MAOIST CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETS MONDAY Kathmandu, 25 March: Maoist central committee meting that was earlier adjourned because of inadequate homework meets MOndau. The party will discuss elections, appointment of 53 central committee Members. Appointments to politburo, standing committee and other issues are also being discussed. nnnn, MINIMUM TEMPERATURE MONDAY 13 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, 25 March: Capital’s minimum temperature at eight in the morning Monday was 13 degrees Celsius. Mercury is expected to rise to 29 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. nnnn RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ARMY PROMOTIONS AT DEFENCE MINISTRY Kathmandu, 25 March: The Nepal Army (NA) leadership has decided to go ahead with recommending 16 lieutenant colonels for promotions to the Cabinet, effectively turning down complaints from competing Army officials to put the promotions on hold, Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post. . Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Gen Gaurav SJB Rana forwarded the promotion request to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Friday, according to government officials. The move follows a lawsuit filed last Sunday at the Supreme Court by dissenting lieutenant colonels demanding the annulment of the proposed promotions. Nine officers also filed a complaint against the nominations at Army headquarters, demanding a revision of the nominations made by a promotion board headed by Lt Gen Nepal Bhusan Chand on February 21. “There is no legal obstacle to endorse the promotions as the court has not said anything so far. We will forward the request to the Cabinet by following due process,” said an Army official. The apex court has yet to begin a hearing over the case filed by eight contending officers against both the government and the Army leadership on March 18. The case was to be presented before Justice Sushila Karki on Sunday. However, the hearing could not commence due to time constraints as the writ was placed in the 16th position. The defendants in the case include the Prime Minister’s Office and the Council of Ministers, the MoD, Army HQ, the promotion board headed by Lt Gen Chand and the 16 officers nominated for promotions. The officers who moved the court are preparing to register a plea demanding an early hearing. “We are aware of the fact that the judiciary may or may not consider our demands positively. However, we want the case to be heard because we have taken a great risk by challenging the unfair promotion decision taken by the leadership,” said one of the plaintiffs. The disgruntled officers have objected to the fast-track promotion system introduced through the Army Service Regulation 2013, arguing that it is “arbitrary, artificial and bypasses merit-based promotions.” They have demanded that the Army scrap the current nominations and continue with the old policy of awarding promotions based on seniority and training. The new policy has provisions for classifying officers into ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ and ‘good’ categories and awarding promotions based on their job appraisal scores. The dissenting officers termed the classifications “unreasonable” and claimed that their job appraisal scores were manipulated. Constitutional lawyer Bhimarjun Acharya, former Nepal Bar Association President Shambhu Thapa and former Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subas Nembang are preparing to plead on behalf of the eight officers. The NA leadership is learnt to have approached lawyers Balkrishna Neupane and Sushil Panta for their defence. An Army source said that seven candidates recommended from the 26th basics will retire if they are not promoted by April 6. The current promotion is to fill in vacancies for the posts of colonels created after the government’s decision in January to set up a general directorate for the integration of ex-Maoist combatants. Nnnn NEPAL TIP-OFF HAILED Kathmandu, 25 March: Former Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) member Liyaqat Ali Shah’s arrest is a result of consistent cooperation India has been getting from neighbouring Nepal , The Times of India reported, The Kathmandu Post writes. The Delhi Police were able to arrest him on the basis of inputs that the India n agencies got from its Nepal i counterparts the moment he passed through the immigration at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). Though both the countries have been closely working and sharing terror-related information post IC-814 hijacking, according to the India n daily, India of late got certain specific inputs from Nepal about movements of suspected individuals who landed at the TIA either from Pakistan, Bangladesh or any of West Asian nations. “Exchange of real time information could be possible only after Nepal had last year modernised its immigration facilities and strengthened its entire security apparatus at Kathmandu inter-national airport”, the daily quoted an official as saying. New Delhi had requested Kathmandu late last year to specifically keep tabs on certain movements as several former Jammu & Kashmir militants tried to enter India via Nepal . The newspaper carried on its website that the issue, pertaining the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI’s role in pushing terrorists to India through Nepal , was specifically discussed during a meeting of the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Armed Police Force of Nepal (NAPF) last December. SSB officials told its Nepal i counterparts that there were credible inputs about militant outfits such as HM trying to push subversive elements in the guise of former militants via Nepal and unless proper screening and scrutiny of those arriving in the Himalayan nation from Pakistan, Dubai or certain other places was done, it could spell trouble for India . “ India had asked Nepal to step up vigilance on the border and strengthen intelligence network particularly at Bhairahawa-Sunauli and Birgunj-Raxaul borders”, said the official. The Nepal i delegation was also given details of how ISI and terror groups backed by it had established significant network on its soil, HuM, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) were using it to launch terror modules in India . Sources said that HM had even started forging India n passports to push militants into the country. The issue is also regularly discussed between home secretary-level talks of the two countries. Nnnn Kathmandu, 25 March: Madesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal chairman Upendra Yadav Sunday accused the President of taking unconstitutional and undemocratic moves in the names of removing legal hurdles against the elections, The Rising Nepal reports.. Speaking at press meet organized by MJF-N district working committee of Saptari, Yadav termed the high level political committee a team of conspirators. Yadav warned of moving forward with powerful people's movement if present mistakes were not corrected. “It is bad that Madeshi Morcha is being a part of political syndicate. The president forwarded step in collaboration with three party syndicate. This will not give way out to the country's crisis,” he said. The MJFN chairman claimed the 25 point agreement made by the four major parties was a fake document. "The provision of hurdle removal as enshrined in the interim constitution and as presently exercised by the President has robbed the Madeshi, Dalit, Aadiwasi, Janajati’s of their right for proportionate participation in the state. So we need its correction”, said Yadav. He viewed it would minimize representation of Madesi, Aadiwasi, Dalit, Janajati’s in the upcoming constituent assembly if current decision to minimize the number of proportional electoral system or representation was kept unchanged. Yadav demanded re-demarcation of election constituency based on population. He claimed upcoming election will not be fair as one people hold post of prime minister and chief justice. Yadav questioned that how recent agreement would be national consensus as 33 parties were against it. nnnn