FIRE DAMAGES KULEKHANI TRANSFORMERS Kathmandu, 17 April: Power generation at Kulekhani Hydropower Project- II at Bhainse VDC-1, Makawanpur district, has been disrupted since Tuesday night after three transformers there were damaged by a fire that broke out at 11.45 p.m. on Tuesday, RSS reports from Hetauda... The fire also damaged property worth 250 million rupees, besides leading to disruption in the generation of 32 Megawatt electricity, said Sarada Bikaram Malla, Administrative Officer at the Kulekhani Hydropower Project –II. The details on the damage caused by the fire would be available after an investigation committee constituted for that purpose submits its report, it is stated. Personnel of the Nepalese Army and Nepal Police and locals put off the fire after nearly two hours with the help of fire engines brought from Chitwan, Birgunj and Hetauda. Nnnn DANG WOMAN KILLED BY LIGHTNING A woman died after lightning struck her house at Hekuli VDC-1 in Dang district on Wednesday morning. Sunita Chaudhary, 23, was killed when lightning occurred at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday. The house also suffered some minor damage due to the thunderbolt. A sheep was also killed in the incident. RSS nnnn PRESIDENTIAL BID TO BRING CPN MAOIST INTO MAINSTREAM Kathmandu, 17 April: President Ram Baran Yadav has reached out to leaders of the CPN-Maoist in an attempt to persuade them to take part in Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post.. The head of state recently initiated informal talks with the party leaders. The CPN-M has opposed the formation of the chief justice-led election government and has threatened to disrupt elections. “The President has initiated informal talks with a motive to contribute in the election process,” a source said, adding that a few meetings between the two sides have already taken place. President Yadav is learnt to have deputed his aide to hold talks with CPN-M Chairman Mohan Baidya and has personally held talks with the party’s Vice-chairman CP Gajurel and Secretary Dev Gurung, among others. CPN-M Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal admitted that the party leaders were ‘in informal communications with the President’ and that they had put forth the party’s list of demands before the President. The party has demanded that the 11-point agreement that led to the formation of the interim government and the 25-point amendment to the Interim Constitution agreed on March 11 be scrapped and a partisan government be formed. Meanwhile, a three-member talks team led by Home Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire on Tuesday dispatched a letter, calling on the CPN-M and other agitating parties to sit for talks. Letters have also been sent to the Upendra Yadav-led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal and the Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party, among other fringe parties. “We have informed the agitating parties of the formation of the talks team and have appealed to them to come for dialogue to ensure Constituent Assembly elections,” said Government Spokesman and Minister for Information and Communications Madhav Prasad Poudel. CPN-M Spokesperson Bhusal said the party was yet to receive the letter. She added that it will not hold talks with the government unless there is an assurance that the March-11 decision will be ‘corrected.’ All stakeholders are closely following the strategy of the CPN-M as the government and the major parties have committed to hold the elections before mid-December. A section of such observers claims that the party will adhere to radical lines by not participating in the elections, while some believe that the party may fight the elections to contest with its mother party, the UCPN (Maoist). Insiders in the CPN-M maintain that a major block led by Secretary Netra Bikram Chand is against participating in the elections. It stresses on the need for another armed struggle. Bhusal, however, said the party will go to the polls if the preconditions it has set are met. The party would not have set the preconditions to scrapping the ‘unconstitutional decision’ to form the interim government if it was against the elections, she said. “We have not decided to boycott the elections. We are ready to face the people.” Nnnn BHATTARAI CLAIM Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has made public his version of the truth behind the Constituent Assembly dissolution through his Twitter account. Bhattarai, the vice-chairman of the UCPN (Maoist), accused leaders of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML as well as the Supreme Court for the CA dissolution on May 27, 2012 without promulgating a new constitution. His statement comes at a time when NC and UML leaders are saying that Bhattarai dissolved the CA. The UCPN (M) put forth 11-point turn of events that happed just before the CA demise. “On May 27 afternoon, the leaders had left Baluwatar to continue the meeting at the parliament in Baneshwor. However, the opposition leaders changed the venue to Singha Durbar,” wrote Bhattarai. Saying that he was also ready to declare a state of emergency to extend the CA deadline, Bhattarai said nobody supported him except UCPN (Maoist) leaders and NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba. That ended the possibility of a CA extension, said Bhattarai, adding that he had even requested the then Speaker Subash Chandra Nembang to hold the CA sessions regularly for a few days, but to no avail. Bhattarai has said that fresh CA election was announced after holding discussions with experts as no polls means no possibility of a new constitution. nnnn