PM VISITS FAMILY OF ABDUCTED AND SLAIN BUSINESSMAN Kathmandu, 15 Feb.: : Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai Thursday visited and concoled family members of Ganga Bisan Rathi, a Biratnagar-based entrepreneur, who was abducted and killed last month. His body was recovered in a joint Nepal/India police operation along Darjeeling’s Teesta river. Premier Bhattarai was in Biratnagar Thursdayto lay the foundation stone of a Jain building. Nnnn . MEDIA GOOGLE “One state‚ two armies‚ monarchy and direct autocracy are nowhere in sight.But‚ things are still the same. No constitution in sight‚ there is no parliament‚ no elected government‚ no body to deal with the reconciliation process and no reduction in state of inequality. There is no democracy‚ only partyocracy‚ (a political malady where a handful of parties threaten the institutions of parliamentary democracy).” (Norwegian Prof. Johan Galtung, The Himalayan Times, 15 Feb.) Nnnn LONDON., BONN EMBASSY BUILDINGS BEING EVALUATED FOR SALE Kathmandu, 15 Feb.:: A government task force today said it would evaluate the mission buildings in London and Bonn before deciding on its sale, The Himalayan Times reports.. A two-day meeting of the High Level Committee formed to recommend whether to sell or maintain the mission structures today decided to visit London and Bonn to take stock of the dilapidated buildings‚ and appoint local evaluators to know their possible selling tags‚ a member of the committee told THT today. Sources said the meeting had decided not to speak about its decision to the public yet. When asked‚ Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Arjun Bahadur Thapa said he was unaware about the decision. A senior government official divulged that the caretaker government wanted to sell the historic mission building in London‚ by taking advantage of the current situation in the country. He further said MoFA bureaucrats have become puppets of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha. A property agency in the UK recently submitted a report to the Nepali Embassy in London‚ mentioning a tentative amount of 2.2 million pounds would be needed to repair the Embassy building‚ whereas the Chancery and Residence buildings in Bonn have been rendered useless after the unification of Germany in late 1989. Nnnn NAC MAY GO FOR AIRBUS BY MID-MARCH Kathmandu, 15 Feb.:: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is looking forward to signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus by mid-March, The Himalayan Times reports.. “We are preparing to invite Airbus representatives and conduct a final negotiation for two narrow-body aircraft‚” said general manager of the corporation Madan Kharel. “The price and type of aircraft that we are now planning to purchase are different from those mentioned in the previous deal‚” Kharel said. Nepal Airlines Corporation‚ at present‚ is preparing to purchase two narrow-body aircraft. In its first MoU in November 2009‚ the corporation had planned to purchase one A 330- 200 wide-body and another A 320 single-aisle aircraft. In 2009‚ the corporation had plans to start international services to Japan and start air connectivity to Europe with direct flights. However‚ the plan did not materialise due to various issues. “Once we are through with the final negotiation with Airbus‚ we will move ahead with the government guarantee process‚ and coordinate with the Finance Ministry for its instruction regarding the loan‚” said Kharel. “After the final negotiation is over and we receive instruction from the Finance Ministry‚ we will sign the MoU and send the commitment fee to Airbus for the delivery of two narrow-body aircraft‚” he said. On November 7‚ 2012‚ in the meeting between Airbus representatives and NAC officials‚ Airbus had expressed its willingness to restart the purchase deal. The company had also mentioned that it was ready to supply the two narrow-body aircraft by the end of 2014‚ if the corporation was ready to pay the increased factory expenses as the manufacturing cost of the aircraft has gone up since 2009. Airbus had quoted $41.28 million for a narrow-body aircraft and $92.84 million for a wide-body aircraft in the 2009 deal. After the cabinet decision to buy eight new aircraft including two from Airbus and six from China’s AVIC Holdings‚ Nepal Airlines Corporation restarted its long awaited plan to buy two new Airbus aircraft to modernise its international fleet. The national flag carrier has been witnessing tough times in managing its international flights. Earlier‚ it enjoyed around 30 per cent of the total market share of international flights to Nepal. “This time we are positive that the deal with Airbus will be successful‚” said Kharel. nnnn