WOMEN LEAVE TO PLAY FOOTBALL IN KUWAIT Kathmandu, 10 Jan. Nepali women´s football team is leaving Friday to play friendly matches in Kuwait –the first time Nepali women footballers are playing abroad. The players took part in a training camp. Women are playing international friendly matches in the Gulf sheikdom without regular skipper and forward Jamuna Gurung. Matches will be played from 13 to 15 January. Nnnn COLD CLAIMS TWO LIVES IN JHAPA Kathmandu 10 Jan.: Two people died of cold wave in Jhapa on Wednesday, RSS reports from Bhadrapur.. Shanker Chaudhary, 60, who has been residing in a rented house of Gopal Sitaula in Bhadrapur-8, breathed his last due to biting cold, confirmed the District Police Office, Jhapa. Likewise, a person, who was found unconscious in front of Deurali Hotel in Birtamodh due to cold wave, lost his life while undergoing treatment. The unidentified person seemingly belonging to Tarai origin died on Wednesday afternoon on the way to Mechi Zonal Hospital in Bhadrapur. Nnnn WIND BLOWS AWAY HOUSES IN SOLU Kathamandu, 10 Jan.: A strong wind blew away roofs of 13 houses at Khunde in Ward No. 4 and 5 of Khumjung VDC in Solukhumbu, adding woes to difficult life of locals in the winter season, RSS reports from Solokhumbu. Some five families being displaced after the roofs of their houses swept away by the wind on Wednesday are taking shelter at neighbour´s home for safety, said Phurpa Gyalzen Sherpa, a local. Likewise, Sonam Sherpa of Khumjung -4 was injured in the incident and he is being treated in local Khunde Hospital, Khumjung VDC Secretariat Binod Basnet. Loss worth more than Rs 10 million was estimated to be incurred in the wind-triggered incident, said police. The expensive materials used for house corrugation have been of no use after the incident. It may be noted that one has to pay wage more than Rs 350 per kg while transporting steel planes for corrugation to Khunde VDC from Kathmandu. It is the first-ever incident that caused the huge loss because of wind in the month of January, said locals. The cold victim families have faced further complications after the wind dismantled their residence, said Sherpa. Nnnn MATRIKA PRASAD YADAV OFFERS OLIVE BRANCH TO C[N MAOIST Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: As the CPN-Maoist began its first general convention since its split from the UCPN (Maoist), it was a leader from another Maoist party who took centrestage. Matrika Prasad Yadav first gained prominence as a voice for the Madhes when the Maoist party was underground and also after it joined mainstream politics in 2006. He became a Cabinet member in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government in 2008. He then left the UCPN (Maoist) in 2009 and disappeared into political oblivion., Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post. “I am not here just to extend best wishes for the general convention. If the party takes a clear line, we can move ahead together,” he said, extending an olive branch to the former comrades. In the four-hour inaugural session at Khulamanch, he drew applause from the 10,000 people who largely remained a quiet audience. The firebrand leader was invited to the podium after the Maoist General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa told the gathering that the party’s supreme body would give a new direction to abolish ‘compradorism’ and ‘lootism.’ CPN-Maoist Secretary CP Gajurel announced that Thapa was the party’s candidate to lead the national unity government in the inaugural session. “Foreign intervention is at its peak. Comrade Badal has been the candidate for the prime minister under the vacancy announced by the President,” Yadav said. “How can he complete the new people’s revolution after getting the birth of premiership?”In its five-day general convention, the CPN-M will decide whether to go for a peaceful struggle or keep the option of resorting back to armed struggle open. Chairman Mohan Baidya has proposed that the party opt for ‘revolt on the foundations of the people’s war’ to complete the agenda of a ‘new people’s revolution’ sidestepped by the mother party. Around 1,400 delegates are participating in the general convention that will formalise last June’s split in the Maoist party and determine the party’s future strategy. Party Secretary Netra Bikram Chand did not address the inaugural session on Wednesday, but his supporters are likely to raise a strong voice for the revival of conflict-era structures, including the military, in the closed session that will begin on Thursday. In their address, Party Chairman Baidya and Thapa claimed that the party would adopt a ‘revolutionary line,’ but made no reference to revolt or armed struggle in their address. Baidya said his party had not surrendered like the mother party and that it would seek its share with the existing political forces. “If those forces betray the people and do not come to a new understanding, we will continue with the struggle,” said Baidya. He also said his party would not return to Singha Durbar, the country’s administrative capital, in the current situation. Almost all speakers, including leaders from other ‘like-minded’ parties invited to address the inaugural session, said the country was “trapped in foreign intervention.” CPN-Maoist leader Yadav and civil society personality Sundarmani Dixit claimed that Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai was “serving as an agent of India.” Chairman Baidya appreciated China saying that the northern neighbour had stayed away from internal matters of Nepal. He accused India of “posing a threat to Nepal’s sovereignty” and urged the southern neighbour to give up its ‘eagle eye’ in the domestic affairs of Nepal. Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan was among the foreign representatives attending the inaugural session. The party did not invite the four major parties—UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha. “We have described the UCPN (Maoist) and the UML as new reformists and decided to struggle against them. As such, we did not invite the two parties,” said Spokesman Pumpha Bhusal. Nnnn LONDON AMASSADOR SUGGESTS LEGAL RECOURSE TO GET COL. ;AMA RELEASED Kathmandu, 10 Jan.: Nepal’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Suresh Chandra Chalise has said strong legal recourse might be the only way to secure the release of Nepal Army Col Kumar Lama, who is currently in British custody over his alleged involvement in torture during the decade-long insurgency, The Kathmandu Post reports.. Col Lama was arrested a week ago by British police from East Sussex and remanded in custody until January 24. Ambassador Chalise, who has been meeting with senior UK officials in London over Col Lama’s arrest, said that as Lama’s case is under the ambit of the local British court and legal system, it would be wise to present a strong legal defence in court. “I have started legal as well as diplomatic consultations and concluded that we need experienced legal hands to defend Lama’s case. We are preparing to hire someone with a strong legal background with sound knowledge of international laws and practices,” said Chalise over the phone from London. According to the Post’s London correspondent, Nabin Pokhrel, Chalise has undertaken various diplomatic initiatives in London to secure Col Lama’s release. He met with British Minister of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire and Chief of the Nepal-Britain All Party Parliamentary Group Sir John Stanley to present the Nepal government’s concerns and expectations. During these meetings, the Nepali envoy conveyed the concerns of Nepal’s political fraternity over Col Lama’s arrest and reminded British officials of the century-old bilateral relations between the two countries. He also reiterated Nepal’s “unflinching commitment to human rights” and that the formation of a transitional justice system was taking its final course. “Nepal’s six-year old peace process will be complete soon and such incidents will only delay the process further,” Chalise reportedly told British officials. The ambassador has also held meetings with Prof Surya Subedi, who is a barrister with a background in international laws and has also been a member of a high-level Advisory Group on Human Rights to the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, since 2010. Diplomatic efforts and political channels within the homeland might be sufficient but in countries like the UK, which has a strong legal foundation, we need to take the legal approach, said Chalise. Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are in consultations to hire a senior barrister to defend Col Lama in court. nnnn