NEPAL IS PLAYING MALAYSIA Kathmandu, 26 March: Nepal is playing Malaysia Tuesday at Kirtipur morning in the ACC T20 World Cup in the capital to qualify for the World Cup. For the first time tickets have been sold to watch cricket matches. MORE HOLI BEING CELEBRATED Kathmandu, 26 March: Revelers started plying with colours since early Tuesday marking holi in the Valley and hill districts. Traders in colour and revelers said celebrations are subdued compared to previous years. Additional police ad special teams have been deployed in the capital irge restrained celebrations. People are on the streets plastering each other with colour and lola missiles with coloured water is being thrown fromfoortops. Health workers have warned people with allergies and skin diseases to stay away from celebrations. Holi will be celebrated in the terai Wednesday. nnnn . CAPITAL’S TUESDAY MORNING’S MINIMUM TEMPERATURE 12 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, 26 March: Tuesday morning’s temperature at eight was 12 degrees Celsius. Mercury is expected to rise to 32 degrees Celsius on a cloudy day. nnnn UCPN MAOIST ACCEPTS PARTY CHIEF’S SUGGESTION FOR EXPANDED BODY Kathmandu, 26 March: Top UCPN (Maoist) leaders´ plan to give full shape to the party´s central committee (CC) has been foiled as the elected CC members have rejected outright a list of proposed new Members, Kiran Pun writes in Republic.. With this refusal, UCPN(Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other top leaders have faced a serious blow at the first-ever central committee meeting convened after the party´s general convention held in Hetauda earlier this year. The chairman proposed a 399-member central committee and he presented the meeting a list of 364 members for the central body. "But our friends rejected it outright, saying it isn´t inclusive, seemed to be prepared randomly and various deserving leaders were not included," CC member Bishwabhakta Dulal told Republica. An office bearers´ meeting prepared the list through an understanding among the party´s key leaders including Dahal and Vice-chairmen duo Baburam Bhattarai and Narayankaji Shrestha, who lead parallel factions within the party. The list of proposed names for the nominated members increased significantly as they wanted to patch up factional feuds by accommodating aspirants from all three groups. The proposed committee turned into a jumbo body as accommodating the factional groups was a tough job for the leaders, with some other key leaders running factions within factions. With 98 members nominated and endorsed by the general convention in Hetauda, it was decided to give full shape to the 151-member central committee by nominating 53 more members later. Central committee members, while participating in the deliberations, accused the top leaders of selecting proposed members who are near and dear to themselves. They also criticized some senior leaders for occupying their positions even though they are too old to play an active role in the party and have already held those same positions for years. They demanded that young and active leaders be promoted to the central body. The top leaders, while preparing the 364-member list, decided to convert all the 240 members in the general convention organizing committee into central committee members. Though the general convention mandated the central committee to nominate only 53 new members, the leaders decided to extend the list to 399 with the addition of other leaders as alternative central committee members. They resorted to adding 248 alternative members in a bid strike a balance among the factional groups, as the party statute is silent on the number of alternative members. With strong objections from central committee members, the next round meeting has been called for March 30 but leaders privy to intra-party feuding believe that the upcoming meeting is not going to be decisive either. After reading the mood of central committee members on Monday, the top leaders now plan to give full shape to the body phase-wise and not at one go so that they can include members only after studying members´ reactions. "Both central committee members and alternative members will be nominated in several phases because it has become clear that the leaders can´t manage the reactions if it is done at one go," said a leader. The leaders are yet to form the party´s separate standing committee and politburo. Given the controversy over giving full shape to the central committee, it is certain that the formation of the two top bodies is going to be further deferred as Dahal wants to form these bodies only after giving full shape to the central committee. Nnnn BOYCOTT OF TRC BY ACCOUNTABILITY WATCH COMMITTEE Kathmandu, 26 March : Taking strong exception to some of the controversial provisions in the recently endorsed ordinance on Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the Accountability Watch Committee (AWC) on Monday announced not to recognize the proposed TRC, Republica reports . Organizing a press conference to present their 11-point position paper on the proposed TRC, AWC President Sushil Pyakurel alleged that the provisions incorporated in the TRC ordinance, which was made a part of the "opaque political deal", aim at granting general amnesty even to those involved in serious cases of human rights violations during the Maoist conflict. “Our meeting held yesterday [Sunday] has decided not to accept the proposed TRC and boycott all its processes,” he said. The four major political forces -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) -- had not involved victim parties while inking a deal on the TRC. Pyakurel said the decision to boycott all the processes of the proposed TRC was made after holding consultations with the victims of both the state and the Maoist rebels during the insurgency. “We had recognized the TRC bill presented in the erstwhile parliament as a workable document. But after the dissolution of parliament, the Baburam Bhattarai-led government included both the TRC bill and the Disappearance Commission bill in a single ordinance with a provision to grant general amnesty,” Pyakurel said. AWC said the TRC being formed without holding consultations with victim parties, concerned stakeholders, and even the National Human Rights Commission, has many controversial provisions that go against the spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Accord and the Interim Constitution and the basic principles of international laws and international humanitarian laws despite its optimistic preamble. The TRC is empowered to facilitate reconciliation in the application of either the "perpetrator" or the "victim" and also recommend amnesty to even those involved in cases of serious human rights violations. Likewise, the TRC is made to work under the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, instead of making it directly answerable to the government or the president. AWC has concluded that the three different layers created in the TRC for prosecuting perpetrators -- first at TRC, then at the peace ministry and then finally at the Office of Attorney General -- is aimed at denying justice to the conflict victims. Also, use of wording such as the commission "may", instead of "must", seek the consent of the victims prior to making reconciliation has given rise to the possibility of denying justice to the victim concerned. Also addressing the press meet, transitional justice lawyer Gobinda Bandi said who is also a member of AWC, said those involved in cases of serious human rights violations cannot be given amnesty. nnnn