UPDATE PRACHANDA RETURNS TUESDAY Kathmandu, 27 April: Maoist Chief Prachanda concludes his India visit and returns home Tuesday. His major meetings with Indian leaders are scheduled for Sunday/Monday. Prachanda briefed Chairman of the Interim Election Council overnight on his India visit. nnnn BIG FOUR DIVIDED AGAIN Kathmaandu, 27 April: Although four major political forces had earlier settled some election-related issues like forming 491-member Constituent Assembly and keeping one per cent threshold for proportional representation, both issues have surfaced Againm pRakash Acharya writes in The Himalayan Times.. After the agitating parties and different rights groups put pressure on the government to maintain the old 601-member CA and remove the threshold system, the four major forces are divided again. The Unified CPN-Maoist and United Democratic Madhesi Front are lobbying for retaining the 601-member CA and removing threshold system, whereas Nepali Congress and CPN-UML are against the idea, sources said after a meeting between the Chairman of the interim election government Khil Raj Regmi and members of High Level Political Committee this evening. NC and UML leaders, according to sources, pressed for 491-member CA and one per cent threshold system, which were agreed upon by HLPC. UCPN-M and UDMF pressed for removing the provision of candidates’ criteria such as ‘one must not have criminal cases to become a candidate for CA’ and demanded flexibility, sources said. The announcement of poll date now depends on when the parties can settle these two issues. “The poll date is not likely to be announced at least in Baishakh (by May 14) as parties are yet to settle the contentious issues, and they want the announcement of the poll date only after agreeing on the issues,” said a leader after the meeting. “Whether to accept 601-member CA and threshold system is the bone of contention now. We discussed these issues today but are yet to reach a deal,” said Tarai Madhes Democratic Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur. Nnnn NRB HIKES CAPITAL CHARGES FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO MITIGATE OPERATIONAL RISKS Kathmandu, 28 April: The central bank has hiked the capital charge of banks and financial institutions to mitigate growing operational risks, The Himalayan Times reports.. As most banks and financial institutions have been exposed to operational risks lately, the additional capital charge will help mitigate the risk, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said today. Updating the supervisory adjustments in risk weighted assets and capital of Capital Adequacy Framework, 2007, under the unified directives of banks and financial institutions, Nepal Rastra Bank said that if banks do not adopt sound practices to manage operational risks, they shall be levied an additional capital charge of two per cent to five per cent of gross income of the immediate previous financial year for operational risks. Operational risk losses have often led to the downfall of financial institutions globally also. According to Basel II, operational risk is the risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems, or from external events. Likewise, the central bank has asked class ‘B’ and ‘C’ financial institutions to also increase their risk weighted assets to mitigate operational risks in a phasewise manner. Development banks and finance companies have to add two per cent by the end of the current fiscal year 2012-13, four per cent by the end of next fiscal year 2013-14, and five per cent by the end of fiscal year 2014-15, additional capital charge in their risk weighted assets. Lately, banks and financial institutions have been undergoing a sea change and facing an environment marked by growing consolidation, rising customer expectations, increasing regulatory requirements, proliferating financial engineering, enhanced technological innovation and mounting competition, which has also increased the probability of failures or mistakes from the operations point of view, resulting in increased focus on managing operational risks. A key component of risk management is measuring the size and scope of the firm’s risk exposures, though there is no clearly established, single way to measure operational risk on a firm-wide basis. But the central bank’s move could help banks and financial institutions adopt sound practices to manage operational risks. Nnnn FORMER CA MEMBER KARIMA BEGUM FREED ON BAIL Kathmandu, 27 Apil: Former Constituent Assembly member Karima Begam, who was charged of helping an Indian national to procure a Nepali citizenship certificate, has been freed on bail by the district court of Parsa, The Himalayan Times reports from Birgunj. . A single bench of Judge Baidhyanath Gupta yesterday decided to set Begam free on normal date on a bail amount of Rs 15,000. The case was filed by advocate Dinanath Sah against Begam. According to the court registrar Khadgaraj Adhikari, the court has also ordered to free two other defendants Hiralal Giri and Manjur Ansari of Birjung on a normal date by accepting the bail of Rs 10,000 each. Begam was elected from Parsa constituency number-1 representing the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal in the Constituent Assembly polls. Earlier, advocate Sah had filed a case against 20 persons including Begam accusing them of recommending a non-Nepali citizen for a Nepali citizenship. The case has cited the help of Begam and others for a 41-year-old Ram Kumari Devi, daughter of Charan Prasad Yadav of Harapatagunj, Birgunj, who had already got a citizenship card as an Indian citizen following her marriage in India. Nnnn ituent Assembly member Karima Begam, who was charged of helping an Indian national to procure a Nepali citizenship certificate, has been freed on bail by the district court of Parsa. A single bench of Judge Baidhyanath Gupta yesterday decided to set Begam free on normal date on a bail amount of Rs 15,000. The case was filed by advocate Dinanath Sah against Begam. According to the court registrar Khadgaraj Adhikari, the court has also ordered to free two other defendants Hiralal Giri and Manjur Ansari of Birjung on a normal date by accepting the bail of Rs 10,000 each. Begam was elected from Parsa constituency number-1 representing the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal in the Constituent Assembly polls. Earlier, advocate Sah had filed a case against 20 persons including Begam accusing them of recommending a non-Nepali citizen for a Nepali citizenship. The case has cited the help of Begam and others for a 41-year-old Ram Kumari Devi, daughter of Charan Prasad Yadav of Harapatagunj, Birgunj, who had already got a citizenship card as an Indian citizen following her marriage in India. Nnnn UN OPPOSES AMNESTY FOR WAR CRIMES Kathmandu, 27 April: Nepal risks more bloodshed in the future if a planned panel set up to investigate crimes committed during a decade-long civil war is given the power to offer amnesty, a senior official from the UN human rights agency said today, Reuters reports from the Nepali capital.. Sabina Lauber, in charge of Nepal at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said giving amnesty to anyone guilty of serious crimes runs counter to Nepal’s obligations to humanitarian law and would deny victims their right to justice. “Nepal has an obligation to investigate the truth and prosecute those responsible for grave human rights violations,” Lauber, on a visit to Nepal, said. “Amnesty prevents genuine peace and risks new conflict,” she said after a meeting with conflict victims and human rights workers in Kathmandu. “Victims don’t forget these crimes,” she added. The main political parties, including Maoist former rebels, finalised an order last month to set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as part of a Comprehensive Peace Accord aimed at healing wounds left by the war. As part of a deal, they included a clause allowing the panel to grant amnesty in some cases. Victim groups fear the vague wording is designed to let powerful rights abusers off the hook, possibly even those guilty of serious abuses. Both the security forces and the Maoists have been accused of human rights violations, including unlawful killings, torture and rape during the conflict in which more than 16,000 were killed, hundreds disappeared and thousands injured. nnnn