PM WON’T RESIGN SAYS HIS AIDE PAUDEL Kathmandu, 25 Dec.: Political advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Devendra Paudel, has said that the Prime Minister would not resign from the post despite the demand of the opposition parties, RSS reports.. Paudel said it was not necessary for the Prime Minister to tender resignation just because the opposition parties were calling for his resignation and put a counter-question: Was Baburam Bhattarai made the Prime Minister by them (the opposition parties)? At a programme organised by the Reporters´ Club Nepal here today, Paudel said Prime Minister Bhattarai was elected by a majority of the then Legislature Parliament, adding that the prime minister will not resign from the post until consensus was forged on different issues including the guarantee of new election. He said the UCPN-Maoist has the policy to change the Bhattarai-led government into a national consensus government and added that the new Prime Minister will be selected from within the parties´ coalition if the opposition parties including the Nepali Congress do not join the government. The Prime Minister´s political advisor said that the Prime Minister would resign from the post if political consensus was forged among political parties. Similarly, central member of the Nepali Congress, Dr. Minendra Rijal, clarified that his party would not join the incumbent government and added that NC would not exchange its principle for the post of the Prime Minister. Rijal said that Prime Minister Bhattarai has no other dreams except extending the tenure of his government. Likewise, co-chairman of the Rastriya Janashakti Party Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, said that there was a need of consensus among political parties for a national consensus government. He added that it was not the President´s job to form a national consensus government. He expressed the view that the statement by the Prime Minister that the government under his leadership would be transformed into the national consensus government has created problem in forging consensus. Central member of the CPN-UML, Bhim Rawal, said political complexities have grown as the Prime Minister did not follow the previous agreement reached among political parties. nnnn ATTENTION OF PRESIDENT DR. YADAV DRAWN BY NEALIS IN INDIA Kathmandu, 5 Dec.: 25: Immigrants´ Nepalis Association India has demanded that the visiting Nepal´s President to heed the issues being raised by thousands of the Nepali immigrants in India, RSS reports.. Organizing a press meet in the capital on Tuesday, Association Chairman Loknath Bhandari urged President Dr Ram Baran Yadav to raise the problems that Nepali immigrants are facing in India regarding transportation, communications, authentication of certificates, currency and border security and remittance with the Indian side. Similarly, the Association stressed on the extension of Indian railways to Nepal. According to the Association, the local customs and securities in India were hassling the Nepali workers while returning home after job. The ban of Indian currency in Nepal was another problem-creating issue for Nepali workers returning from Indian job. Chief Advisor to the Association Devi Prasad Gyawali said due to the lack of banks, the Nepali immigrants in India were deprived of pension from government, semi-government, and non-government works and accidental insurance too. Another issue they raised is exorbitant fee for trunk call from India to Nepal. Nnnn POLICEMAN INJURED IN QUELLING RIOTS RELATED TO RAPE PROTESTS DIES Kathmandu, 25 Dec.: An Indian policeman injured in clashes during a protest over a gang-rape in New Delhi died on Tuesday, a police spokesman said, as much of the city centre remains sealed off following the violence, AFP reports from New Delhi.. The 47-year-old police constable, Subash Tomar, was deployed at the India Gate monument on Sunday to control the protests. He was beaten up by a mob and rushed to hospital by the police. "The protesters pelted stones at Tomar, he was unconscious for two days and today he died," New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told AFP. More than 50 policemen were injured in Sunday´s violence as police struggled to quell increasing outrage over sex crimes following the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student. Tomar´s cousin Ajay who was in the hospital to claim the body said he had joined the police in 1985 and never spent a single festival with the family. "My cousin was always out on streets maintaining law and order. The mob attacked him for no reason. They just killed him," said Ajay Tomar. Much of central Delhi remains sealed off after a wave of violent protests over the student´s gang-rape in the capital on December 16 and a surge in violence against women. The rape victim´s medical condition deteriorated on Monday night and she "continues to be in the intensive care unit and is having respiratory problems", said M. Mishra, a doctor at Safdarjung Hospital. In a rare televised address, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday urged for calm following the weekend clashes in New Delhi and vowed to punish the rapists for their "monstrous" crime. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has also appealed to the youth to maintain law and order. "The anger of the youth should not overcome reason and there is need for practical action," Mukherjee said, according to reports. Police barricaded roads leading to India Gate, an imposing war memorial in the centre of the city, that has become a hub of the protests by mostly college students. Many metro rail stations in fog-shrouded Delhi were also closed. "Today is Christmas but we cannot step out of our houses because of the police restrictions," Anita Kumar, a mother of three daughters told Hindi newschannel Aaj Tak. Protests against sex crimes have taken place across India over the last week to denounce the police and government.The biggest protests were in New Delhi on the weekend, prompting police to cordon off areas around government buildings. More than 100 people were injured including dozens of policemen. National figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women, with the number of rapes in the capital rising 17 percent to 661 this year. nnnn