TEMPERATURE

CAPITAL TEMPERATURE THURSDAY MORNING 21 DEGREES CELSIUS
Kathmandu, 4 July Thursday morning temperature on a clear Thursday morning at seven was 21 degrees Celsius.
Temperature is expected to rise to 31 degrees Celsius on a rainy day in the afternoon.
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CHAIRMAN REGMI, PRESIDENT GREET OBAMA ON 4 JULY
Kathmandu, 4 July:: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, and Chairman of the interim election government, Khil Raj Regmi, have congratulated Barack Obama, president of the United States of America, on the occasion of the Independence Day of the US. In separate messages, they wished President Obama personal health and happiness as well as progress and prosperity of the US people.

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MADESHI PARTIES’ UNIFICATION PLAN HITS SNAG

Kathmandu, 4 July: The much-touted unification between Madhesi parties appear less likely at least for now as most senior Madhesi leaders are vying for the top position of the unified party, Republica writes.. A Central Committee meeting of the Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) held on Wednesday reviewed the progress made so far in unification talks held with the top leaders of other Madhes-based parties in recent weeks. “Our chairman has been intensifying talks for unification with all Madhes-based parties,” TMDP Vice Chairman Brikhesh Chandra Lal told Republica. “But the talks have not yet yielded any results.” A party insider requesting anonymity told Republica that chiefs of all Madhesi parties are seeking the top position of the unified party. “While Upendra Yadav says that he rightfully deserves the post as he had spearheaded the Madhes movement, Rajendra Mahato has staked his claim to the leadership of the unified party by virtue of his Sadbhawana Party becoming the oldest party in Madhes. Also Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar has staked claim to the top post arguing that he is a single leader in Madhes, who can generate financial resource to efficiently run the party. Gachchhadar claimed that both the international community and non-Madhesi parties are also not in the favor of unification between the Madhesi parties. “If Madhes-based parties unite, India´s influence in Nepal´s domestic affairs would increase further,” he said, adding, “Other countries are wary of India´s influence in Nepal.” On a separate context, CC meeting of TMDP, according to Vice Chairman Lal, concluded that constituency delineation in Madhesh should be based on Clause 3 (a) of Article 63 of Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007. “We need 50 percent representation as more than 50 percent of the total population of the country is based in Tarai,” he said. The constitutional provision states that “members to be elected on the basis of first-past-the-post will be elected on the basis of one member from each of the 240 election constituencies delimited by the Election Constituency Delimitation Commission in accordance with the population fixed by the national census preceding the CA election, and for this purpose an administrative district will be treated as an election district, with the number of constituencies therein determined on the basis of the population of that district.”
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EXPERTY DIVIDED OVER DELIENATING ELECTORAL

CONSTITUENCIES

Katmandu, 4 July: While the political parties remain divided over the basis for delineation of electoral constituencies for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) election, experts have also expressed differing views on the issue, Gani Ansari writes in Republica.. During a discussion with members of the Constituency Delineation Commission (CDC) held in the capital on Wednesday, experts aired differing views on the basis for delineation of electoral constituencies. Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Surya Prasad Shrestha argued that the population should be taken as major basis for delineation of electoral constituencies. Echoing Shrestha´s argument, Professor Birendra Prasad Mishra, who is also a former election commissioner, said, “Geography will be represented automatically if there is representation of the population,” he argued. Mishra also claimed that EDC cannot address the concerns of the people as it is “toothless”. However, Professor Mangal Siddhi Manandhar argued that both geography and population should be basis for delineation of electoral constituencies. “If population alone is made the basis for delineation of electoral constituencies, the area with low population may not be represented at all.” Professor Ram Kumar Pandey said that the commission should prepare its report keeping in mind the aspirations of the people. “Representation of hilly districts must not be reduced on the basis of population,” he said. Another former chief election commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokhrel, who led the Election Commission (EC) during the 2008 CA election, said there should be adjustment between constitutional provision and people´s aspirations. “CDC report should not be the cause for deferral of CA election,” Pokhrel said. Muslim Scholar Najarul Hasan Falahi, who was also present at the discussion, told Republica that no community should be done injustice while delineating new electoral constituencies. “Interest of the communities should be prioritized while delineating electoral constituencies,” he added. CDC has held discussion with the experts in order to elicit their opinion on delineation of electoral constituencies. Earlier, CEC has already held interactions with political parties on the issue. Leaders of Nepali Congress (NC) and Madhes-based political parties have stressed that electoral constituencies should be determined in line with the total population of Tarai-Madhes while CPN-UML has maintained that district-wise population growth should be taken into consideration while increasing the number of electoral constituencies. Similarly, UCPN (Maoist) has said that geography, population and culture should be prioritized while delineating electoral constituencies for the new CA polls .
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MEDUA GOOGLE

Picture of Stray Dog Resting An  Empty Hospital Bed at Gorkha Hospital,, photograph in front page of Nagarik, 4 July)

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