NEPAL PLAYS AFGHANISTAN IN ACC TWENTY20 CUP Kathmandu, 3 April: Nepal, plays Afghanistan in the final of the ACC Twenty20 Cup in the Nepali capital Wednesday. Hong Kong and UAE also play at another ground to determine third place. Nepal is playing for the first time in the final of the ACC Twnety20 Cup and and has lost to Afghanistan in three meetings. Nepal has an advantage playing on home ground. Twenty thousand fans, including former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattara lustily cheered in a semi-final match against UAE Tuesday. nnnn NC CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETS WEDNESDAY Kathmandu, 3 April: A Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of Nepali Congress planned for Wednesday has the upcoming Constituent Assembly election as the top agenda of discussion, The Rising Nepal reports.. At the meeting vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel and general secretary Krishna Sitoula will present their political and statue amendment proposal respectively that for the party’s upcoming general-committee meeting. NC spokesperson Dilendra Badu said at the meeting will approve both proposals after needed discussion. He informed the meeting will dwell on federalism, form of governance, inclusiveness and other current political issues as these issues will be the agenda of the party’s upcoming general-committee meeting. “We will be clear how to deal these issues with people on upcoming election” he said. The meeting will continue for three days. Earlier, the party decided to hold its general-committee meeting in Nawalparasi. NC Nawalparasi chairman Debendra Raj Kandel said they suggested going direction election of party district chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. He informed necessary preparation is being speedily for general meeting. At the general-committee meeting altogether one thousand and five hundrded representatives will participate. 0Note: An informal meting of party leaders in which President Sushil Koirala was present Tuesday also decided to press government not take decisions that will have long-term impact. Koirala ill have to face young Turks is the committee demanding resignation of Government Chief Khil Raj Regmi as supreme court—the first time in Nepali history government and judicial chiefs are the same person. Senior advocate Bhimajun Aharya said Tuesday over Nepal Television the situation has adversely affected the working of the apex court as lawyers find it difficult to register writs challenging government decisions and in which the Regmi is a defendant. The central committee will also discuss the now unlikely secnd constituent assembly elections in June.) nnnn NEPAL POLICE, APF DISCUSSING POLL SECURITY, Kathmandu, 3 April: At a time when the government was gearing up for the new election of the Constituent Assembly (CA), two security bodies --Nepal Police and Armed Police Force (APF) --- have been preparing themselves for the same to manage effective security measures and strategies during pre and post elections Time, Purushottam Khatry writes in The Rising Nepal.. For the preparation and doing necessary homework, both the security bodies under the command of the chiefs of Operation Departments (ODs) at Nepal Police and APF have been busy in adopting and drafting necessary planning and strategies. The two security bodies intensified their security preparation, after Interim Election Chairman Khil Raj Regmi last Thursday held separate discussions with the heads of both the security bodies by visiting the NPHQ and APF headquarters. Coinciding to the election’s security measures, Home Minister and Foreign Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire also visited APF Headquarters’, Halchowk four days ago and Nepal Police two days after his appointment as Home Minister. During the inspection at APF Headquarters, Home Minister Ghimire had also directed APF officers and other high ranking officers to focus their concern now completely on the election’s security. Following the inspections from the Home Minister in both security bodies, Nepal Police Headquarters,’ has formed Election Security Mobilization Committee under the coordination of AIG Puskar Nath Regmi. According to Deputy Inspector General and spokesperson of Nepal Police, Keshav Adhikari, other members of the Election Security Mobilization Committee of Nepal Police include DIG Ganesh Raj Rai and SSP Madhav Nepal and other senior officers. DIG Adhikari said that the members of the security mobilization committee have directed concerned regional, zonal and district police offices chiefs for preparing suggestions for drafting security strategy prior to the announcement of the date for CA election. Adhikari said that security personnel would be deployed in three phases – first before the election time, security until the ballot boxes and ballot papers reached to concerned constituencies, and during the election time. DIG Adhikari said that especial security attention would be given to control any untoward from any group, individual, under ground armed outfit in Terai region, and incidents of election irregularities that may commit under the political cover and any reason. Similarly, in APF Headquarters, it has formed separate ‘election cell’ under the coordination of AIG Rishav Dev Bhattarai. DIG and spokesperson of APF Narayan Babu Thapa said that owing to security concern before and after the election, they have been consulting to set up election cells in each unit offices, regional, battalion, company and border security offices. Thapa said that the APF manpower that will deploy during the election would help the government to conduct the election in free, independent and fair manner at any cost of circumstances. Regional and district-level formed election cells of APF will work and act accordingly as per direction and suggestion flared from the central election cell located at APF Headquarters under the command of AIG Bhattarai. Currently, the APF has its 33,000 manpower, while, Nepal Police has over 61,000 manpower in its organization. nnnn