WOMEN CRICKETERS SELECTED Kathmandu, 3 Jan.: Players have been selected by Cricket Association of Nepal for the second closed camp to prepare a team for the ACC Women’s Championship being hosted by Thailand 21 to 31 January in Ching Mai. Rubina Chhetri is captain while Sita Rana Magar, Karuna Bhandari, Sarita Magar, Roshani Bohara, Shilu Rijal, Indu Burma and Trishna Singh were also seleted Wednesday. Nary Thapa, Shova Ale Magar, Mamata Thapa, Sonu Khadka, Madhu Thapa and Neera Rajopadhaya were also selected. Rashmi Sharma, Rekha Rawal, Sangeeta Gauchan and Saraswoti Chaudhary are reserve pplayers. Nepal ,Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bhutan, UAE and Afghanistan are in Group A while China, Thailand, Singapore, Kuwait, Iran and Qatar and in Group B. The winter will qualify for the Women’s World T-20 Qualifier in Ireland in August. nnnn PM PUSHING CONTROVERSIAL AMENDMENTS IN POWER PROJCTS Kathmandu, 3 Jan.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has initiated a process to amend Development Committee Formation Order to give full executive power to chairmen of committees formed to develop two reservoir-type hydropower projects—600MW Budhi Gandaki and 400MW Nalsyaugad, Ashok Thapa writes in The Kathmandu Post.. A government official said that the prime minister, who also looks after the Ministry of Energy, proposed amending order that would deny the representation of Energy Ministry and Nepal Electricity Authority officials in the committee. “The prime minister has decided to table the amendment proposal at the Cabinet,” said the government official.” The official said that the PM made the amendment proposal in order to secure his direct political intervention in the development multi-billion rupee projects. Development cost of the projects are estimated at more than Rs 200 billion. The Cabinet’s approval of the proposal will make Laxmi Prasad Devkota and Sher Bahadur Singh chairman and executive director of development committees of Budhi Gandaki and Nalsyaugad projects respectively. The projects are currently under the process of detailed engineering study. Energy Secretary Hari Ram Koirala confirmed that there had been preparations to provide executive power to the chairmen of the two projects but did not divulge further information. Of the two chairmen, Singh is not professionally associated with the hydropower sector, while Devkota is hydro-electric engineer but does not have experience of developing a single hydropower project yet. Devkota hails from Gorkha, the home district of Prime Minister, while Singh is a local Maoist leader. “If such people without experience of hydropower development are given the responsibility of the entire projects, it would not only delay the project but could also contribute to financial irregularity,” said a source. As per the existing provision, chief of planning division of MoE remains as member in the development committee and joint secretary, with technical background, works as executive director until a chief executive officer is appointed through a free competition. But the new proposal seeks to make a provision that allows the chairman to be a member in the committee. The chairmen in both the projects had been appointed only to chair the meetings. As per the existing provision, board chairman and members are supposed to take a policy decision while executive director will take administrative and financial decisions. Nnnn BAN ON IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN BEING LIFTED Kathmandu, 3 Jan.: Given the high number of Nepali migrants working in high-risk countries, the government is planning to provide legal status to thousands of such migrants in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, Roshan Shedai writes in The Kathmandu Post.. Despite a partial ban on migrating to Afghanistan and a blanket ban on Iraq, an increasing number of workers are leaving for these countries. The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) has only been providing work approval to those working in the ‘green zone,’ including UN bodies, NATO security camps and various missions in such countries. Prompted by the government’s ban on travel, workers are forced to migrate illegally to Iraq and Afghanistan, often at the mercy of human smugglers and by paying exorbitant ‘fees’. A meeting on Monday called by the high-level foreign employment direction committee led by Narayan Kaji Shrestha consented to hold joint discussions to lift the bans. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), the Nepali Police and the DoFE. “The foreign ministry has agreed to assess the current security situation of these countries and the status of our workers. The legalisation plan will be based on the recommendation of this assessment,” said MoLE Secretary Somlal Subedi. He said diplomatic missions will also be asked for recommendation on the current scenario and the pros and cons of providing legal status to migrants. In a bid to facilitate better record-keeping of illegal migrants, the DoFE had introduced a legalisation scheme a few months back. However, many workers who had returned to Nepal during the Dashain and Tihar holidays were unable to acquire legal approval as they lacked visas for Afghanistan. Since many workers are directly air-lifted from Dubai to military base camps, they do not require visa, the migrants claimed. An estimated 40,000 Nepalis are currently employed in Afghanistan, almost equal in number to those working in Iraq. Unlike in Afghanistan, many Nepali women are working in Iraq as domestic help. DoFE records showed that 823 migrant workers have left the country for Afghanistan so far this year. Despite potential security threats, these war-ravaged countries have been one of the most sought after labour destinations, given the lucrative salaries in security camps, foreign missions and commissions. Returnee workers from Afghanistan claim their salary ranges from a minimum of Rs 80,000 to a maximum of Rs 850,000 a month, depending on the nature of work. nnnn