SRILANKA

NEPALI CRICKET TEAM PREPARING FOR SINGAPORE TOURNAMENT

Kathmandu, 13 July: The national cricket team is going to Sri Lanka 1 August to prepare for the ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Singapore from 17 August.

The Nepali tem is going to Singapore directly from Sri Lanka.

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SATURDAY MORNING TEMPERATURE 20 DEGREES CELSIUS

Kathmandu, 13 July: Saturday morning’s temperature in the capital was 20 degrees Celsius.

Mercury is expected to rise to 30 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.

Altogether 0.2mm rainfall was recorded Friday.

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MUSLIMS VENT ANGER

Kathmandu, 13 July  While various Madhes-based parties claim that they give special priority to the Muslim issues, representatives from the communities have accused the Madhes-based parties of using them merely as vote banks and not working for their cause.Divesh Jha write in Republica. . Chairman of Islami Sangh Nepal, Nazarool Hasan Falahi, alleged that the Madhes-based parties were using the Muslims as a vote bank just as the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML did in the previous elections. "Both mainstream as well as Madhes-based parties appear biased. Neither the political parties representing us, nor the state have shown any initiative to ensure our proportional representation in state machinary," he complained. "We are now conscious of our rights. No one should take us for granted." General Secretary of MPRF-Republican, Eqbal Ahmed Shah, vented his ire against the political parties that promised to meet their demands, but failed to keep them. "The Madhesi parties proved to be no exception. They could secure the post of deputy prime minister by stepping on the bodies of 54 martyrs. But they could not do anything substantive to meet our demands," he said. "We can no longer afford to be just a vote bank for these cunning politicians." Leaders of the the Madhesi-based parties, however, claim that they are seriously concerned about the issues raised by the Muslims. "Our party has shown seriousness towards the marginalized communities of Madhes," said Spokesperson of Sharat Singh Bhandari-led National Madhesh Socialist Party, Ijharul Mikrani. "Our party will carry the agenda of Muslims in the election manifesto." He maintained that his party would get maximum votes from the Muslim pockets in Tarai-Madhes. He argued that, except his party, all other parties of Madhes were indulging in caste politics, and that some parties were not serious towards the agenda of the Muslims and other minority communities in the region. Central member of Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party (TMDP) Pushpa Thakur has said that her party was completely dedicated to the cause of the discriminated communities. "Our party was formed with a clear motive to end all the political and social discriminations against the Madhesi people," she said, maintaining that the agendas of Muslims were high on her party´s agenda . "As we don´t believe in vote politics, we won´t raise the issues of the Muslims just to get votes from them in the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) polls," she further said. General Secretary of Sadbhavana Party Manish Kumar Suman said, "The Muslims are Madhesis and they are the inhabitant of Tarai from the time of Ancient Mithila King Janak," he said, adding, "There are nine central committee members in our party from the community, which demonstrates our commitment to their cause." Refuting Suman´s claim, Falahi said, "The representation of leaders from a certain community doesn´t necessarily reflect the party´s seriousness towards the issues that concern the community." He maintained that though there were some Muslim leaders in the apex bodies of the Madhes-based parties, they were not the true leaders of their community. "Some Muslim leaders of Madhesi parties are engaged in fulfilling their vested interests rather than working for the uplift of their community. Have any Muslim leader from any Madhes-based party taken any initiative to institutionalize the concerns of the Muslims?" he questioned. Political Analyst CK Lal claimed that none of the Madhes-based parties were serious towards cause of the Muslims. "I don´t see any sign of that seriousness," said Lal, adding, "Presence of some Muslim leaders at the top is just symbolic." "Political parties should address the concerns raised by the Muslims by incorporating their agendas in their political documents," he said.
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BABURAM BHATTARAI AGREES  RESOLVE DIFFERENCES
Kathmandu, 13 July Former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai today agreed to resolve the problems that have surfaced in the party after he decided to relinquish his position through a middle path, Tika R Pradhan writes in The Himalayan Times.. Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal told the informal meeting of the senior party leaders and bureau in-charges, which was held at the party headquarters today, that Bhattarai had agreed to opt for a middle path. According to a pro-Bhattarai senior leader Devendra Poudel, Bhattarai has agreed on two options – either maintaining the decision taken at the seventh national congress held at Hetauda with Bhattarai becoming a senior leader of the party or keeping the chairman alone as the office-bearer and retaining all others, including Bhattarai, as central committee members. Another pro-Dahal senior leader Haribol Gajurel said Chairman Dahal informed today’s meeting that Bhattarai had agreed to a middle path, but he did not reveal what it actually was. Gajurel said the party will find a way out of the existing problem in the organisational setting through the plenum. He said Dahal will finalise his proposal after discussing it separately with all bureaus of the party. According to Gajurel, the extended plenum will only orient the party towards the new organisational setting because with the elections knocking at the door, the party needs to focus on preparations. The plenum will take some decision respecting the direction of the latest national congress. The national conference to be organised after the election will settle other remaining issues. He claimed that the conference is necessary for a course correction because everyone in the party believes that there is some kind of error in the methods and the process the party has adopted. “Since the party will not have time for in-depth discussions on developing organisational policy, a national conference can be organised right after the poll, during which the party will have ample time to finalise organisational setting thorough a discussion,” he said. Nnnn

