CPN MAOIST 151 MEMBER CENTRAL COMMITTEE Kathmandu, 12 April: A proposal for a 151-member central committee was registered at the central committee met of CPN Maoist Thursday. The move comes three months after the party’s general convention meeting. Nnnn HELICOPTER FOR HIGH ALTITUDE RESCUE OPERATIONS JOINS FISHTAIL AIR Kathmandu, 12 A AS350 helicopter has joined the fleet of Fishtail Air Thursday. The French manufactured chopper can fly up to height of 23.000 feet. The helicopter can be used in high altitude rescue operations. nnnn GERMAN CONCERNED WITH PROPOSED TRC Kathmandu, 12 April: A German parliamentary delegation visiting Nepal has expressed its concern about to-be-formed Truth and Reconciliation Commission, saying that it should be in line with international standards and that it should not possess any provision of amnesty to serious cases of human rights violations. “There should be no amnesty to rights violators,” said Michael Brand, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid in the German Parliament (Bundestag), adding, “TRC should be formed in line with international standards.” The European Union, former US President Jimmy Carter, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffery Feltman have already expressed their concerns in this regard. Brand was leading a four-member Bundestag delegation that arrived on April 8. The visit concluded today. The delegates had called on Foreign and Home Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire, Justice Minister Hari Prasad Neupane, Supreme Court Justice Kalyan Shrestha, representatives from trade unions, media, human rights community and political parties during their stay in Kathmandu. Brand, at a press meet today, stressed that victims should be involved in the process of formation of TRC. He expressed satisfaction on the Supreme Court’s decision to send back the TRC ordinance to the parties for necessary revision and hoped that the parties would do the needful. Referring to the lack of implementation of the Supreme Court’s verdicts, including human rights related issues, Brand said, “Non-implementation of the court order is a violation of the constitution.” The head of the team also shared that they had urged Minister Ghimire to consider safety measures, including the issue of providing identity cards to the Tibetan refugee community living in Nepal. “We have raised the issue with the government official, we believe our concern will be addressed,” Brand said. Saying that only elected representatives should hold the state-running power in democracy, Brand stressed on the need for an early replacement of the interim government through polls as early as possible in ‘free, equal and democratic manner’. Nnnn AIRBUS DEAL FINALIZED BY NATIONAL CARRIER Kathmandu, 12 April: The ailing national flag carrier will regain its lost glory as it will get two aircraft from Airbus by 2015 for international flights, according to minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation Ram Kumar Shrestha, The Himalayan Times reports.. Addressing the Nepal Airlines Corporation staff here today, he said that NAC will also get aircraft from China for domestic flights. “The process of getting aircraft from China has also been expedited,” he said, adding that with the new aircraft NAC will operate transparently in a competitive manner. After the corporation gets the Airbus aircraft, it will add destinations too, Shrestha said. “Until the corporation gets the new aircraft, it could get aircraft on lease to fly on international routes, apart from proper maintenance of the aircraft it has now.” General manager of NAC Madan Kharel, on the occasion, promised to improve the service quality of the national flag carrier. “NAC has already started talks with the Employees Provident Fund for loans to purchase Airbus aircraft,” he informed. NAC needs $150 million to purchase the two Airbus aircraft. It will send $500,000 as advance to Airbus tomorrow for two narrow-body A320-200 aircraft. NAC and European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, had signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last Friday, three years after the initial agreement. nnnn