CIVIL BANK SHARES TO BE TRADED AFTER LISTING Kathmandu, 22 Feb.: Altogether 20 million shares of Civil Bank with bar value of Rs.1000 a chare is being listed with Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse). An agreement was signed between the bank that went public and the stock exchange. nnnn ONE UNIT OF KULELKHANI 1 BEING REPAIRED Kathmandu, 22 Feb.: A unit of the 60MW Kullekhani 1 is being repaired. The unit is dysfunctional following a short circuit. Electricity is being produced only by one unit of the power plant amid daily 12-hour load-shedding. Nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “Significance of 12-point deal has already ended, the road map of second people’s revolution has failed, and the interim constitution has also failed after CA demise. Thus, this is the time to search for alternatives to the Interim Constitution. “President has transformed Sheetal Niwas, his office into the office of the four parties syndicate.” (RPP-Nepal Chairman Kamal Thapa, The Himalayan Times, 22 Feb.) CJ REGMI GOOD JUDGE BUT BAD LEADER Kathmandu, 22 Feb.:: Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi has been in the centre of attention for quite some time now with political parties working hard to persuade him to lead an interim government to hold fresh Constituent Assembly elections, Ananta Raj :Luitel writes in The Himalayan Times elections. Differing opinions have been filtering in since his name was first proposed by the Unified CPN-Maoist and later lapped up by top leaders of major political forces, despite opposition from some other parties, a section of civil society and the judicial/ legal fraternity. When THT talked to a few people who have known Regmi for a long time, they said they were a bit wary of the prospects of CJ Regmi leading an interim government. Some even went on to say that making CJ Regmi the executive head would open a Pandora’s box, claiming that Regmi ‘cannot be a troubleshooter’. “He himself is not clear about the parties’ proposition,” a former Supreme Court justice, told THT. He said Regmi is neither dynamic nor assertive as an individual. “He might not be able to deliver what the political parties are expecting. So, the move of making him the prime minister could boomerang, jeopardising the entire judiciary, which could become a failed institution,” he added. When top leaders of four political forces yesterday met CJ Regmi to formally request him to accept their proposal, Regmi neither said ‘yes’ nor said ‘no’, throwing the already deadlocked politics into more confusion. It is not that Regmi is weak or he lacks acumen. Like any other individual, Regmi too has his strength and possesses human foibles and weaknesses. Regmi has served as a judge for almost two decades. He is known in the judicial fraternity as a soft-spoken, traditional judge with conciliatory approach. “He has a long experience but lacks the expertise,” the justice said of Regmi. He has a long experience of deciding civil cases, so he has headed a number of inquiry commissions, including civil code reform commission, land reform commission and other legal reform commissions. “But I don’t think he will be able to handle the (political) situation as the executive head for he has failed to put his own house in order — like in relation to addressing judiciary affairs,” said Yadunath Khanal, President, Democratic Lawyers Association, hinting at Regmi’s lack of leadership quality. “I can confidently predict that he would fail (as the executive head), and he will make the judiciary a controversial institution.” Regmi has faced allegations that he failed to appoint even a single judge during his last 18 months as the head of the judiciary. To add insult to the injury, the apex court in recent times continued to lose one ad hoc judge after another, resulting in vacuum in SC with only a few justices remaining. One of the major concerns in relation to Regmi’s appointment as government head is principles of separation of powers and checks and balances. Irrespective of his failure or success to hold polls as the government head, CJ Regmi, according to parties’ proposal, will ultimately return to his chamber in the Supreme Court, and critics have already started asking what is the guarantee that his decisions thereafter as a judge would be impartial. “Constitutionally and practically it is wrong to hold the post of chief executive by a sitting CJ,” said Sarvagyaratna Tuladhar, former attorney general. “Since politicians and political parties have failed in the last four years, now they want to shift the blame on CJ, or the judiciary for that matter, by dangling the prime ministerial post before him,” added Tuladhar. “When political parties have failed to maintain country’s politics, how will Regmi be able to handle the situation?” In addition, Tuladhar said, Regmi has zero political experience. “My suggestion to Regmi will be to use his knowledge, acumen and intelligence — he possesses all of them — and make contributions to the judicial sector by being where he is, rather than getting into politics,” he concluded. Nnnn SOCIAL HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME BEING IMPLEMENTED Kathmandu, 22 Feb.: The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) is all set to implement national social health insurance programme at five districts from March 1, The Himalayan Times reports. The government subsidised programme will be launched in Ilam, Sarlahi, Banke, Kailali and Baglung in the first phase, said Secretary Dr Praveen Mishra at the ministry today. After the piloting of the programme in the selected districts, it will be scaled up to other districts accordingly, said the secretary. Kabi Raj Khanal, joint spokesperson for the ministry, said, “Though the government has already selected the districts to carry out general assessment, it will take two more months to finalise the modality and scheme of the programme.” Details such as estimated government funding, insurance coverage, and claim settlement mechanism are yet to be decided. The health insurance scheme aims to increase people’s access to medical services and widen the social safety net. Once the programme is rolled out, all insured can claim for expenses like doctor fees and medical bills, said Khanal. The ministry with soon hold a discussion with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, National Planning Commission and the Insurance Board to prepare for the programme, he added. The government has already completed the draft of social health insurance policy to provide universal health coverage to people. The programme also targets to minimise impoverishment through the government funded subsidy. The major external partners for the programme are World Bank, GIZ, World Health Organisation and Korea International Cooperation Agency. The ministry had started the community health insurance programme at Manlabare Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC) in Morang district focusing on high-cost and low-frequency illness (catastrophic spending), and at Dumkauli PHCC, Nawalparasi on low-cost, high-frequency illness in 2003/04 as pilot projects. The low-cost, high-frequency illness model was expanded to four more districts as pilot projects in 2006/07: Katari PHCC in Udayapur, Chandranigahapur PHCC in Rautahat, Lamahi PHCC in Dang, and Tikapur PHCC in Kailali, representing the five development regions for potential replication. nnnn