TEMPERATURE FALLS TO 1 DEGREE CELSIUS IN CAPITAL Kathmandu, 5 Jan.: Capital’s morning temperature in a foggy morning was 1 degree Celsius. Mercury is expected to rise to 19 degrees Celsius in the afternoon with foggy conditions in terai. nnnn SUDHIR BASNET ARESTED FOR FRAUD Kathmandu, 5 Jan.: Promoter of Agni Air Sudhit Basnet was arrested from the capital Friday on charge of fraud from clients who were promised apartments Basnet is also a promoter of Oriental Apartments and Eastern Apartments. and has been blacklisted by the Credit Information Bureau. Banks and financial institutions have put Agni Air on auction after the airline failed to meet the loan repayment reschedule. The airline has a fleet of three Jetstream 41s and two Dorniers. Nnnn APF PLAYS SHANKATA IN FOOTBALL LEAGUE SATURDAY Kathmandu, 5 Jan.: APF plays Shankata in the martyrs memorial in the A Division football league championship Saturday at Dashrath Rangashala. Machindra meets Sahashwoti in another match. nnnn ARRESTED COL. LAMA CHARGED IN LONDON Kathmandu, 5 Jan.: British police charged a Nepali army colonel on Friday with two counts of torture during the Himalayan nation's decade-long civil war, despite the Nepali government's demanding his immediate release, Reuters reports from London/Kathmandu. Nepal summoned the British ambassador earlier on Friday to express its "strong objection" to Kumar Lama's detention. Rights groups accuse both the security forces and former Maoist rebels of committing abuses including torture during the conflict that killed more than 16,000 people. The Maoists ended the conflict in 2006 under a peace deal with the government, won elections four years ago and are now heading a coalition ruling the young Himalayan republic. London's Metropolitan Police said it had arrested Lama, 46, in the southern town of St. Leonards-on-Sea and charged him with committing acts of torture in 2005. Media reports said he was detained while on vacation from a U.N. mission in Sudan. The police statement accused Lama of intentionally inflicting "severe pain or suffering" on Janak Bahadur Raut between April 15 and May 1, 2005, and on Karam Hussain between April 15 and October 31, 2005. Lama is due to appear in court in London on Saturday. "We express strong objection to this mistake and urge that it be corrected ... and Lama be released," Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha told reporters in Kathmandu after the colonel's arrest. Human Rights Watch said the arrest sent a warning to those accused of serious crimes that they cannot hide from the law. "The UK's move to arrest a Nepali army officer for torture during Nepal's brutal civil war is an important step in enforcing the U.N. Convention against Torture," Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. nnnn MAOIST CHIEF RULES OUR APRIL/MAY ASSEMBLY ELECTIOS Kathmandu, 5 Jan.: Accusing the opposition parties of being rigid, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday said chances of holding polls in April-May have altogether disappeared, The Kathmandu Post reports.. This is the first time the chief of a governing party has gone vocal about the dismal picture when it comes to holding the polls. The government led by his deputy, Baburam Bhattarai, had declared elections for April-May. Talking to the party's mouthpiece, Krishnasenonline.com, Dahal said elections are elusive as the major parties are still at loggerheads about amending the constitution and electoral laws. “There is no possibility of polls being held in Baishak (April-May). The Nepali Congress and the UML are responsible for this as they rejected a package deal to ensure elections as planned,” Dahal said, adding that the opposition parties focused only on the government instead of ensuring the elections. Dahal also reiterated his party's position that PM Bhattarai will not resign without a package deal. “I see a long tenure of the incumbent government given the stance taken by the NC and the UML, as we have made it clear that we are ready to hand over the government leadership only after a package deal among the parties is had.” The Maoist party has proposed formation of a neutral government led by an independent individual to hold elections if the parties continue to undercut each other. “This is not the right approach, but we have proposed this alternative as the last resort,” Dahal said. He added that such a model of government has been adopted in Bangladesh to hold elections. The Maoist Chairman also said he is playing a positive role in minimizing tensions between the government and the head of state. Nnnn VICTIM SAYS ARRESTED ARMY COL. TORTOURED HIM Kathmandu, 5 Jan.:- A day after London's Scotland Yard took a Nepal Army (NA) colonel into custody on the charge of overseeing extrajudicial detention and torture of a man during the conflict era, the detainee in question has emerged to share the ordeal he suffered, Manoj Poudel reports from Kapilvastu in The Kathmandu Post. . Janak Bahadur Raut, 38, from Shivapur-1 of Kapilvastu said he was captured by the then joint security force on the morning of April 15, 2005. He was kept at the Chandrauta-based Armed Police Force's (APF) Bindabasini Battalion for one day and transported to the NA's Shiva Dal Barracks in Gorusinghe. He remained in detention for 17 days and during the period he was subjected to extreme torture . "Bound and blindfolded, they inflicted electric shocks on me to the point that I lost my senses," Raut said. "I was captured because I was related to Bala Thapa, who was then the local leader of the Maoist People's Government." With the support of Advocacy Forum, Raut had lodged a case against his tormentors at the district court on June 26, 2007. The hearing took place on January 27, 2008, wherein the court convicted Col Kumar Lama in the case and ordered the government to pay Rs 75,000 to Raut in compensation and initiate disciplinary action against the guilty NA official. More than six years since the incident, the court verdict has yet to be implemented, Raut claimed. "I did not receive the compensation and Lama did not face any action. I sent many appeals to the government, to no avail, in the regard." The district court had written to the Defence Ministry some four years ago, asking it to initiate disciplinary action against Col Lama. According to Raut, the ministry had