FRIDAY IS SUMMER SOLSTICE Kathmandu, 21 June: Friday is summer solstice.==the longest day in the northern hemisphere. The days will be shorter and nights longer from Friday until the winter solstice in the end of December. nnnn Jathmandu, 21 June: Nkepal Rastra Bank ( NRB ) and People’s Bank of China will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) Friday for Nepal’s central bank to invest in Chinese bonds issued by the Chinese government, For the first time,NRB will invest upto 1.20 billion yuan ($ 200 million) in China’s central bank. NRB Deputy Governor Gopal Prasad Kafle and Deputy Governor People’s Bank of China Hu Xiaolian are signing a MoU Friday. nnnn UCPN MAOIST TRADE UNION STARTS DRIVE TO COLLECT DONATIONS FOR VOTE Kathmandu, 21 June: Akhil Nepal Trade Union Federation affiliated with UCPN Maoist has started a donation drive for the comng elections, Annapurna Post writes. The drive—Economic Campaign Collection 2070 -- was announced publicly was launched Thursday by Federations headquarter meeting. Nnnn CPN MAOIST PUSHNG A FRONT AGAINST ELECTIONS Kathmandu, 21 June: The 33-party alliance led by the CPN-Maoist is eyeing to form a common front with the other parties who are also opposing the Constituent Assembly Elections, Roshan Shedhai reports.. A five-member talks team headed by CPN-Maoist Secretary Dev Gurung has started dialogues with disgruntled parties, including Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party Nepal (FSPN) and the Federal Democratic Front chaired by Upendra Yadav. Despite joining hands with the 33-party alliance, both Rai and Yadav have been protesting under separate banners. A broader alliance is likely to strengthen their protests. “Launching protests under different banners has created confusion among the public. It has taken the protesting parties nowhere,” said Pampha Bhusal, CPN-Maoist spokesperson. She said a joint protest will embolden the protesters The talks team is trying to sort out differences, Bhusal said. Although their official demands seem difficult to be met, Yadav and Rai have shown flexibility to a certain extent. The FSPN chairman said his party could consider participating in the elections if the government okays 60 percent seats under the proportional representation system and 40 percent seats under the direct election. “We don’t have a problem even if the government scraps the provision to nominate 11 members by the Cabinet,” said Rai. “Nothing has been decided so far except feeling the need of a broader cooperation and coordination among all the dissident forces. Everything will be settled very soon.” Pasang Sherpa, a member of the talks panel, said discussions are moving towards a positive direction. He said even many other fringe parties have been approached to bring them under the Front. “They are also convinced that a joint protest is the only option. The decision to launch a joint agitation is a positive sign. We are concentrating on consolidating our divergent opinions,” said Sherpa. A proposal to that effect is likely to be tabled in a meeting of 42 parties scheduled to be held soon. The 33 parties have been demanding a political government instead of the present non-partisan one as well as annulment of the 11-point and 25-point agreements reached among the four major parties. The alliance is holding a broader interaction on June 23. Nnnn CLARIFICATION SOUGHT FROM AMBASSADOR THAPA Nepali Ambassador to Qatar Maya Kumari Sharma has landed in trouble once again due to her rude remarks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has sought another clarification from her, this time as to why she dispatched a letter to Qatar i authorities seeking deportation of a Nepali national working in the country. Sharma, in a letter sent on 1 May, had requested Qatar i authorities to detain and deport Dipendra Bhetwal over a blog critical of her that he had posted. Bhetwal, who had been out of the country, was summoned by the Qatar i Search and Follow-up Department on 16 June. Although he was asked to bring his passport and a flight ticket, he was later allowed to leave without deportation, according to a statement issued by Amnesty International. Foreign Secretary Durga Bhattarai had sought clarification from Ambassador Sharma for violating the diplomatic norms and conduct. “Every diplomatic correspondence should be made upon the consent of the Foreign Ministry. She has violated this rule. Before writing to the Qatar i government, she should have sought permission from the headquarters,” said a senior MoFA official. Sharma has not submitted her clarification yet. Sharma is the only female Nepali ambassador at present. In a television interview a few months ago, she had termed Qatar as an ‘open jail’, requiring her to furnish a clarification to the MoFA. Her first clarification was not satisfactory, said sources. nnnn