UPDATE MALAYSIA DEEATS NEPAL IN ACC ELITE CUP CRICKET Kathmandu, 11 May: Malaysia defeated Nepal Saturday my six wickets in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup in Malaysia. Nepal was vying for third place and had beated the home side in a previou match in the tournament. MORE STUDENTS WITHDRAW SUNDAY’S NEPAL BANDH Kathmandu, 11 May: Thirteen student organizations affiliated with political parties withdrew Sunday’s Nepal bandh. Their meeting Saturday concluded general public will be inconvenienced while saying other forms of protests will continue. The students are protesting Lokman Singh Karki’s appointment as CIAA chief calling him ‘controversial’. nnnn .POLICE FORCIBLY BREAK FAST BY SADBHAVANA LEADERS Kathmandu, 11 May: Amid a brawl between police and activists, police intervened Saturday to force two top leaders of Nepal Sadbhavana Party Santosh Mehata and Devram Mahoto to end their 10-day indefinite fast in Inaruwa. They were demanding in a 10-point demand, date for elections. The leaders whose health deteriorated because of the indefinite fast were being taken to a hospital to Dharan. Nnnn RPP-NEPAL SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN FOR HINDU STATE Kathmandu, 11 May: A campaign was conducted Saturday at Kalamki in the capital to collect signatures for a Hindu state and constitutional monarchy. The drive is part of a nation-wide campaign of the party. “There are Christiin, Islamic and Buddhist states. Why not a Hindu state for state for national identify,” asked a supporter iver Avenues Television. nnnn 55 POLICE SUB-INSPECTORS PROMOTED Kathmandu, 11 May: Five-five Nepal Police sub-inspectors were promoted to inspectors this week. Police headquarters promoted the officers Thursday. nnnn NEFIN NATIONAL MEET BEGINS IN CHITWAN Kathmandu, 11 May: A three day eighth national conference of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) begins in Chirwan Saturday –the first time the meeting of 500 delegates is being conducted outside the capital. Election of new office bearers is one agenda. The meeting is important with calls for a federal structure and calls for rights of nationalities. The current chief of the body of Raj Kumar Lekhi. The body was dragged into controversy with revelation its activities and politics were funded by Britain’s DFID. NEFIN said Maoist Chairman Prachandaa, NC President Sushil Koirala, UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and Madesh Morcha Chief Bijaya Kumar Gachehdhar are unwelcome at the meet. Vice-president Parmananda Jha didn’t inaugurate the conference as announced. Nnnn PRACHANDA IN POKHARA Kathmandu, 11 May: Maoist Chairman Prachanda arrived in Pokhara for a two-day stay. He’s preparing his political and organization reports for a central committee meet, a Maoist leader said. nnnn.. SWISS OFFICIAL ARRIVING MONDAY Kathmandu, 11 May: Switzerland is a neutral European country that is not even a member of the United Nations explaining membership of the UN body will compromise its official neutral policy and politics. But its government and agencies are deeply involved in Nepal’s internal politics. Senior Swiss official ad Assistant State Secretary Beat Nobs for relations with Asia and the pacific arrives Monday for high-level three-dau discussions with government and party leaders. He arrives at a time when the country is passing through a difficult period as firm dates haven’t been fixed for proposed second constituent assembly elections November/December After earlier commendable work building bridges linking remote hill Districts and transferring kh0owhow to manufacture cheese, Switzerland has been dragged into controversy with its interference in internal politics in Nepal nore recently. Nnnn CHARIOT OF RATO MACHINDRANATH BEING TOWED FROM MONDAY Kathmandu, 11 May: The chariot of Rato Machindranath is being towed for its long journey to Jawalakhel through Patan from Pulchowk begins Monday. On the first day, the chariot with the idol of the god of rain will be pulled to Gabahal after installation if the idol in the chariot Friday. The festival or jatra is the country’s longest to invoke rain for a good paddy crop with timely monsoon. nnnn. . KMC GETS NEW CHIEF Kathmandu, 11 May: Kathmandu Municipal Corporation (KMC) has a new chief. Lasman Adhikari succeeds Kedar Bahadur Adhikari wyo has been transfered Ministry of Health and Population. Aryal is a joint secretary transferred to KMC from the National Planning Commission. Nnnn