BODY OF MAN WHO MURDERED WIFE IN RUKUM FOUND Kathmandu, 13 June: Bhim Lal Oli, 42, who fled his home after hacking his wife to death with a khukri while sleeping together Tuesday at Niwako-8 , Rukum, was found dead in the village Wednesday. Bhim Lal also injured hiss three aged 10 to 16 years. The injured children have been airlifted by the army to the capital for treatment. nnnn FORGING CONSENSUS ON ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCIES DIFFICULT SAY EXPERTS Kathmandu, 13 June: Despite the Supreme Court order and the approval of the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) for delineating election constituencies prior to conducting the fresh Constituent Assembly polls, it would still be a “tough task” for the parties to forge consensus on the number of constituencies, say Expertsm Gani Ansari writes in Republica.. “It depends on how the political parties forge consensus on the issue,” Suryaman Amatya, a member of then Election Constituency Delimitation Commission, told Republica, adding, “There is also an issue of whether the new CA would have 491 or 601 seats.” He said that the number of constituencies in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Baktapur, Sunsari, Sarlahi, Rupandehi and Kailali districts would increase as the populations of these districts have increased over the decade. Similarly, professor Om Gurung argued that delineation of election constituencies prior to conducting the polls will only complicate the situation. “Alteration of the existing election constituencies may not be acceptable to many people,” he said. Experts have suggested that the number of election constituencies should be reduced in hilly districts, if the number of constituencies is increased in Kathmandu Valley and other populous Tarai districts. However, professor Krishna Bhattachan claimed that alteration in the number of the electoral constituencies will not significantly affect representation of Madhesis and indigenous people in the CA. “The three major political parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML-- will not accept delineation of constituencies in accordance with population cluster of Madhesis and indigenous people,” said Bhattachan. According to the Constituency Delineation Commission 2063, Kathmandu had 10 constituencies followed by Morang, which had nine constituencies in the 2008 CA election. Jhapa, Dhanusha and Rupendehi district each had seven constituencies while Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Rautahat, Bara, Nawalparasi, and Kailali each had six. Parsa, Chitwan, Kapilvastu and Dang each had five constituencies while Kavrepalanchok, Makawanpur, Kaski, Banke, Bardiya and Kanchanpur each had four constituencies. Udayapur, Sindhupalchok, Ilam, Sindhuli, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Tanahun, Syangja, Baglung, Gulmi, Palpa and Surkhet each had three constituencies. Similarly, Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Dolakha, Bajhang, Panchathar, Dhankuta, Bhojpur, Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Ramechhap, Bhaktapur, Lamajung, Parbat, Arghakhanchi, Pyuthan, Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Achham, Doti and Baitadi each had two constituencies. Likewise, Terhathum, Solukhumbu, Rasuwa, Manang, Myagdi, Mustang, Dolpa, Jumla, Kalikot, Mugu, Humla, Bajura, Dadeldhura and Darchula had one constituency each. According to the new census report, the total population has increased by 3.3 million compared to the 2001 census. As per the interim constitution, constituencies should be delineated on the basis of census report. Clause 3 (a) of Article 63 of the interim constitution states one member each from the 240 election constituencies would be elected under the first-past-the-post electoral system. It has stated that election constituencies would be delimited by the Election Constituency Delimitation Commission in accordance with the population fixed by the national census preceding the CA election, and for this purpose an administrative district will be treated as an election district, with the number of constituencies therein determined on the basis of the population of that district. According to Article 154 A, the government may constitute a Constituency Delimitation Commission to determine election constituencies for the purpose of election of members of the Constituent Assembly, and the commission shall consist of a retired justice of the SC as chairperson, a geographer, a sociologist and an administrator or management expert as members and a special class officer in the service of the government as member-secretary. Nnnn NEPAL PARTY TO INCLUSIVE INSURANCE Kathmandu, 13 June:: Nepal has signed the Cebu Declaration on Inclusive Insurance, expressing solidarity to a movement launched by some Asian countries to promote the task of providing risk protection to low-income individuals, Republica reports.. Professor Dr Fatta Bahadur KC, chairman of the Insurance Board, the insurance sector regulator, and Krishna Prasad Devkota, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, jointly signed the declaration on behalf of Nepal at the recently held Mutual Exchange Forum on Inclusive Insurance in Cebu, the Philippines. Other countries that signed the six-point declaration are Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. “This display of commitment is aligned with the long-standing efforts in the insurance industry to enhance knowledge exchange and learning among insurance regulators and policymakers,” says a statement issued by the Insurance Board. “It is envisioned that this symbolic commitment will translate into concrete applications of the Insurance Core Principles espoused by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the global insurance standard-setting body.” Professor Dr KC said: “The Cebu Declaration will be instrumental in improving socio-economic conditions of low-income households particularly in a developing country like Nepal.” He also emphasized on the need to generate awareness about microinsurance among stakeholders. The declaration, among others, recognizes the importance of inclusive insurance as a tool for poverty reduction and socio-economic development in developing countries, thereby securing local as well as global financial stability and sustainability The declaration also identifies the need to develop an effective policy, regulatory and supervisory environment in each of the signatory countries so that a foundation could be laid for an inclusive insurance market, and interest of majority of the population could be served. It also stresses on the need to adopt globally accepted regulatory and supervisory standards of the insurance industry, particularly the work done by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, in a manner that protects policyholders. Although Nepal had earlier tried to introduce microinsurance programs to pave way for low-income groups to purchase cheap insurance products, it could not do so due to dissolution of the parliament. Nnnn