FIRE DSTROYS 20 HOUSES IN SAPTARI Kathmandu, 9 March: A fire Saturday destroyed at east 20 houses at at a Musahar settlement in Rayapur VDC-9 of Saptari. Villagers and security personnel are fighting to bring the blaze under control. RSS reports from Panitanki: Property worth Rs. 10 million has been gutted in fire that broke out in two houses in Kerabari -2, Morang district on Saturday morning. According to District Police Office, Morang, fire broke out in the houses of locals Surya Bahadur Luintel and Jhamak Khatiwada at 2:00 am this morning and gutted property including cash, gold and silver, clothes, timber and utensils. Fire engines from Biratnagar and Itahari and locals cooperated to take the fire under control, police said. Nnnn MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL SAYS UCPN MAOIST DOES NOT WANT ELECTIONS Kathmandu, 9 March: Senior leader of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal has blamed that the Unified CPN-Maoist was not for fresh Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, RSS reports from Chitwan.. Speaking at a UML cadres' training in Bharatpur of Chitwan district, he said the UCPN-Maoist has been moving forward with the its Seventh General Convention's strategy of bringing the judiciary and the Nepal Army into controversy. UML leader Nepal claimed that the UCPN-Maoist had stated in the general convention that other bodies except for the judiciary and the army were in the party's capture, and have been moving forward in a pre-planned manner. The UCPN-Maoist is for dragging the Chief Justice into controversy and captured the state power by sending former PLA combatants to the senior posts of NA to take it under the party's control. The leaders of other parties were also pulled into Maoist agenda of forming the CJ-led election government and that democracy in the country was pushed into crisis. UML leader Nepal directed his party cadres to be united to exert pressure to the current government for election urging them not to believe that the UCPN-Maoist would go for election in this situation. He urged the party cadres to foil the UCPN-Maoist's dream of ruling the nation for the next 40 years as it had claimed earlier. Former Prime Minister Nepal claimed that the nation would not get an outlet to the current political crisis without political leadership, adding that the Maoist proposal of making CJ-led government is likely to be rejected by the party itself. The UCPN-Maoist has been hatching conspiracies in fear of defeat in the elections, said Nepal. Nnnn GOVT. WILL BE REMOVED SOON SAYS UML’S OLI Kathmandu, 9 March: Senior leader of the CPN-UML, KP Sharma Oli, has expressed the confidence that the current government that has lost moral and constitutional grounds would be removed soon, RSS reports RSS from Biratnagar.. Talking to journalists at Biratnagar Airport, he said the talks among major four political powers today would forge political consensus. A chief justice-led election government would be formed and that it would have no political representatives, he said. UML leader Oli said the election was a must for democracy and independent judiciary, adding that the judiciary would not be independent in the absence of democracy. The major political parties that were for holding the election would go to election by convincing the fringe political parties, said UML leader Oli. nnnn FOOTBALL PLAYER OF YEAR TO BE ANNOUNCED BY ANFA 12 APRIL Kathmandu, 9 March: ANFA will select Football Player of the Year 12 April. The national football governing said this Saturday. All 23 members ol the have been selected for the award. nnnn