NEPAL PLAYS MALAYSIA FOR THIRD PLACE IN ACC U-19 ELITE CUP Kathmandu, 11 May: Nepal plays Malaysia for third place Saturday in the ACC U-19 Elite cup on KuaLa Lumpur Saturday. Afghanistan and UAE meet in the final Saturday. nnnn STUDENT ELECTION 6 JUNE Kathmandu, 11 May: Tribhuvan University (TU ) is conducting elections for free student unions in campuses under Tribhuvan University (TU 6 June. . Elections held once every two years are being conducted after four years. a voters’ list in being published 24 May, Complaints against candidates can by filed until 31 May. Nnnn FOUR NEPALI TABLE TENNIS PLAYERS DENIED FRENCH VISAS TO PLAY IN PARIS DURING WORLD TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP Kathmandu. 11 May: Ajay Suwal and Nabita Shrestha left Friday for France to participate in the World Table Tennis Championship in Paris. They will participate men’s and women’s singles and mixed doubles. They are members of a six-member team. But the Himalayan Times said four other players and a manager were denied French visas. Nnnn ASHOK SHARMA Kathmandu, 11 May: Ashok Sharma has been nominated .chairman of the advisory committee of the Film Development Board. Sharma is actor, producer and director. nnnn AMBASSSADOR SHARMA SAYS QATAR WHERE HE’S ACCREDITED IS AN OPEN JAIL Kathmandu, 11 May: Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sought clarification from Ambassador to Qatar Maya Kumari Sharma about her recent remark thatQatar is an “open jail” for migrant workers. Sharma— appointed ambassador from UCPN-Maoist quota during Baburam Bhattarai-led government— had said in a recent interview with BBC’s Sajha Sawal that Qatar was like an “open jail”, given the difficulties faced by foreign migrant workers in the tiny Gulf state, The Himalayan Times reports. “We have asked Ambassador Sharma to furnish why she made such a comment on the land where she has been serving as Nepal’s envoy,” said Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Spokesperson for the MoFA. Sharma is yet to furnish her clarification. Nnnn UML OPTS FOR DIRECTLY ELECTED PM Kathmandu, 11 May:: The central committee meeting of the CPN-UML concluded today endorsing the party’s previous stance that prime minister should be elected directly by people while ceremonial president should be elected by the Parliament. Both are the party’s stands taken four years ago, The Himalayan Times reports.. On the issue of federalism, the party has proposed seven federal units (three in Tarai-Madhes and four in hill and mountains) on multi-ethnicity basis. Jagannath Khatiwoda, one of the central committee members, said that those issues would be taken to the people during the upcoming Constituent Assembly elections. The party has also stressed that there must be a local government even in the federal structure. A panel led by Netra Panthi presented a preliminary draft on local governance, the details of which will be discussed in the next central committee meeting. The meeting endorsed party chairman Jhala Nath Khanal’s political report with suggestions. Khanal, according to Khatiwoda, admitted his mistake by agreeing on appointing former chief secretary Lokman Singh Karki as chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. At the end of the meeting, the central committee decided to hold the National Representatives Council meeting on June 18-19 in the Capital where the party would finalise its election agenda. A five-member panel has also been formed under the leadership of party secretary Shankar Pokharel to supervise the Free Students’ Union election, the date of which is yet to be announced. Keeping in mind the upcoming CA elections, the party has decided to launch a monthlong nationwide campaign to generate wave in favour of the party’s agenda on forms of governance and federalism. But the party could not discuss the two proposals, presented by CC member Ghanashyam Bhusal on “theoretical issues” and Jagannath Khatiwoda on “safeguarding nationalism and national interests”. Khatiwoda said both the proposals would be discussed in detail at the next CC meeting, which would be held before the National Representatives Council meeting. Nnnn PAKISTAN GOES TO POLLS SATURDAY Kathmandu, 11 May: In a bustling market in a middle-class district of Islamabad, Raja Mehran rallies his friends as they prepare to campaign door-to-door for Pakistan’s general election on Saturday, AFP reports from Islamabad.. The wiry 22-year-old is one of an estimated 25 million voters