CHAIRMAN PRACHANDA RETURNS FROM BANGKON EDNESDAY; OTHER DETAILS Kathmandu, 2 Jan.: Maoist Chairman Prachanda returns from Bangkok later Wednesday delaying the process to find an outlet to a political deadlock to find a successor of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattari who has defied the party boss to handover power to NC President Sushil Koirala. No talks for a resolution have taken after the Maoist chief flew for the Thai capital for the treatment of his wife Sita, suffering an unspecified kidney ailment. Talks will resume with other parties after the Prachanda to resume a five-day seventh extension of deadline to find Bhattarai’s successor --two more days remaining to met the deadline which, it appears, will again be missed. This means elections for a constituent assembly won’t be held April/ May as predicted by one of two election commissioners Tuesday and other top opposition parties. Election commissioners had demanded appointment of election officials and updated election laws to conduct the vote. The demands haven’t been met. The assembly is needed to promulgate a constitution to institutionalize a declared republic. The Bhattarai government is instead seeking a package solution to implement differences on basic law and go some assembly elections through a government decision nnnn .t. TWO WORKERS DEAD WHILE DIGGING FOR A WELL Kathmandu, 2 Jan.: Two workers died while digging for a new well in Gyaneshwor Tuesday. Bodies were pulled out by Nepali Army and police. Such accidents are regular thoughpreventable.. Nnnn NRB TAKING OVER GURKHA DEVELOPMENT BANK Kathmandu, 2 Jan..; Though late, the central bank has decided to take over the management of Gurkha Development Bank to save the ailing class ‘B’ financial institution from liquidation, The Himalayan Times reports. “Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) will send a three-member team with a mandate of six months to handle the management of the development bank as a last resort to save it,” a highly placed source at the NRB said, adding that the board meeting late last evening decided to send a team to take over Gurkha Development Bank. “The central bank team will take over the development bank within this week,” he said. “It will try to find a strategic partner by issuing ‘Terms of Reference’.” However, NRB is yet to decide the members of the team that will replace the current shareholders that ran the bank into the current mess. The national level development bank ran into trouble after the misappropriation of funds by its directors and executives — an example of bad corporate governance. Large scale insider lending coupled with dispute among the directors led the development bank to be declared crisis-ridden by the central bank in March, 2011. Three key promoters — D B Bamjam, Nirmal Gurung and Rakesh Adukiya — are blamed for the mess in the bank that was running well. Bamjam — who is serving a jail term for banking fraud — was the chairman when he was found to be involved in fake lending. The central bank designated team will work in finding strategic partners, who will buy shares of the promoters involved in the misappropriation of the bank’s fund. But the current and earlier management team of the bank had also tried to bring in a strategic partner but had failed. “Merger with other financial institutions is also possible,” the source added. Since March 2011, various attempts to revive its financial health were aborted midway, either due to a dispute between the directors or due to regulatory norms. Two months back, the central bank had sought Gurkha Development Bank’s clarification on its inability to improve its financial health. But neither did it satisfy the central bank nor improve its financial health. The central bank is empowered to take over the management of any financial institution under NRB Act 2063 (Section 54), if it is dissatisfied with the explanation provided. If the takeover of the management also does not work then the development bank will be liquidated. The development bank still has a total of Rs 1.5 billion bad loans and is not allowed to collect deposits. Earlier, in May 2009, the central bank had taken over the management of Bank of Kathmandu following prolonged dispute between the bank’s directors and management. Likewise in 2006, it had taken over the management of Nepal Bangladesh Bank due to its deteriorating financial health. Both the banks are financially sound at present. Nnnn PLASTIC BAN DELAYED TWO YEARS Kathmandu, 2 Jan.: The government is planning to give two more years to plastic bag industries to explore other businesses before implementing ban on plastic bags effectively after its failure to enforce its earlier two-year-old prohibition order, The HImalayanTimes reports.. “Polythene bag industries have investments worth millions. We have to give them more time so that they can make a business shift,” said Minister for Environment Keshav Man Shakya. “We have set a new deadline of 2014 to fully implement the ban on plastic bags. In the next two years, plastic bag industries must explore alternative businesses, or else the government will seal them.” About 25 industries have been producing polythene bags in the country, and some have been found violating the basic production norms. According to the earlier ban order, the industries producing plastic bags with less than 20 micron are liable to government action. In addition to deadline extension to fully implement the ban, the government is also planning to form a separate department to monitor the plastic bag industries and initiate action against them if they are found flouting the law. “An environment department is also on the cards,” said Shakya, adding that the Cabinet has already approved formation of the department, hopefully within the next fiscal year. “We could not set up the department this year due to budget constraints.” According to the ministry, it is also planning to assign adequate rights to local bodies — municipalities and village development committees — to enforce the Plastic Bags Control and Regulation Directive 2011. “Local authorities will enforce the law, whereas the department and the ministry will back the initiative,” added Shakya. Earlier, Kathmandu Metropolitan City had launched a campaign to control plastic bags but failed in its initiative in light of shopkeepers’ penchant for using plastic bags and lack of support from consumers. “The programme failed also because it could not convince the general public,” said Ganesh Shah, an environment safety campaigner. Another activist and environment scientist Ram Chiratra Shah emphasised on raising awareness among consumers about the long-term harms of plastic. “Without raising consumer awareness, the forced anti-plastic bag campaign cannot be successful,” he said. nnnn