SAFF

NEPAL PLAYS BANGLADESH IN SECOND SAFF U-16 SEMI-FINAL

Kathmandu, 27 July: Nepal plays Bangladesh Saturday in the Second

SAFF U-16 Championship in the Nepalese capital.

Nepal emerged on top of Group A i while Bangladesh was runner-up in

Group B on the seven-nation South Asian football tournament.

Nepal beat Bhutan and Pakistan while drawing with Afghanistan.

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EC RELUCTANT TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST CPN MAOIST

Kathmandu, 27 July:: Anti-Constituent Assembly election activities launched by Mohan Baidhya-led CPN-M may be in violation of the code of conduct for November 19 elections but the Election Commission is reluctant to take any punitive action against the party, Ramesh Kumar Kamat writes in The Himalayan Times..

CPN-Maoist General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa smashed a dummy ballot box in the capital on Thursday, officially launching party’s anti-election campaign. Similar acts were carried out by the party leaders in other parts of the country almost a month after its central committee meeting in Pokhara decided on June 29 to “actively” disrupt and boycott the election mobilising its dastas (fighting squads) in all polling booths.

The activities of the CPN-M clearly violate Clause 46 and 47 of the code of conduct. Clause 47 reads that nobody should disrupt the polls, spread hatred against the polls, mislead people about the polls or should do anything that can create obstacles in the polls. Clause 46 bars people from doing anything that could directly or indirectly affect the polls.

Commenting on the CPN-M move, Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav, who oversees the monitoring of the observance of CoC, said CPN-M acts clearly violated the CoC. He said since CPN-M was not registered with the EC it was mainly the job of the government to control anti-election activities. “Those political forces who differ with the poll processes should be dealt by major political forces and the government. This is not an issue which should concern only the EC,” Yadav said.

Uday Nepali Shrestha, executive member of the General Election Observation Committee, said the EC needed to take a position vis-a-vis political forces, who violate poll code. “If the EC decides to take action against the CPN-M, it should clearly tell the people what action it will be. If it cannot take any action against the party, even then it should tell the public why it cannot do so,” Shrestha added.

He said EC’s failure to take action against the poll violators would be tantamount to losing voters’ confidence. According to Clause 104 of CoC, EC can slap a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh on poll code violators.

On Wednesday, EC said any humanitarian assistance should be distributed only through local government mechanisms, effectively barring former king Gyanendra and his family-run Himani Trust from distributing relief assistance to flood victims in far-western districts.

Relevant clauses

• Clause 46 of the Election Code of Conduct bars people from doing anything that could directly or indirectly affect the polls

• Clause 47 states that nobody should disrupt the polls, spread hatred against the polls, mislead people about the polls or should do anything that can create obstacles in conducting polls

• Clause 104 states that EC can slap a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh on poll code violators

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TMLP ATTEMPTING TO STRENGTHEN MADESH PARTIES

Kathmandu, 27 July: Tarai Madhes Democratic Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur today said the tendency of Madhesi forces to negate each other is the main obstacle to Madhesi unity or alliancen The Himalayan Times reports..

Addressing a press conference in the Capital today, Thakur said some Madhesi parties were taking his party’s efforts to bring all Madhesi parties together as its weakness.

“TMPD initiated efforts to forge unity or alliance of Madhesi parties with a view to creating a strong and broader Madhesi force to achieve their goals,” he said, urging others not to exaggerate the differences and divisions in Madhesi forces.

“No political party is immune to split. Of the total 139 political parties, only 22 are Madhesi parties. So, how can one say there are too many parties in Madhes and only Madhesi parties are divided?” Thakur asked.

He argued that United Democratic Madhesi Front is still a valid front. “It is true we have not convened any meeting in the last few weeks, but we are still a valid front,” Thakur said when asked why UDMF had not called its meeting recently.

