliamentary constituency has been abandoned. Nnnn MINIMUM TEMPERATURE SLIPS TO 1.2 DEGREES CELSIUS IN CAPITAL Kathmandu, 30 Dec.: Minim temperature overnight in the capital was 1.2 degrees Celsius and rose of 1.8 degrees Celsius early morning Sunday. Mercury is expected to rise to 19 degrees later in the day. Nnnn FRIENDS CLUB PLAY HIMALAYAN SHERPA IN FOOTBALL LEAGUE SUNDAY Kathmandu, 30 Dec.: Friends Club play Himalayan Sherpa Sunday in the Martyrs Memorial A Division football championship at Dashrath Rangashala. Three Star play Bansbari in a second match. nnnn AFP LIFT T20 NATIONAL CRICKET CHAMPIONHIP Kathmandu, 30 Dec. Nepal AFP Saturday lifted the T20 national cricket tournament at Kirtipur. ar accelerated the score with a cameo innings of 20 runs off 12 balls. APF batted first and scored 168 runs for five wickets. Region-VI (Baitadi) scored 72 runs in 14.4 overs. APF was the runner-up lasr year when when Nepal Police Club won the title. Winner APF received Rs 1, 25,000 and the trophy while runner-up Baitadi got Rs 75,000 nnnn. MEDIA GOOGLE “Rautes living in the forest of Kajeri VDC are willing to serve monkey meat to the Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai if he ever visits their village. After receiving relief materials sent by a Vietnam citizen Aadhyatma Guru Ching Hi in Khalanga, Maina Bahadur Sahi, chief of Raute said he would serve monkey meat as cooked meal to the prime minister if he likes.” (Report in The Himalayan Times, 30 Dec.) Nnnn NON-FUNCTIONING PEs SEEK LOANS Kathmandu, 30 Dec.: Some public enterprises (PEs) that are not in operation at the moment have asked the government to release loans to bear their administrative costs, The Himalayan Times reports.. At least half a dozen PEs have approached the Finance Ministry seeking loans, said joint secretary at the ministry Khum Raj Punjali. Janakpur Cigarette Factory has asked ministry to release Rs 56.6 million to distribute salaries, he said, adding employees have not received salaries from July. Similarly, Nepal Drugs Limited (NDL) has also approached the ministry asking it to release a loan of Rs 30 million, he informed. NDL has said that it is in dire need of the amount to distribute salaries to its employees and to carry out other administrative work. Another public entity, Gorakhkali Rubber Udyog Limited — state run automobile tyre manufacturer — has sought a loan of Rs 20 million loan to manage its administrative cost, said Punjali. “Nepal Orind Magnesite Ltd has also written to the ministry asking it to release Rs 1.5 million.” The government is unsure about whether to address the demands of the public enterprises, according to Punjali. “The burning issue is that for how long can the government keep injecting funds into public entities that are not in operation and are unproductive.” The government, however, has the ultimate responsibility for the closed public enterprises, he said. “It is necessary for the concerned public enterprises and ministries responsible for overseeing them to work together to find a way out to the problem,” said Punjali. The ministry has been conducting consultation meetings with concerned officials to seek long-term solutions despite the mounting pressure for loans, he said, adding that the government is planning to either totally shut down those entities or ask the private sector to take over their management. The Finance Ministry and Ministry of Industry are in consultation to find a solution to the existing problem, he said. Both the ministries will identify a future strategy together, according to Punjali. The government had provided a loan of Rs 10.25 billion to public enterprises in fiscal year 2010-11, according to Finance Ministry. The government, till 2010-11, has provided a loan of Rs 95.16 billion to PEs, according to recently published public enterprises progress review report. Government’s loans to PEs was Rs 84.91 billion until the end of fiscal year 2009-10. Nnnn GOVT. ENFORCING NEW LAND POLICY Kathmandu, 30 Dec.: The government has planned to form the land management department to implement the Land Use Policy 2012 formulated eight months back. Government introduced the policy in Baisakh, The Himalayan Times reports.. The government has formed a nine-member committee to conduct the Organisation and Management survey under the coordination of joint secretary of the Ministry of Land Reform and Management Krishna Bahadur Raut. It has granted the committee 90 days to furnish the report, said Raut who is also spokesperson at the ministry. The decision was taken as ministry found it difficult to implement the land use policy, he said. “The new department will have officials from agriculture, forest and survey sectors. It will have about 50 employees,” said Raut. According to him, the ministry has been making changes to land reform, land registration and land revenue policies and directives to accommodate the new policy. The Land Use Policy has plans to categorise land into six different types according to their use. nnnn