DASTAS

NO DISPUTE IN PARTY SAYS MAOIST CHIEF
Kathmandu, 3 July : UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has denied the presence of any dispute inside the party, RSS reports..
Speaking at a programme organized to welcome new entrants to the party, he said the need of a new working procedure in the structure of the organization did show some differences but in fact there is no dispute in the party.
He also said that every member of the party including him were working to take the party united ahead.
The problem was a result of the lack of clarity on organizational issues starting from the party's general convention in Hetauda.However, the issue will be dealt with by the extended meeting scheduled to be held on July 19, he added.
He also claimed that the extended meeting would come up with an example of the new organizational structure for the international communist movement as well, while emphasizing on the need of a new method and process to run a communist party in today's world.
Chairman Dahal went further ahead to claim that his party would gain a full majority in the coming November 19 elections.At the programme, many UML cadres led by former district president of Dhanusa Haridev Mandal joined the UCPN (Maoist) party.
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DEUBA CERTAIN OF ELECTIONS
Kathmandu, 3 July : Senior leader of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged the NC cadres not to go after 'tea shop' rumours that the atmosphere is not conducive to elections, RSS reports..
He said, "the present government was formed just for holding elections while the government and the election commission are preparing for the election. So, the political parties should set everything aside and join the electoral process. "
Speaking at a programme organized to mark the 90^th birth anniversary of former NC President and former Prime Minister late Girija Prasad Koirala here today, he said the statement by some parties to go for elections only after the present government is dissolved is just an excuse to stop the elections from being held.
It will take another year if we start a new game all over again to elect a new prime minister, he added.
Stating that elections have a very important role in a democracy, leader Deuba said no side should indulge in any act that could foil the elections.
On the occasion, leader Deuba also described the late Koirala as a national leader who was able to take decisions quickly and lauded his role in bringing the then rebels, the CPN-Maoist to the peace process.
Nepali Congress General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitoula said that the elections scheduled for November 19 cannot be postponed at any cost.
Discussion with the CPN-Maoist and other dissenting parties are heading towards a positive direction, he said and added, "their just demands would be met, but even after that they do not join the elections then they will remain behind".
NC central members Narahari Acharya and Ambika Basnet emphasized on the need for unity within the party for taking part in the upcoming CA elections.
Speaking at the programme, Kedarnath Timilasena, an injured of the Janandolan, said NC cadres were very disappointed at the moment and so the party should come up with new programmer to encourage and re-energize them.
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TALKS UNDERWAY TO LIFT BAN is 1,000 AND 500 CURRENCY NOTES
BIRGUNJ: Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad today said import of Indian currency had become an intricate issue along the Nepal-India border area and added that ban on import of Indian currency of IRs 500 and IRs 1,000 denominations had to be withdrawn for the convenience of the people from both the countries.

Speaking at an interaction organised by the Indian consulate in Birgunj, Prasad admitted that ban on the use of IRs 500 and IRs 1000 denomination had troubled citizens of both countries. Nepali migrant workers coming to Nepal from India and Indian tourists entering Nepal with Indian currency have had to face legal action because of lack of information, added Prasad. “We can increase surveillance and scanning along the border to control counterfeit currency,” he said.

Ambassador Prasad said efforts were under way at different levels to scrap the ban on import of Indian currency to Nepal to give relief to the people. He informed that the Indian government was providing necessary amount of Indian currency for legal transactions through Nepal Rastra Bank.

NRB had banned use of Indian currency with denomination IRs 500 and IRs 1,000 in Nepal at the request of the Indian government. Due to shortage of Indian currency, consumers are forced to pay Rs 165 for IRs 100 in the border areas. Prasad hailed Nepal police’s achievement in controlling transactions in fake Indian currency notes in
Nepal.
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CPN MAOISTS TO DEPLOY SQUADS TO DISRUPT ASSEMBLY VOTE
Kathmandu, 3 July:  CPN-Maoist’s Central Committee meeting in the Lake City has prepared a strategy to deploy teams comprising cadres from party’s different wings and district and village committees at the polling booths to foil the Constituent Assembly polls slated for November 19, if the government goes ahead with its decision to hold polls. Rishi Baral writes in The Himalayan Times from Pokhara...

On the concluding day of the CC meeting that began four days ago, party Secretary Netra Bikram Chand proposed deploying 12-member dastas at every polling booth as a last resort to foil elections.

“Party has devised such a strategy to disrupt polls if the government moves ahead with election process without taking the parties opposing polls into confidence,” a CC member told THT.

The proposal tabled by Netra Bikram Chand, who is also the chief of party’s Youth Mobilisation Committee, states that party rank and file will be deployed to the villages and towns before the election date and urge the people to abstain from voting. “If the first strategy fails, election process will be disrupted by deploying party dastas at the polling booths on the polling day,” the proposal reads.

