THREE MAOIST COLONELS IN NEPAL ARMY Kathmandu, 16 March: Tam Bahadur Adhikari is being appointed colonel of Nepal Army. He was commander of the first Maoist first division of the 10-year insurgency. Padam Lama and Bashudev Ghimere are being appointed lt. colonels in the state army. , according to Barsha Man Pun. The ranks are the highest for former Maoists in the state army. Nnnn COL.KUMAR LAMA RELEASED IN UK Kathmandu, 16 March: Col. Kumar Nepal of Nepal Arm jailed two months and 10 days in a British jail was released Friday evening, Nabin Pokhrel writes in Kantpur from London.. Papers and bail were submitted for the release. Nnnn MAOIST CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETS 27 MARCH Kathmandu, 16 March: A central committee meeting of the UCPN Maoist postponed twice is being held 27 March. The meeting is beingheld for the first time after the 7th Hetauda general convention and ss country prepaes to go for the second constituent assembly elections. The central committee has to appoint 50 plus remaining committee members to complete body. nnnn. . INDIA UNILATERALLY DIGS DITCH, EMBANKMENT ALONG BORDER Kathmandu, 16 March:- India n authorities have dug a ditch and constructed an embankment along the Nepal- India border, local authorities said, Lama;{amthi writes in The Kathmandu Post from Bardiya.. Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Armed Police Force Rishidev Karki said the India n authorities have dug a two-metre deep ditch and also constructed a two-metre high embankment along nearly 40-kilometre stretch of the border from Jamuni to Rajapur in the district. India n officials said they dug the ditch and constructed embankment to control smuggling of wildlife and timber and prevent the movement of wildlife across the border. The embankment , however, is likely to cause inundation in the Nepali side during the monsoon season. The District Administration Office said India n authorities continued the construction work though they were asked to stop it. SP Karki said they have already informed the Nepal government and concerned India n authorities of the construction work on the no man's land. Dal Bahadur Magar of Jamuni said it is difficult even to mark the border line due to the dilapidated condition of border pillars and the construction of ditch and embankment . Krishna Pariyar of Dhodhari said India n forest officials are involved in the construction work. Earlier, India n security personnel had held four Nepali nationals for protesting against the India n authorities' acts. The Nepalis were later released at the initiative of Nepali security officials. Nnnn NEW CHINESE ENVOY SEEKS CONSILIDATION OF TIES Kathmandu, 16 March: Newly arrived Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Wu Chuntai , who has conducted a series of high-level meetings since presenting his Letter of Credence to President Ram Baran Yadav on Monday, has left an impression that China will be consolidating its relations with Nepal in a big way, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.. Although Cambridge alumnus Wu, 50, is on his first ambassadorial assignment, he has been busy throughout the week, meeting two foreign ministers--incumbent Madhav Ghimire on Friday and outgoing Narayan Kaji Shrestha on Monday--along with holding a number of meetings with top leaders of the major political parties. "The new Chinese ambassador was very active and articulate and assured me that he would try his best to take Nepal -China relations to a new height," former Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha told the Post after the meeting. On Friday, Wu also met with former prime minister and CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, including leadership changes in Nepal and China. Wu pitched high-level visits from both sides, assured more Chinese aid to Nepal and conveyed that the new Chinese leadership wants to share China's prosperity in its immediate neighbourhood. Wu reportedly told Khanal that China is ready to extend its railway to Nepal . "Upon meeting with the Chinese envoy, I think the Chinese are coming here in a big way to help Nepal and want to share the fruits of their prosperity with neighbouring countries," said Milan Tuladhar, a member of the UML's foreign department cell. Although the Chinese side has welcomed the recent political developments in Nepal , it is still worried about the prospect of stability and peace here, he said. While it is widely held that Chinese diplomats do not prefer to speak in English, the last two Chinese ambassador s have been fluent English speakers. Outgoing ambassador Yang Houlan and incumbent Wu are both comfortable in English, said officials. In his meeting with newly appointed Foreign Minister Ghimire, Wu vowed to strengthen bilateral relations and assured that China would extend all possible cooperation to Nepal . Addressing China's long-standing security concerns about the Tibetan refugee problem in Nepal , Ghimire requested that China not generalise problems given a few sporadic incidents. "We are committed to the one-China policy and will not let our grounds be used against our neighbours," assured Ghimire. According to sources, the new Chinese envoy also indicated that the incoming Chinese Foreign Minister, whose name will soon be announced in Beijing, is interested in visiting Nepal in the near future. nnnn MAOIST CHIEF ASKS PARTIES TO PREPARE FO POLLS Kathmandu, 116 March: : UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' Friday urged all political parties to prepare for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) election, The Rising Nepal reports.. Talking to the journalists at the party headquarters Parisdanda here, he said that the people’s rights would be ensured through the Constituent Assembly (CA) to be held by the interim election council under the chairmanship of Chief Justice (CJ) Khila Raj Regmi. “The CA election should be held within June 21 as per political consensus to establish people’s sovereignty,” said chairman Dahal, adding that his party had sacrificed to ascertain the supremacy of people by paving way for CA election. He said that all the political parties should head towards the polls following the successful month-long effort of political parties to form the CJ-led interim election council. Stating that the political parties had failed to secure adequate votes to promulgate new constitution in the previous CA election, the UCPN-Maoist chairman expressed his hope that the parties would be able to garner people’s trust in upcoming election. He also informed that the party’s central committee meeting would decide on new campaign to go for the polls. Chairman Dahal welcomed cadres of various parties of Humla district, who had left their respective parties to join the UCPN-Maoist, on the occasion. nnnn INFLATIOPN 10.1 PERCENT Kathmandu, 16 March:: The y-o-y consumer price inflation index climbed to double digits in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, The Rising Nepal reports.. The y-o-y consumer price inflation increased by 10.1 per cent in the seven months (Mid-February 2013) of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year. The y-o-y inflation had increased only by 7 per cent in Mid-February 2012. The index of food and beverage group increased by 10.7 per cent whereas non-food and services group increased by 9.6 per cent by mid–February 2013. According to the current macroeconomic situation published by Nepal Rastra Bank Friday, the price index of vegetables sub-group increased at the highest rate of 16.2 per cent during the review period compared to a decrease by 1.6 per cent in the corresponding month the previous year. The price indices of meat, fish, ghee and oil, which had increased by 4.6 per cent and 15.2 per cent in the corresponding month the previous year, went up by 14.4 per cent and 13.7 per cent respectively during the review period. Within the group of non-food and services, the price index of furnishing and household equipment increased by 12.9 per cent during the review period. The price indices of education and clothing and footwear sub-group increased by 12.5 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively. Region-wise, the price indices increased by 10.6 per cent in Terai followed by 10.2 per cent in Kathmandu valley and 9 per cent in hills. Similarly, the y-o-y wholesale price index increased by 9.5 per cent during the review period compared to a rise of 4.7 per cent in the corresponding month the previous year. Likewise, the y-o-y salary and wage rate index increased by 8 per cent during the review period compared to an increase of 30.1 per cent a year ago. The salary index remained unchanged during the review month. However, the wage rate index increased by 10 per cent in the seven months of the current fiscal year. The indices of wages of agricultural labourers, construction labourers and industrial labourers increased by 13.1 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively. nnnn