UPDATE DEUBA BEGINS INDIA VISIT Kathmandu, 9 June: Former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba left for New Delhi Sunday on an India visit at the invitation of the government. The former prime minister is scheduled t hold discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other Indian leaders. Before departing he held discussions with President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav and party leaders, including his own NC party president Sushil Koirala. Nnnn CIB SEEKS SEPARATE CUSTODY Kathmandu, 9 June: After the Ministry of Home Affairs endorsed its Regulations, the police’s Central Investigations Bureau ( CIB ) has demanded a separate custody of its own, ANkit Adhikari writes in The Kathmandu Post.. In a letter forwarded to the police headquarters last week, the CIB has demanded that a custody be constructed on its Maharajgunj-based premises. “The minimum budget we would require for the construction of a custody comes around Rs 100, 000,” said CIB spokesperson SP Ishwar Babu Karki. According to him, the demand may be addressed once the national budget is passed next month. Before this, the CIB , assigned with dealing with organised crimes, high-profile murders, and organised rackets involved smuggling of money, drugs and wildlife parts, did not have a custody. The three-year-old investigative unit had to pass the arrestees either to the custody of the Nepal Police headquarters or to other police stations in Kathmandu. The Regulations, which had been pending at the ministry for a year, were endorsed last month by the Cabinet, after consultations with stakeholders including the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Finance. “The Regulations give us the authority to keep a custody on our own,” said SP Karki. “This will give us more teeth.” The custody demands additional personnel for its maintenance and security. “With 172 personnel, we are fairly capable for our assigned jurisdictions,” said SP Karki. “More hands will be needed for the custody.” Additional personnel are required for taking arrestees to the court, hospital, or any other purpose. Once the custody is ready, an additional 30 to 35 personnel are required at the unit. Officials also underscore the need for training the personnel. “We will require other infrastructure such as preliminary forensic equipment and bugging devices.” The CIB is now authorised to hire informants from outside th nnnn NRB ASSISTANCE SOUGHT TO RECOVER BANK GUARANTEE OF CHINESE FIRM CONSTRUCTING MELAMCHI - Kathmandu, 9 June: Melamchi Water Supply Development Board (MWSDB) has decided to seek help of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to secure bank guarantee amount that former tunnel work contractor China Railway 15 Bureau Group had pledged through China Construction Bank, Ashok Thapa writes in The Kathmandu Post.. After the termination of the contract with the Chinese firm in September 2012, the project sought to confiscate the guarantee amount, but the firm filed a case against MWSDB in a Chinese court. As a result, the Chinese bank expressed its inability to release the guarantee amount without the court’s order. Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) and Bank of Kathmandu (BoK) had provided counter guarantee to the Chinese bank in the form of performance security of $6.62 million and guarantee for advance payment of $6.62 million and 1.4 million euros. The banks are also filing a court case to secure the release of the guarantee amount. MWSDB Director General Krishna Prashad Acharya said an MWSDB board meeting on Thursday decided to send a letter to the Finance Ministry, asking the latter to seek the central bank’s help for securing the amount. However, the Nepali banks are not satisfied with the board in regard to fighting the legal case against the Chinese firm. “The former contractor has made the board chief defendant, mentioned us as defendants. But the board has not been cooperative enough to produce necessary documents to win the case,” said Ashoke Rana, chief executive officer of Himalayan Bank. “The Melamchi board looks neither interested to fight the legal case, nor is it cooperating with our lawyers,” he said. Earlier, the Chinese Bank had promised to fight the court battle with the contractor seeking help from Nepali defendants. After failing to secure the guarantee amount, Nepali banks have also decided not to do any business with China Construction Bank and would adopt maximum caution when dealing with any Chinese bank. Meanwhile, the board has been preparing to seek compensation from the two Nepali banks that gave counter guarantee to China Construction Bank. Acharya, however, said compensation would be sought after the bank guarantee has been released. nnnn