TWO KILLED IN ITAHARI ACCIDENT Kathmandu, 13 May: Two persons died and 13 were injured in a road accident on the East-West highway here at Haripur VDC on Monday night, RSS reports from Itahari. The deceased are Krishna Bahadur Limbu, 28, of Aangsarang VDC and a woman, whose name and address are yet to be verified. The accident took place when a bus (Na. 2 Kha. 7724) heading to east from west collided head on with a truck (Na. 2 Kha. 9779) coming from the opposite direction, said the District Police Office, Sunsari. The critically injured are being treated at Neuro Hospital in Biratnagar and those with minor injuries have returned home after receiving first aid treatment, said police. RSS Nnnn FIVE HAKE CURRENCY DEALERS ARRESTED Kathmandu, 13 May: Police have arrested five people including a policeman on the charge of dealing in fake Indian currency notes, RSS reports from Birgunj. Based on the statement of a man who had been arrested here with fake Indian currency notes a few days back, the District Police Office, Parsa detained police constable Rupesh Upadhyaya. His duty station was at the Narayani Zonal Police Office, Birgunj. Others arrested in the case are Anil Ojha, Sheikh Firoz Alam, Santosh Patel and an Indian national Kunal Srivastav, police said. Nnnn PRESIDENT’S POLITICAL ADVISOR RESIGNS Kathmandu, 13 May: Expressing serious reservations about the appointment of Lokman Singh Karki as the CIAA chief, the President’s Political Advisor Hari Sharma has tendered resignation, Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post. . The resignation came two days after President Ram Baran Yadav endorsed Karki’s controversial nomination made by the Constitutional Council despite public furore. Amid strong differences in the four major political forces and growing ‘external pressure,’ the President on Wednesday endorsed the nomination of Karki, the former chief secretary implicated by the Rayamajhi Commission for suppressing the April 2006 people’s movement. “A day before the appointment, there was an understanding at the President’s office that the nomination would be sent back to the government for a review. However, the President had to endorse the appointment following maneuverings at various political levels throughout Tuesday night,” a source at Sheetal Niwas said. “The President’s advisory group felt humiliated after he took the decision without further discussions,” the source added. Sharma, a Fulbright Scholar from Cornell University and an academician associated with the department of political science, had been serving as political advisor to President Yadav after the country became a republic in 2008. On Thursday, he called on the President and informed him of his plan to resign. In response, President Yadav told him that there is no provision for his advisors to step down. Sharma, who filed his resignation at the President’s Secretariat on Friday, is scheduled to leave for the US on Sunday night to attend the graduation ceremony of his daughter. “The resignation is yet to be approved,” the source said. It is learnt that two other advisors—Legal Advisor Surya Dhungel and Press Advisor Rajendra Dahal —are also ‘dissatisfied’ with the President’s move to backtrack on the plan to put on hold Karki’s appointment. A political source told the Post that President Yadav’s advisory board played a key role in convincing the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML leadership that Karki’s appointment could derail plans to hold elections in November. After informal talks with the President, the UML is learnt to have submitted a petition, urging the head of state to not appoint Karki. “The letter was sent after a strong indication that the President would halt the appointment,” a source told the Post. “Unfortunately, the President was forced to take a wrong decision.” It is learnt that both Dhungel and Dahal are ‘frustrated’ over the appointment and are not in a mood to continue with their advisory role. “They have not taken any decision yet, as they are cautious that it could raise questions against the honoured institution of the presidency,” the Sheetal Niwas source said. When contacted for a comment, President Yadav’s Press Advisor Dahal said he was attending a personal programme in Palpa and that he was not aware of any such developments in Kathmandu. nnnn