20 DEAD IN FAR-WEST BUS CRASH Kathmandu, 12 Jan. At ,least 20 persons died Saturday morning when a bus heading for Tikapur fell from Accham fell off a road in the far-West at 2.30 in the morning Saturday. Fifteen ae injured at search and secsue begin, Radio Ujayalo said quoting police. MORE NEPALI WOMEN TAKE ON KUWAIT FOORTABLLERS IN FRIENDLY Kathmandu, 12 Jan. Nepali footballers play their first friendly international match when they take on Kuwait in he Gulf emirate Saturday. "Nepal is one of the best team of South Asia. Nepal has defeated the Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and others. Therefore, we will adopt defensive strategy," Kuwait coach Ahamat Rafi.said. Nnnn PRESIDENT WON’T BE INDECIIVE Kathmandu, 12 Jan : Putting pressure on the major political parties to end the ongoing deadlock, President Ram Baran Yadav on Friday categorically told top leaders that he is not going to endorse even a single ordinance forwarded by the present Government. Thira L... Bhusal writes in Republica.. The president during a meeting with top leaders of 19 political parties at his office on Friday ruled out any possibility of endorsing ordinances even as Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai at the same meeting underscored the urgency of endorsing the ordinance on forming the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). "He categorically told the leaders that he wouldn´t endorse even a single ordinance forwarded by the present caretaker government," said Prakash Chandra Lohani, co-chair of the Rastriya Janashakti Party, who was present at the meeting. The president also made it clear that he wouldn´t endorse the ordinances that were submitted by the present government even if the political parties unanimously suggest him to do so. The president is already sitting on nearly a dozen ordinances. "He clearly said that he would endorse the ordinances after a consensus government is in place and a cabinet meeting of such a coalition recommends him to do so," Lohani told Republica. Also, Lohani of the RJP, Chandradev Joshi of CPN (Samyukta) and some other leaders present at the meeting objected to the prime minister´s argument that it had become urgent to endorse the ordinance on forming the TRC. They countered that the ordinance shouldn´t be approved at present when there is no parliament and when all the opposition political parties are in a dark about the provisions included in the TRC bill. The president said he is going to take a strong move sooner or later. Citing the case of CA dissolution, the president told the leaders that he wouldn´t remain as indecisive as the then CA Chairman Subas Nembang, who remained mute witness to the CA demise in May last year. "I will not remain as indecisive as former CA chairman at the time of CA´s dissolution. I know I have a duty toward the country and toward the people and I will fulfill it," Joshi quoted the president as telling the meeting. According to Joshi, the president, unlike in the past meetings, presented himself in a noticeably different manner and was making strongly-worded statements at the meeting on Friday. Yadav however repeatedly clarified that he wouldn´t take any move by bypassing the political parties. In the meantime, CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal floated a proposal at the meeting that the president be given a mandate to nominate a prime ministerial candidate given the political parties´ failure to agree on a common leader. Nepal briefed at the meeting that leaders from his party are mulling over the idea and they discussed it at the party´s standing committee meeting on Thursday. Some leaders including Lohani and Joshi seconded Nepal´s idea arguing that the president should be given such authority saying that the country shouldn´t be further held hostage to major parties´ inability to agree on a common candidate. "It is high time that leaders from the major parties admit their failure and entrust the president with the responsibility of nominating a leader in consultation with the political parties," said Joshi. "Because the country cannot afford prolonging the deadlock anymore." Lohani also said that the president should be given the responsibility if the current state of indecision lingers on. The president summoned the leaders at his office as major parties failed to agree on a common prime ministerial candidate even though he extended the deadline for the eighth time on Thursday. Nnnn GOVT..CONSULTING COL. LAMA’S RELEASE Kathmandu, 12 Jan.: The government has started consultations with the ministries concerned and legal professionals to help secure the release of Colonel Kumar Lama, who was arrested in the UK last week over his alleged involvement in torturing detainees in Nepal some seven years ago during the Maoist insurgency, Republica reports.. The move is in line with a government decision to step up both diplomatic and legal efforts to secure Lama´s release and allow him to rejoin his duty station in South Sudan, where is serving as a senior liaison officer with the UN Peace Keeping Mission there. A meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Lila Mani Paudyal was held at the Foreign Ministry Friday afternoon to discuss means that Nepal can adopt to secure Lama´s release. “Though we discussed several options, no decision was taken at the meeting. There will be another meeting to discuss what the Nepal government can do,” said a meeting participant. The secretaries of the foreign and law ministries and other senior government officials concerned were present. Among other things, the meeting discussed various options including sending a high-level government team to the UK and also writing a formal request from the Attorney General´s Office to the UK Attorney General´s Office. Sources said the government is also separately holding consultation with legal professionals on legal remedies. While maintaining that the arrest made under ´universal jurisdiction´ went against international law and the ´general principle of sovereign jurisdiction of a country´, the government has already lodged a strong protest with the UK government, demanding Lama´s immediate release. Besides handing over a protest note to UK envoy to Nepal John Tucknott, Nepal´s embassy in London has also stepped up its diplomatic efforts. Nepal has argued that the decision of the UK government to invoke ´universal jurisdiction´ was inappropriate as Nepal was still passing through a transition period and the process of forming a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to address conflict-era human rights violations was underway. However, a large section of civil society and human rights activists have welcomed the move of the UK Government, saying it would help end growing impunity in Nepal. Nnnn