UML CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETS Kathmandu, 3 Jan.: UML central committee meets Thursday at a time on continuing political gridlock with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai refusing to step down despite demands from the opposition and Kathmandu-based western diplomats including those representing friendly EU member states. The opposition will discuss a neutral government takeover proposed by the prime minister and other political issues, including elections many say is unlikely in April/May. nnnn NRB TAKES OVER GURKHA DEVELOPMENT BANK Kathmandu, 3 Jan.: Nepal Rashrta Bank (NRB), the central bank, is taking over the management of troubled Gurkha Development Bank for six months from Thursday. Bishurat Thapa heads a three-member management tam of NRB. Mukti Sapkota and Ashok Rai are other members of the team. Nnnn CAPITAL’S MINUMUM TEMPERATRE 1 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, 3 Jan. Minimum temperature was 1 degrees Celsius Wednesday in the capital and it rose to 2 degrees Celsius in the morning Thursday in the capital. Mercury is expected to rise to 19 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. on a clear day. Nnnn l ARMY PLAYS THREE STAR CLUB IN FOOTBALL LEAGUE Kathmandu, 3 Jan.: Tribhuvan Club of Nepal Army plays Three Star Thursday in the martyrs memorial A division football league championship at Dashrath Rangashala. Friends Club plays Jawalahkhel in the second match. Nnnn ONLY FEW FORMER PLA FIGHTERS WANT TO QUIT ARMY TRAINING SAYS COORDINATOR SHARMA Kathmandu, 3 Jan.:: Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Special Committee for Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of the Maoist Combatants Balananda Sharma on Wednesday said very few ex- Maoist combatants want to quit the Nepal Army (NA) training meant for integration, Republica reports. Sharma who returned on Wednesday after visiting the training centers across the country said, “I met almost 800 ex-combatants undergoing training. Of them, only about 12 combatants are likely to quit the training if allowed.” They wanted to quit training just because of some physical and mental health problems, he added. A meeting of the special committee has already decided to allow the combatants to quit training. But the meeting did not decide if the ex-combatants would be given any package if they quit the training half way. As many as 40 of the total 1,442 ex-combatants undergoing training have expressed their wish to quit training. According to sources, many ex-combatants are physically unfit for training, while some female combatants can´t continue training because they are pregnant. But coordinator Sharma said that about 16 ex-combatants have serious health problems and are under medical treatment, “They will soon be able to continue training after recovery,” said Sharma. Regarding the pregnant women, Sharma said, “When we select married women, it is natural that we selected some pregnant women as well.” He said that only one woman combatants has tested positive for pregnancy. Sources, however, claimed that there are many female combatants undergoing training who are pregnant. NA spokesperson Brigadier General Suresh Sharma said, “We don´t have any information about the pregnancy of female trainees.” He said that training is being undertaken smoothly in the seven training centers. Sharma also said that the overall situation of the training is satisfactory as per the Nepal Army act and political agreements. He said a decision would soon be taken on combatants who are unable to continue their training. It is also learnt that the combatants wishing to quit the training have demanded at least fifty percent of the retirement package given to those opting for voluntary retirement. Nnnn NC. UML AGAINIST INDEPENDENT PM Kathmandu, 3 Jan : The two major opposition parties -- Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML --have rejected outright the prime minister´s proposal to seek a common prime ministerial candidate other than NC President Sushil Koirala to head the new government, Thir L.Bhusal writes in Republica. . The two major opposition parties, at a two-party meeting held at the NC party office at Sanepa on Wednesday, decided not to change their mind simply at the behest of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. Seeking Bhattarai´s immediate exit, the opposition alliance led by the NC and CPN-UML has proposed Koirala as its official candidate to head the election government. NC leader Deep Kumar Upadhayay, who was present at the two-party meeting, said that leaders from the two parties reiterated their stance in favor of Koirala and resolved not to become confused by proposals to be floated one after another by either the prime minister or any other Maoist leader. "There is no point changing our decision because Sushil Koirala is not only our party´s unanimous candidate but also the unopposed leader in the opposition alliance," Upadhayay told Republica. "Also, he [Koirala] has support from leaders of some other political parties as well, including Upendra Yadav." Prime Minister Bhattarai, at a meeting with CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal held at the latter´s residence earlier on Wednesday, proposed seeking a new candidate other than Koirala. A party leader privy to the Bhattarai-Nepal talks said the prime minister was for picking an independent leader to head the election government. "Bhattarai proposed selecting a leader with a political background but independent at present," said the party leader. "Nepal suggested to Bhattarai to come up with an official position of the UCPN (Maoist)." Former prime minister Nepal later briefed the two-party meeting on Bhattarai´s proposal. UML leaders then asked the NC team present during the talks if their party was ready to reconsider Koirala´s candidacy or would remain firmly in his favor. UML Vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam said the UML wanted to be clear about the NC´s latest position. Gautam, however, said his party is firm in its own support for Koirala. According to him, NC leaders said they are not going to change their position just at the behest of Bhattarai. "We [UML] are not going to change our decision to support the NC president unless the Congress party itself is ready to seek Sushil Koirala´s alternative," Gautam told Republica. "We will not side with the Maoists and betray the NC." He claimed that the Maoist proposal on an alternative candidate was yet another tactic to prolong the government´s tenure and defer elections. "If we come up with an alternative candidate, it is certain the Maoists will say that candidate is unacceptable to them," said Gautam. He also said that the latest proposal by Bhattarai was a move cleverly aimed at weakening the opposition alliance. NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula said they decided to further intensify bilateral as well as multilateral talks in the next couple of days. Sitaula said leaders from the two sides vowed to concentrate their efforts on ending the deadlock at the earliest and ensuring new Constituent Assembly elections in the coming spring. The UML and NC leaders decided to ask UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal about his party´s official position on the candidate for new PM and holding of elections. "We decided to ask Dahal because he is the party chairman and he should tell other parties about the UCPN (Maoist) official position without any flipflops," said Upadhaya. Bhattarai has repeatedly said in public that his party would never accept Koirala´s leadership of the election government, while Dahal is reportedly flexible in accepting NC leadership on certain conditions. Nnnn LAWYERS REFUSE TO DEFEND THOSE CHARGED IN RAPE CASE Kathmandu, 3 Jan.: Lawyers at a Delhi court hearing the case of the fatal gang-rape which has shocked the nation said on Wednesday they would refuse to defend the men accused of taking part in the assault and murder. AFP reports from New Delhi. . Hearings are expected to begin on Thursday at the Saket district court in south New Delhi, where police will formally present a 1,000-page charge sheet against the six-person gang. "We have decided that no lawyer will stand up to defend the rape accused as it would be immoral to defend the case," Sanjay Kumar, a lawyer and a member of the Saket district bar council, told AFP. Kumar said the 2,500 advocates registered at the court have decided to "stay away" to ensure "speedy justice", meaning the government would have to appoint lawyers for the defendants. Another lawyer at the court confirmed the boycott to AFP. Five men are expected to face charges including rape, murder and kidnapping in the Saket court, with the prosecutor likely to seek the death sentence. A sixth suspect is believed to be 17 years old, meaning he would be tried in a juveniles´ court, but police are conducting bone tests to determine his age. The brutality and horrific nature of the attack on a 23-year-old has led to protests in the capital and elsewhere over the widespread abuse of women and sex crime in India. The rape victim died at the weekend after 13-day struggle to survive injuries so grievous that part of her intestines had to be removed. Nnnn