responded that Col Lama had gone to the UK for study and that it would take up the case upon his return two years later. "That day never came. I was denied justice in my own country," said Raut. nnnn CHICKEN IMPORT OVERLAND BANNED Kathmandu, 5 Jan.:: The government has banned traders from importing chicken products via road transport following the illegal import of chicken by Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) from India, The Himalayan Times reports. No chicken products will be allowed to be imported via road hereafter, said spokesperson at the Ministry of Agriculture Development Dr Prabhakar Pathak. Chicken meat must be imported through air cargo, he said, adding that the meat must be from a ‘no bird flu surveillance zone’. According to him, the government will strictly follow the Nepal Gazette, published on September 24, that banned the import of livestock from bird flu affected countries. The World Organisation for Animal Health listed India in the bird flu infected list on October 12, 2012, and India has not withdrawn its name till date. The Department of Livestock Services had dumped about 5,248 kg chicken meat imported by Devyani International Nepal — promoter of KFC and Pizza Hut in Nepal — in Dharke of Dhading on December 16. About 5,619.5 kg chicken imported by Mango Tree International was also dumped the same day. The incident reveals that the government has failed to control corruption at the quarantine posts. “The control mechanism has completely failed,” said general secretary of Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights Jyoti Baniya. The government has not implemented the suggestions made by joint secretary of the ministry Uttam Kumar Bhattarai, he added. According to a ministry source, the committee has strongly urged the government to take action against KFC and quarantine officials. “We have also filed two cases against KFC at the Department of Commerce and Supply Management and Metropolitan Police Range but no action has been taken yet,” Baniya expressed his disappointment, “The government is not serious about public health.” Department officials refused to comment on the issue saying it was being handled by the ministry. Similarly, the police has also not issued any arrest warrant till date and is still waiting for details from the Department of Livestock Services and the ministry. Consumer groups believe that something fishy is going on, said Baniya, questioning why government agencies had not taken prompt action like it had done regarding New Road-based gudpak shops and Sangam Sweets. There is no doubt that Devyani International is influencing the government, Baniya added. Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce and Supply Management has destroyed date expired spices, cookies and other items at KFC. We destroyed date expired and unhygienic food items today, said director at the department Prem Prasad Paudel. The department has issued show cause notice to the international fast food chain. KFC must furnish an explanation within seven days on why they have been using date expired spices and food, Paudel said. Nnnn NEPAL AGREES ON PIPELINE PROJECT Kathmandu, 5 Jan.:: The cabinet yesterday ‘principally’ agreed to allow Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) — the sole supplier of petroleum products to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) — construct a 40-km petroleum pipeline from Raxaul depot of IOC to the Amlekhgunj depot of NOC, The Himalayan Times reports.. However, the cabinet has also formed a committee led by vice chair of the National Planning Commission Deependra Bahadur Kshetry to study the modality of the pipeline project. “After the committee takes a complete shape with representation from NOC and Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, we will finalise the modality and procedures,” said Kshetry. “Earlier, the project was proposed to be constructed under the Build-Operate-Own-and-Transfer model, but the committee will finalise the model.” The cabinet had earlier sent the proposal to Economic Infrastructure Committee under the cabinet to discuss the ambitious project that has been in the pipeline since long to overcome the problems of frequent transportation strikes. “The cross-border petroleum pipeline to import fuel from India is expected to help reduce transport cost by around 50 per cent and ease constraints in transportation caused by transportation strikes apart from leakage control and quality control,” according to NOC. The pipeline was estimated to cost Rs 1.60 billion excluding the cost of land acquisition. A pre-feasibility study done in 2004, and a technical study done in 2006, had concluded that the pipeline project would be economically viable within six to seven years, and the construction company will get its return on the investment. “IOC had, thus, earlier asked to sign a 10-year agreement,” the corporation added. Though Indian Oil Corporation had proposed the construction of the pipeline in 1995, NOC and IOC signed the agreement last April. Earlier, the High-Level Petroleum Sector Reform Committee led by then Constituent Assembly member Bhim Acharya had recommended to start the project immediately as petroleum products are the largest imports of the country. In the four months of the current fiscal year 2012-13, the country has already imported petroleum products worth Rs 31.96 billion, whereas in the last fiscal year, the country had imported petroleum products worth Rs 92.25 billion from India, according to the central bank data. Nepal is becoming more dependent on petroleum products — MS, HSD, SKO, ATF and LPG — for meeting its energy requirements with an annual increase of 20 per cent. Petroleum products constitute about 11 per cent of the total energy consumed in the country. The Raxaul depot that caters to the energy hungry central region that consumes around 70 per cent of total petroleum imports can also supply fuel to Bhairahawa and Biratnagar which will also reduce huge costs of NOC that claims that in the future the pipeline could be linked to Barauni depot for more supply. Currently, some 1,180 tankers of some 494 transporters ferry petroleum products across the country. But they have been creating problems for Nepal Oil Corporation by forcing it to increase transportation cost by not allowing it to issue a tender. nnnn