RULING ALLIANCE TO DISCUSS ASSEMBLY REVIVAL Kathmandu, 26 Dec.: A alliance of more than 20 parties supporting the government is meeting Wednesday to discuss its proposal to revive the constituent assembly disbanded by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai who is receiving support from the alliance. The alliance opposes handing over government responsibility to the opposition NC Chief Sushisl Koirala. Bhattara himself has suggested his party boss UCPN Maoist Chairman Prachanda take charge of government as well. nnnn RPP-MEPAL’S RATHYATRA ENDS WEDNESDAY Kathmandu, 26 Dec.:RPP Nepal’s rath yatra launched from Janakpur Janaki Mandir 10 days ago arrived in the capital Wednesday from Pokhara. The yatra will end with a kalash (jar) yahta from Open Air Theatre to Pashupatinath Temple later in the day. RPP-Nepal organized the event to press demand revival of for a Hindu state. nnnnu MEDIA GOOGLE “Cold Picking Up in Terai; Death Toll Reaches 17 In 10 days) (Headline in Annapurna Post, 26 Dec.) nnnn. NO CHANGE IN INDO-NEPAL TRANSIT TREATY - Kathmandu,, 26 Dec.: The bilateral Treaty of Transit between Nepal and India is set to be renewed without the incorporations of any new provisions, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.. “The Indian side last week had written a letter requesting that the treaty be renewed without any further amendments. In response, I dispatched a letter agreeing to what the Indian side proposed,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha. The treaty was due to expire on January 5. However, the letter of exchange on the renewal of the treaty has yet to be endorsed by the Cabinet. “We gave a nod to the letter of exchange on the renewal of the treaty with India with a heavy heart. We lost many provisions that we had expected to include while renewing the treaty this time around,” said Commerce Secretary Lalmani Joshi. The treaty will now be automatically renewed after Nepal refused to formally incorporate the Additional Lock System (ALS) that India has been imposing on Nepal-bound cargo for more than a year. India had requested Nepal to formalize the additional lock system it had began on cargo bound for Nepal from third countries via its Kolkata/Haldia ports and vice-versa beginning August 1, 2011, arguing that such cargo are often found “tampered with and locks broken.” The Indian side had conveyed its decision to affix ALS to such cargo but Nepal had neither rejected nor accepted the decision. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), in particular, had taken a stromg stance against India’s unilateral decision to affix the ALS, claiming that “such a practice would undermine Nepal’s sovereignty” and was against the spirit of the transit treaty. “We are not going to gain anything this time. We failed to get transit facilities through India’s Vishakapattam port and India is also not opening up the Rohanpur-Singhabad route which facilitates Nepal’s trade with Bangladesh. Without Indian help, we cannot do business through this Bangladeshi rail route,” said a senior government official. The Nepali and Bangladeshi sides had long been waiting approval from the Indian side for use of the Rohanpur-Singhabad route, substituting the Birol-Radhikapur rail route. Bangladesh has provided the Birol-Radhikapur rail route to Nepal to facilitate trade and transit, which is limited in volume. Likewise, Nepal was seeking Indian approval for the use of its Vishakapattam port besides Kolkata’s Haldia to facilitate trade. “India was positive on allowing use of its land to reach Bangladesh for trade and also the use of the Vishakapattam port for import and export of Nepali cargo,” said Joshi. “India was also positive on the movement of open freight containers through Indian railways.” For its part, the Indian side had demanded the movement of goods from one part of India to another via Nepal through a simple customs undertaking. The Nepali side was positive on this proposal. Since 1993, India has allowed the movement of goods from one part of Nepal to another via India through the same process. The bilateral Treaty of Transit confers transit rights through each other’s territory on mutually agreed routes and modalities. The treaty, which was renewed for the third time, was last renewed for seven years in March 2006. nnnn ARMY CHIEF PLANS TO CONTRACT RETIRING MAJ. GEN. BASNET Kathmandu, 26 Dec.: Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Gen Gaurav SJB Rana has proposed continuation of Maj Gen Naresh Basnyat as the head of General Directorate of Construction and Development on contract even after his retirement. Basnyat is scheduled to complete his five-year tenure and retire on December 30, Phanindra Dahal writs in The Kathmandu Post. The Army leadership backtracked from seeking Basnyat’s promotion to Lt Gen following criticism from various quarters and dissatisfaction within the Army top brass. While Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai was apparently positive about the request for promotion, senior Prime Minister’s Office and Defence Ministry officials stood against it saying that the move would breach the Nepal Army Act 2006. The Military Act stipulates that army officers in technical category can only assume up to the rank of a major general. An Army source claimed that Gen Rana has reached out to PM Bhattarai seeking continuation of Basnyat on a contract basis for another three years with jurisdiction to look after overall aspects, including the finance of the general directorate, among others. If approved by the Cabinet, he would be the senior most official to be hired under contract in the Nepal Army (NA). So far, the NA had been hiring doctors and engineers in technical category and qualified personnel of the Directorate of Military Intelligence even after their retirement. A high profile contract appointment was of Brig Gen Khagendra Bahadur Shrestha, the physician of late King Birendra, after his retirement in the 1990’s. The Army leadership has claimed that Basnyat is “indispensable” for the institution as national priority projects, including construction of Kathamandu-Sindhuli Fast Track, are being executed under his command. They have pushed for Basnyat’s retention unless senior officials are groomed to take up the job. “The military rules allow hiring of some important personalities on contract basis post retirement. We are familiar with the bid to continue Basnyat on contract, but don’t know about the terms of reference,” said a General at the Army Headquarters. The decision on entrusting any such responsibility requires a Cabinet endorsement. An Army official at the General Directorate of Construction of Development and Works criticised the plan to continue Basnyat, saying that his monopoly had adversely affected the functioning of the wing. Two of the Basnyat’s deputies—head of Engineering Directorate Brig Gen Kiran Bajracharya and head of Development and Construction Directorate Brig Gen Yogendra Khand— have never been entrusted with major responsibilities in the directorate. Basyant, who has maintained close ties with the successive army chiefs, has operated the general directorate by mobilising his close aides. Apart from the trusted aides Col Uddhab Bista, Col Ramadhar Singh, Lt Col Saradlal Suresh, Lt Col Gopal Bhandari and Lt Col Ganesh Singh Bhandari, Basnyat had hired a retired officer to oversee accounts of the directorate, claimed a source. “At least 60 engineers of the General Directorate were dumped in office without any work for six years,” claimed the source. In 2010, the dissatisfied engineers led by Brig Gen Bajrachraya had met the then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and the then Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari to voice their concerns over Basnyat’s working style. Subsequently, at least 10 officers faced court martial for bypassing the chain of command and meeting the top government officials to lobby against Basnyat. Officials argue that successive military leaders backed Basnyat because of his ability to charm high-level government and military officials. Besides earning his spurs for accomplishing the construction of rural hilly districts, he has gained reputation for successfully accomplishing them. He is credited for constructing the building of the Army Officers’ Club based in Bhadrakali during the tenure of Army chief Dharampal Bar Singh Thapa. nnnn