CURFEW RELAXED IN SIMIKOT Kathmandu, 8 Jan. Curfew was relaxed in Simikot from six in the morning to seven in the evening with local administration saying it will enforced during the night from seven in the evening Tuesday. The curfew was enforced lst eek following clashes between Maoists, NC and UML over sharing spoils on a poverty alleviation programme. Nnnn HIMALAYAN FINANCE, KUBER MERCHANT FINANCE DECLARED TROUBLED Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: Himalayan Finance and Kuber Merchant Finance were declared troubled by Nepal Rashtra Bank (NR) Monday. Six month was given by the central bank for improvement. nnnn NEPAL DEMANDS HANDOVER OF COL. LAMA Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has instructed its New York-based UN mission to strongly protest if the UN Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) suspends and repatriates Nepal Army Col Kumar Lama over his alleged involvement in torture during the decade-long Maoist insurgency, anIL Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.. The ‘verbal’ instruction was communicated by Foreign Secretary Durga Bhattarai to Sewa Lamsal, the Deputy Chief of Mission in New York on Monday, after the DPKO initiated a move to remove Lama from the UN Mission in South Sudan where he is a military observer. The DPKO has expressed concern over Lama’s rights records and raised questions about the Nepal Army’s vetting process. In a strongly-worded instruction, the Nepali side will ask the DPKO to produce or hand over Lama to the Nepali missions in either New York or London. Lama is currently in custody in London. The Nepal Army handed over Col Lama to the UN for a peacekeeping mission, Bhattarai’s communication states. “Col Lama is still at his UN job and the UN cannot leave him in the lurch. The UN cannot elude responsibility and Col Lama should not be disowned at this stage,” Bhattarai told Lamsal. Another row could kick off if the Nepali side conveys such a message to the UN headquarters. The UN and Nepal have already been at loggerheads twice in the past—during UNMIN’s departure in 2011 and during OHCHR-Nepal’s exit in 2012. Meanwhile, the government is gearing up to provide diplomatic, legal and consular services to Lama. A cross-ministerial meeting to be held on Tuesday will decide on the kind of immediate assistance the government can provide. “The government will help him pick a solicitor in London and will send an international law expert to London to assist him,” sources said. Chalise returns to London LONDON: Nepali Ambassador to the UK, Suresh Chalise, cut short his family vacation in Switzerland and returned to London. He is expected to engage in diplomatic talks with the British government over the arrest of Nepal Army Col Kumar Lama. Soon after joining office on Monday, Chalise made appointments for meetings with officials from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Nepali envoy also arranged meetings with Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Britain-Nepal Group, John Stanley, and UK Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan. Chalise was briefed about the case in a meeting with Col Lama’s attorney, family members, deputy chief of mission, military attaché and other embassy officials. “We are on top of the issue and we have expedited our efforts to find a diplomatic solution,” Chalise said. Col Lama was held by the London’s Scotland Yard on Friday over allegations of extrajudicial detention and torture of innocents during the Maoist insurgency. Ambassador Chalise in trouble KATHMANDU: As the arrest of Col Lama strains the relations between the United Kingdom and Nepal, Nepali Ambassador to the UK Suresh Chandra Chalise is likely to be recalled. The foreign ministry is preparing to summon Chalise to Kathmandu for consultations and if the ministry is not satisfied with his work, he will be recalled, said a senior MoFA official. Chalise was on leave in Switzerland when Lama was arrested by British police on Thursday. Later, on Saturday, the MoFA instructed Chalise to cut short his sojourn and return to London as soon as possible. Chalise is scheduled to reach London on Monday morning and according to the instructions, will meet senior UK officials including foreign, defence and law ministry officials. According to officials, the Terms of References for the Nepali Ambassador state that when faced with such pressing and important incidents, the Ambassador must be available within 24 hours in his/her station. Chalise’s delay has irked the Nepali political leadership as well as bureaucrats, sources said. “The ministry is not satisfied with the role Chalise has played. He should have left Switzerland immediately after Lama was arrested, but he took two days to do so,” said the sources. In the ambassador’s absence, junior officials at the Nepali mission in the UK could not take up Col Lama’s case with senior UK officials, sources said. “Junior officials cannot even meet their counterparts in countries like the UK. Furthermore, Deputy Chief of Mission Tej Bahadur Chettri is new in London and is struggling to contact senior British officials,” the sources said. “Ambassador Chalise is in for a difficult time.” nnnn PRESIDENT SAYS BHATTARAI GOVT. CAN’T TAKE UNTY FORM Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: President Ram Baran Yadav on Monday said the incumbent government cannot be transformed into a national consensus one as it was formed through a simple majority of the dissolved Constituent Assembly (CA). In talks with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai at Sheetal Niwas, President Yadav said that as the process of forming a unity government as per Article 38 (1) is underway, a caretaker government cannot be turned into a unity one. Sources said the President also suggested Bhattarai work to forge consensus among the political parties to form a government. “The caretaker government was formed as per Article 38 (2) of the Interim Constitution and it cannot be transformed into a consensual one,” an aide to the President told the Post. The aide added that any candidate, including Bhattarai, must strike a new deal and form a new government to end the impasse. While Article 38 (1) talks of consensus among the parties for a government formation, Article 38 (2) says that a government can be formed on the basis of majority votes by parties represented in the CA. Bhattarai reached out to CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, seeking support in holding elections within April-May. PM’s aide Bishwadip Pandey said the fresh dialogue started by the PM was aimed at forging consensus on a unity government. President Yadav held separate talks with party leaders and legal experts on Monday to solicit their opinions on the parties’ failure to strike an agreement as per Article 38 (1). A cross-party deal is still elusive as the deadline extended for the seventh time for the formation of a national unity government expires on Wednesday. In talks with President Yadav, Khanal stressed on the need of ousting Bhattarai to ensure elections. CPN (Maoist) leaders Ram Bahadur Thapa, CP Gajurel and Dev Gurung and RPP-Nepal Chairman Kamal Thapa also called on President Yadav on Monday. Lawyers Bhimarjun Acharya, Bipin Adhikari and Madhav Basnet advised the President not to keep on extending the government formation deadline. The head of state can ask the current government to come up with a roadmap for holding elections and resolving disputed issues of the constitution, lawyer Adhikari said. nnnn ORDINANCE TO REVIVE CA Kathmandu, 8 Jan.: The government has begun preparations to draft an ordinance recommending the President to reinstate the dissolved Constituent Assembly. “The government is considering sending an ordinance to the President seeking to revive the CA as no option is working out,” said Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s political adviser Devendra Poudel. “A Cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning is likely to discuss the ordinance issue.” But Minister for Industry Anil Kumar Jha said the government was not considering reviving the CA through the ordinance, The Himalayan Times reports. nnnn