ASHOK RAI  THREATNS A DECISIVE ANTI-GOVY. STIR
Kathmandu, 13 July:: Chairman of the Federal Socialist Party Ashok Rai today said his party will launch a stern movement against the ‘four-party syndicate’ and the ‘partyless’ government if they fail to hold an all-party conference. “The four-party syndicate must be dissolved. All-party conference is our bottomline,” Rai said while launching the party’s sister wing, Federal Press Union Nepal, amid a function at the Maharajgunj-based party headquarters today  [Friday], The Himalayan Times reports. .

“We will start a stern and decisive movement and the movement will not stop till the dissolution of the syndicate,” he said.

Claiming that the election is inevitable, he said his party will not let the ‘syndicate’ and the ‘partyless’ government continue unless they address issues that dissenting parties have raised.

He revealed that the party’s struggle committee will hold a meeting soon to announce the struggle. FSP has been demanding scrapping of the 11-point agreement among the four major parties and the 25-point presidential decree. With legislative powers also vested in him after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, which used to double as the Parliament, one person is at the helm of all three organs of the state, Rai said.

Chhantyal to head press body

KATHMANDU: The Federal Socialist Party on Friday formed a 33-member ad-hoc committee of the Federal Press Union Nepal. Govinda Chhantyal is the chairman, Gopal Dewan and Natikaji Maharjan are vice-chairmen, Sukadev Chamling is general secretary, Man Bahadur Pun Magar and Lakpa Sherpa are secretaries and Irdashi Jhakri Magar is treasurer of the union. Hum Gurung, Bijay Chamling, Shahiman Rai, Kaman Dewan, Ganesh Khaling Rai, Dipendra Rumdali, Raju Dhakal, Asha Limbu, Adarsha Thokar Tamang, Ram Dahit, Iswor Tamang, Machhindra Jabegu, Fiparaj Begha Limbu, Tikaram Ale Magar, Sataman Gharti Magar, Janak Budha Magar and Bhola Shrestha are central committee members of the union.

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MEDIA GOOGLE

“Coming down heavily on the four major political parties, Thapa [Kamal]

accused them of resorting to anti-national activities to fulfil their vested interests. He also accused the parties of instigating people belonging to various castes and ethnic communities to dismantle the social fabric in the name of federalism.

,,, Thapa held that the four-party syndicate, authoritarian mindset and ineffectual working style of the Khil Raj Regmi-led government had failed to create a conducive atmosphere for the upcoming CA polls.”

(Report in The Himalayan Times, 13 July)