VALLEY BANDH THURSDAY Kathmandu, 7 May: Thirteen student unions have called a Valley bandh Thursday. The students unions affiliated with major parties are exerting pressure to stop the appointment of ‘controversial’ Lokman Singh Karki as CIAA chairman. Nnnn . EU OFFICIAL ARRIVES AMID UNCERTAINTY Kathmandu, 7 May: Chairperson of the European Parliament (EP) Delegation for Relations with the Countries of South Asia, Jean Lambert, arrived Monday for a four-day visit during political crisis. He is holding discussing with government officials and leaders of society. “This is a crucial moment for Nepal and I hope that steady progress will be made in the preparations for the next elections with a view to putting in place stable institutions in the country,” Lambert said in a statement. nnnn. NC CHIEF SETS ASIDE TALKS WITH MAOIST BOSS Kathmandu, 7 May:: Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala today refused to hold talks with Unified CPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on contemporary contentious issues, saying his fellow leaders, including Vice-president Ramchandra Paudel, were not available in Kathmandu, The Himalayan Tiimes reports./ . No other date has been fixed for the next meeting, but it is likely that Koirala and Dahal will meet on Wednesday, a source close to the Congress chief said. “We had contacted Koirala’s aide for a meeting between the two leaders. However, Koirala deferred the meeting citing his inconvenience,” said Shiva Khakurel, an aide to Dahal. The NC chief also postponed his meeting with the leaders of the CPN-UML today. “We had tried to arrange an inter-party meeting with NC leaders to discuss several issues, including the Constituent Assembly polls and recommendation of Lokman Singh Karki as the chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, but it could not materialise today due to lack of time on the part of leaders from both the parties,” said UML Spokesperson Pradip Gyawali. Gyawali said that UML leaders, however, were in touch with Congress leaders via phone. “The Congress leaders are also worried about the recent developments and crisis of confidence among key political parties. So we will arrange talks with Congress leaders soon to find a common ground on how to move ahead together,” he said. Nnnn FOREIGN CURRENCY SEIZED AT BORDER POST WITH TIBET Kathmandu, 7 April:: Police today arrested five persons with a huge cache of US dollars‚ Chinese Yuan and rare pangolin body parts from Tatopani border point, The Himalayan Times reports.. Border Police Office in Kodari (Larcha) said the arrest was made when they intercepted a bus en route to Tatopani from Kathmandu. Inspector Manoj Lama at the Border Police Office said they have seized 78‚000 US dollars‚ 136‚000 Chinese Yuan and nine kilograms of rare pangolin body parts during regular security checking. Acting on a tip-off‚ police had arrested Doma Sherpa‚ 25‚ with American currency and Chitra Bahadur Shrestha‚ 25‚ with Yuan. Sherpa and Shrestha had hidden the American and Chinese currencies tied to their waist. Likewise‚ police found three kilograms of pangolin hide each from Sange Tamang‚ 16‚ Maya Sherpa‚ 30‚ and Pemba Sherpa‚ 27. They had attached the animal body parts to their thighs and other parts of the body with duct tape‚ police said. Transaction in body parts of the endangered pangolin is deemed unlawful.All the five arrestees are in the custody of Border Police Office. Inspector Lama said they would submit the seized foreign currency to the Department of Revenue and pangolin parts to the Gaurishankar Conservation Area. This is the first time foreign currencies and pangolin parts have been seized from a bus. Earlier‚ smuggling of foreign currency and body parts of rare animals used to take place in small vehicles. nnnn