PHAPLU AIRPORT BEING CLOSED FOR UPKEEP Kathmandu, 23 Feb.: Phaplu airport in the Everest region is being closed from 8 March. The move is being made for regular upkeep of the airportservicing aa popular trekking destination. The airstrip is being blacktopped. Nnnn RAJENDRA DAS SHRESTHA PRESIDENT PRIME COMMERCIAL BANK Kathmndu, 23 Feb.: Rajendra Das Shrestha has been elected president of oardof directors of Prime Commercial Bank. The bank said this in a notice.. nnnn CAPITAL’S SATURDAY MORNING TEMPERATURE 8 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, 23 Feb.: Capital Saturday morning temperature at seven was 8 Degrees Celsius. Mercury is expected to rise to 25 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. Nnnn SUSHIL KOIRALA REVEALS FOREIGN POWERS AGAIN THREATEN NEPAL IN FAVOUR OF REGMI-LED GOVT. Kathmandu, 23 Feb.:: Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala today admitted that the four major political forces had agreed to form an election government under the pressure from international community and President Ram Baran Yadav, The Himalayan Times reports from Gorkha.. Talking to mediapersons in Gorkha, Koirala said, “Four major political forces agreed to form an election government as the President suggested for CJ-led government to give a way out to the country. Besides, there is immense international pressure for such a government.” Koirala revealed that ambassadors from the European Union had threatened to divert aid coming to Nepal to Africa and Latin America if the parties do not go to the polls under CJ-led government. He further said Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi was delaying to accept the reins of the executive due to opposition from some parties. “The government formation process is delayed as Chief Justice is failing to take decision promptly,” he added. Koirala held that chief justice-led government would function as per parties’ directive. Indicating at the opposition voice from within the major political forces, the Congress president said that parties had taken decision through their central committees. “It does not matter what an individual leader speaks in public,” he added. Nnnn ARMY DEBARS WOMEN FROM COMBAT DUTY Kathmandu, 23 Feb.: The new Nepal Army regulations recently introduced by the government have banned female soldiers from taking up direct combat responsibilities and fighting in the frontlines of war, Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post. . Military analysts have said women will not get a chance to serve as the chief of the NA as long as such a provision in the Army Service Rule remains. "Military personnel will lack field experience and a feeling of sacrifice until and unless they take up combat duties," NA's retired Maj Gen Shivaram Pradhan told the Post. "Hence, soldiers with experience of only combat related duties can never be elevated to the post of the army chief." The new rule comes at a time when countries in the West have removed a ban on female soldiers from taking up combat roles. Last month, the US military lifted the 1994 ban that prevented female soldiers from taking up combat roles. The US government said that anyone qualified should get a chance to fight in the frontlines of battles regardless of sex. According to the new rule, women soldiers cannot serve in units, including the infantry, special forces, engineers, air defence, artillery and air defense, which execute direct command duties. NA Spokesperson Suresh Sharma said there is, however, no bar on women soldiers being sent to wings like the intelligence, headquarters, signals and operations. "We have applied the policy of positive discrimination to ease the service for female soldiers in the Army," Sharma said. He added that most of the militaries around the world don't have a provision of giving direct combat duties to female soldiers. While Britain's armed forces don't allow female personnel to take up direct combat roles, countries like Germany, Australia and Canada have already introduced the provision. Pradhan said it has only been a few years since Nepal Army started recruiting women soldiers in the infantry, and as such, priority should be given to setting up facilities that are friendly to women soldiers and increasing their number in the institution. The NA started recruiting females in 1962. However there were only 1,712 women in the 93,000-strong institution last year. The initial recruitment of women in the Army was for nursing and medical units. They were later recruited in the infantry in 2003. Three of the five women who reached the rank of brigadier general so far have retired, while two are still in the Army's medical unit. In the infantry, the highest rank held by a woman is that of the captain, while 309 women hold officers' positions in the NA. The Army maintains that its long term plan is to ensure five percent women representation in the institution. The new rule states that of the reserved 45 percent seats that will be filled through the inclusive quota, 20 percent will be allocated to women. nnnn