TWO MISSING IN DHADING AFTER TRUCK PLUNGUES INTO TRISULI Kathmandu, 25 Dec.: Two persons have gone missing after a truck plunged into Trisuli river overnight at Gajuri in Dhading. The trick was heading towards the capital and fell 200 meters off the road into the river. Nnnn ARMY PLAYS NEPAL POLICE IN FOOTBALL LEAGUE Kathmandu, 25 Dec.: Nepal Police plays Tribhuvan Club of Nepal Army Tuesday in The Martyrs Memorial A Division Football League Championship at Dashrath Rangashala. NRT plays Friends Club in another match. nnnn PRESIDENT INDIA VISIT FOR UNITY GOVT. Kathmandu, 25 Dec.: President Ram Baran Yadav ’s visit to India is aimed at garnering support for a unity government and holding elections in April-May, a presidential aide said on Monday, The Kathmandu Post writes.. President Yadav provided yet another extension to the political parties to arrive at political consensus to form a national unity government before leaving for Varanasi on Monday afternoon. This fifth extension will expire on Saturday. “It is all clear that new elections cannot be conducted within Baishakh (April-May) without forming a national unity government. This visit will try to secure India’s goodwill for the formation of a national unity government and conducting elections,” an aide to the President told the Post. The head of state held an all-party meeting on Monday morning, where he urged party leaders to come up with “constitutional, legal and political options” to bring an end to the ongoing impasse. In his six-point statement, the President claimed that his visit to India will not be an obstacle to parties’ efforts at consensus. In an hour-long discussion with leaders of parties represented in the erstwhile Constituent Assembly (CA) at Sheetal Niwas, Yadav urged them to find a meeting point on the consensus government and the date and process of elections. The President also urged the parties to recommend a resolution to constitutional hurdles to hold elections, the drafting of electoral laws and measures to fulfill vacant positions in constitutional bodies, including the Election Commission. He also expressed concern over the parties’ failure to negotiate a deal, saying that the delay had pushed the country further into a constitutional and administrative deadlock. President receiving LLD, not DLitt, honour MAHESH ACHARYA In what is being seen as a matter of grave negligence, the honorary degree to be bestowed upon President Ram Baran Yadav by the Banaras Hindu University, which was previously reported as a Doctor of Letters (DLitt), has turned out to be the Doctor of Law (LLD). “The reports that Nepal’s President is receiving the Doctor of Letters degree are completely untrue. He will be receiving a Doctor of Law degree,” said Professor Rajesh Singh, chairman of the Press, Publication and Publicity Cell at the BHU. The revision was also confirmed by VN Pandey, member secretary of the steering committee for the 150th Anniversary Celebration of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya at the BHU. President Yadav’s office, in a statement on Monday, said the head of state would be receiving an honorary DLitt degree from the BHU. It is not yet clear how the miscommunication occurred. “We did not give out any wrong information. We don’t know how false reports that President Yadav is receiving the DLitt emerged in the Nepali media,” said Prof Singh. The Post’s attempts to contact Nepali officials for comment were unsuccessful. Nnnn TWO HOME MINISTRY TIA OFFICIALS SUSPENDED Kathmandu, 25 Dec.: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) on Monday suspended two section officers and a senior non-gazetted officer for their involvement in the robbery case of a returnee female migrant at Tribhuvan International Airport, The Kathamandu Post reports The ministry suspended Ram Prasad Koirala, Somnath Khanal and official Tika Pokharel of the Department of Immigration. The two-month suspension comes a day after a joint-secretary-led probe panel submitted its final report to MoHA Secretary Navin Ghimire. The report revealed that section officers Koirala and Pokharel, and senior non-gazetted officer Khanal at the DoI, along with constable Parshuram Basnet had financial motives behind the incident. “We have officially initiated the process to punish the accused today. The suspension is only an initial action,” said secretary Ghimire. Further actions will be based on the provisions for punishment inscribed in the Civil Servant Act 1993. Those found guilty can face five different types of punishment depending on the severity of their crime. Sita Rai (name changed), 20, of Bhojpur lodged a complaint last Sunday with the MoHA against Khanal and Basnet, accusing them of robbing her of Rs 218,000 at TIA on the night of November 21. She further accused constable Basnet of rape following the robbery. Rai was returning from Saudi Arabia after three years of employment under the passport of one Bimala KC of Parbat district. She had flown from India. Coming across this illiterate migrant worker carrying someone else’s passport, the officials had taken her to the immigration office in Kalikasthan. There, during interrogations, the officials robbed her of the cash. Basnet then volunteered to take her to a buspark where he allegedly raped her at the Solukhumbu Guest House. A recent health report has revealed that Rai is pregnant. Although the prime accused, Khanal and Basnet, had named other officials, including the director general of the DoI, the probe panel failed to establish their connection with the incident. A source at the MoHA said that director general Suresh Adhikari and Director Ram Prasad Koirala should be held morally responsible for the crime. A Kathmandu District Court bench remanded constable Basnet to police custody. According to Rai’s lawyer, Basanta Basnet, various civil servant trade unions have been exerting pressure on the government to withdraw the suspension of the two section officers. He said that the withdrawal of their suspension would be “unacceptable.” The government is preparing to bring about charges of fraud against the officers, said lawyer Basnet. He demanded that they also be charged with corruption and abuse of authority. nnnn