aged under 30 who are expected to play a decisive role in the poll, marking the first democratic handover of power after a civilian government has served a full term. The rapid rise over the past two years of former cricket star Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party has shifted the attention of other mainstream politicians towards the young. The PTI has preached a gospel of change, pledging to break the old structures of politics, giving 35 percent of its party tickets to under-35s and promising young people the chance sto build a “new Pakistan”. In a country where entry into politics traditionally depends on family ties and patronage, the appeal of this message is obvious. Mehran the student activist has heard it and is a believer. “This is the only party which is giving tickets to youth, which actually makes them representatives of this nation,” he told AFP. “If I try hard, if I work hard for this party and for this country, definitely I can be one day prime minister of Pakistan, or any boy like me can be the prime minister of Pakistan.” It is uncertain how far the PTI’s message will penetrate beyond the educated urban centres of Punjab, the country’s richest province, or even whether Imran Khan can translate his huge popularity into seats in parliament. Some youngsters are unconvinced, saying that while Khan is charismatic, he lacks the experience of Nawaz Sharif, the two-time prime minister who leads the centre-right Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and is tipped to emerge on top. “I support PML-N because the leadership qualities are there,” Adnan Latif, 19, a student in the southwestern city of Quetta, told AFP. “Imran Khan is a nice person but he doesn’t know about the very difficult circumstances we have here in Pakistan.” Regardless of the outcome, columnist and political analyst Mosharraf Zaidi said the PTI had shifted the political discourse, forcing more of a focus on young people. “It’s already made a difference—the rhetoric of every single party is according to the idea that the majority of Pakistanis are below 25,” he told AFP. “Politicians need to find a way to engage with, excite and sustain interest in these parties among young people.” Newspaper campaign adverts by the Pakistan People’s Party this week have compared the age of Nawaz, 63, and Imran, 60, with that of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the party’s 24-year-old chairman—still four months away from being old enough to stand. “Only a leader who truly personifies and understands the spirit and aspirations of the new generation can shape a new future,” the PPP advert says. But analysts warn that none of the major parties offers realistic policies to take advantage of Pakistan's rapidly growing young population, and the country could be heading for a demographic disaster. nnnn- FORMER INDIAN AMBASSADOR SINHA REVEALS HOW NEPAL-INDIA RELATIONS DETERIORATED IN 1990’S Kathmandu, 11 MayL Former Indian Ambassador Saturday Shrinivas LI,ar Sinha revealed Saturday in an article entitled “ When relations with Nepal were improved…” revealed how relations between Nepal and India deteriorated after Sonia Gandhi was denied access to Pashupatinath temple where only Hindus are allowed. The revelation confirms popular perception for the deteriorating relations in the 1990’s. “Relations between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and King Birendra deteriorated in 1990 the on a small issue/ When Rajiv Gandhi visited Kathmandu as prime minister, his wife Sonia Gandhi was denied access to Pashupatinath temple. At the entrance it was written entry only for Hindus. “Nepali authorities had told Rajiv politely: Sorry. Out rules disallow entry.” “But Rajiv, who had arrived at the main gate, was hurt.” Immediately at a SAARC meeting in Pakistan, Rajiv invited the king for a breakfash meeting to discuss Nepali politics. “But Birendra invited Rajiv instead citing protocol. Trivial issues started the deterioration of bilateral relationship. Birendra, citing protocol, said he could discuss matters only with the President, spurning Rajiv’s invitation for talks. “Then the time came renew trade and transit treaties. “Now the Rajiv government adopted the policy to downsize the Nepalese government. But King Birendra was firm. He attempted to save the panchayat system by importing goods from countries other than India.” Rajiv’s successor, CP Singh, appointed Sinha to improve relations that has deteriorated. Nnnn