TMDP further renewed its call for extending the voters’ registration deadline in order to ensure participation of a maximum number of voters in the Constituent Assembly elections. Party Spokesman Sarvendranath Shukla said the Election Commission should maintain its past tradition of keeping the date for voters’ registration open until 70 days before the CA polls.

“The voters’ registration used to close 70 days before elections in the past, but it was closed 120 days before the polls this time,” he added.

The TMDP strongly demands that the EC extend the voters’ registration deadline so that those who missed the previous deadline can register their names in the voters’ list, said the party in a press release. The party also demanded delineation of constituencies in Madhes in proportion to the region’s population.

Asked how the TMDP would react if constituencies were not increased in Madhes due to contradictory provisions of the constitution, Thakur said his party would decide about it only after going through the Constituency Delimitation Commission’s report.

Shukla said the Central Working Committee of the party has decided to continue party’s effort to forge unity among the Madhesi forces.

TMDP had initiated efforts to forge an alliance of Madhesi parties 16 months ago, but it has not been successful so far.

Call for Madhes alliance

Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum Republic (Ganatantrik) Chairman Raj Kishor Yadav on Friday called on all Madhes-based parties to form an alliance for Constituent Assembly polls. Addressing his party’s function at Bara’s Kalaiya, Yadav expressed confidence the CA polls will happen at all costs. He argued that alliance among the Madhes-based parties is a must to safeguard the rights of Madhesi people.

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MEDIA GOOGLE

“I ask you all to be assured that elections will be held on the slated date and not a single political party will boycott it. So, stay prepared to vote your favourite

Candidate.”

(Home Minister Madhav  Poudel, The Himalayan Times, 27 July)

“Elections were held in the past to elect a CA to draft the constitution, but as the elected body could not accomplish the mission, the early elections did not serve any purpose. Therefore, early CA elections were meaningless,

“Why not call the approaching November elections the first CA polls as this time it is going to deliver the constitution at all costs,”

(RPP Nepal Chairman Kamal Thapa, The Himalaayan Times, 27 July)

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77 PADDY TRANSPLANTATION COMPLETE

Kathmandu, 27 July: Paddy plantation has been completed in 77 percent of paddy fields across the country till Friday, according to the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD)m Republica reports.. Paddy is planted in 1,526,351 hectares of cultivable land of the country. But plantation has been done in 1,175,020 hectares this season. Progress of paddy plantation is 95 percent each in far-western and mid-western development regions. Similarly, plantation has been completed in 83 percent and 78 percent of paddy fields in western and central development regions, respectively. Similarly, progress of plantation is eastern region stands at 75 percent. The progress report shows major producing districts have reported low plantation this year as well. Dhanusha, Kapilbastu and Banke have reported lowest plantation progress of 30 percent, 45 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Tarai districts supply surplus food grains to hills and mountainous districts facing food shortage. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Vijoy Kumar Mallick, joint secretary at MoAD said Dhanusha has reported lowest progress, owing to low rainfall in the district. “Though the district received sufficient rainfall at the beginning of monsoon, farmers couldn´t take benefit from it as they were yet to prepare paddy sapling,” said Mallick. Farmers in Tarai districts generally plant paddy at the end of July. These districts have got sufficient rainfall by now.” Officials also attributed migration of youths or a portion of active population to labor markets abroad to lower plantation this year. Last year, Dhanusha, Siraha and Saptari were among the districts with low plantation figures. After yields from major grain baskets like Dhanusha, Mahottari and Siraha started declining, the country started import of food grains, including rice, from 2009. Meanwhile, the government has distributed seeds of flood-tolerant paddy to flood-hit farmers in far-western and mid-western development regions, according to Jaya Mukunda Khanal, secretary at MoAD. The ministry has distributed flood-tolerant paddy seeds to farmers in flood-hit areas of Mahakali and Karnali. Khanal also said the ministry has requested the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee of Ministry of Home Affairs to provide it Rs 110 million so that it can distribute relief to flood-hit farmers.
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