CPN-Maoist Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal said the CC meeting has passed Chand’s proposal. The meeting also approved proposals presented by party Chairman Mohan Baidhya and General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa. It entrusted Chand with the responsibility of creating necessary structure for the dasta mobilisation. Bhusal said decisions endorsed by the CC meeting would be made public at a press conference tomorrow. Bhusal said all the CC members at the CC meet were one on boycotting election.
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3,000 WOMEN IN FIVE TERAI DISTRICTS IN SEX TRADE
Kathmandu, 3 July: A report has established that there are around 3,000 women involved in sex business in the five districts of western Terai. The data recently made public by the National AIDS and STD (sexually transmitted disease) Control Center showed that the number of sex workers is increasing terrifyingly in Western Terai, The Rising Nepal reports..
According to the report, there are around 3,000 women are involved in the flesh trade in there districts of Western Terai, including Kanchanpur, Kailalai, Banke and Bardiya.
These districts of Western terai which are also known as a new state have a total of 2,738 sex workers.
The statistic shows how the huge numbers of women are choosing flesh trade as their profession.
Out of the total number of sex workers, 1,211 are active in Kailali, 686 in Banke, 655 in Bardiya and 216 in Kanchanpur.
Coordinator of District AIDS Samanwaya Committee, Kanchanpur said that the number of sex workers might exceed than the provided data. The data was collected just through the mere survey.
According to him, there might be many sex workers who didn’t come up openly with their identity.
The survey conducted by the center shows the sex workers are running the flesh trade at 20 different places of Kanchanpur.
The highest number of sex workers (23 women) of Kanchanpur are running their business in Gaddachauki, western border and the lowest number of sex workers ( two in number) are in Daiji of Lalpur.
Likewise, total 12 sex workers are involved in flesh trade in Bhujela, eight in Bhujela, 16 in Sukhasal, six in Aithpur, three in Haldukhal, 12 in market area, four in Salghari, eight in Bhagatpur and three in Bhasi. All of these places were located in Bhimdutta Municipality.
A total of 368 sex workers are actively working at Dhangadi, district headquarters of Kailali, 430 in Attariya, 66 in Tikapur, 104 in Chaumala, 159 in Pahalmanpur, says report.
Similarly, total 349 sex workers are involved in the business in Gulariya, the district headquarters of Bardiya and its adjoining areas.
During the survey they recognized total 92 sex workers in Kohalpur, said coordinator Pandey.
Pandey said those who were involved in flesh trade were 16-45 years age group. Out of total sex workers in Kanchanpur, six were found infected with HIV/AIDS.

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UCPN MAOIST FOR SEPARATE BODY TO ENCOMPASS LEADERS WHO QUIT

Kathmandu, 3 July:: The chiefs of state committees of the UCPN (Maoist) on Tuesday urged the party leadership to form a separate body for leaders who voluntarily resign from their posts, Kian Pun writes in Republica, During the meeting held at Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal´s office in Paris Danda, the chiefs of state committees also suggested to form party organization in line with the idea envisioned by the Hetauda general convention. The suggestion to form a separate body has been made following the resignation of party vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai. The resignation of Bhattarai as the vice chairman has also diffused the dispute over power sharing in the party. Chairman Dahal has called a party plenum for July 19 in Kathmandu to resolve the dispute over power sharing. Dahal had called state committee chiefs for a meeting on Tuesday to seek their suggestions over the organizational setup of the party. The proposed organizational setup of the party, including the dispute over nomination of the office bearers and members of the central committee (CC) and standing committee and politburo, would be presented in the plenum. “Party members have suggested formation of a separate body to accommodate leaders who voluntarily resign from their party positions,” Bishwa Bhakta Dulal, chief of the Tamsaling state committee, told Republica. Debendra Paudel, chief of the Newa state committee, said that the discussions in this regard are under way. He argued that the separate body will be useful for safeguarding the ideological spirit of the party. Paudel who is close to Bhattarai said that the separate body is not for only Bhattarai and that the latter can remain active even without such a body. CPN-UML has named Madhav Nepal as a senior party leader, but he enjoys the second rank in the party. Maoist leaders say that Bhattarai could be given a similar position in the party. The Hetauda general convention of the party had elected Dahal as the party chairman, Bhattarai and Narayankaji Shrestha as vice-chairmen and Post Bahadur Bogati as the general secretary. Dahal had also proposed Hisila Yami as the party treasurer and Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Barshaman Pun, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Giriraj Mani Pokharel as secretaries. The chiefs of state committees have also asked Dahal to revise the names of office bearers.
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