PM Dahal Says Yadav Will Face Action
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said that Minister for Land Reforms and Management Matrika Yadav will face action. "He will face party action as he decided to resign and then flash his resignation letter as well. He will also face action for resigning from the cabinet," PM Dahal told reporters. Earlier, Yadav had forwarded his resignation to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Friday (Sep 19) afternoon. In his resignation submitted to PM Dahal, Yadav has accused Madhesi Janadhikar Forum and CPN (UML), partners in the current coalition government, of being anti-people parties. He submitted the resignation to the PM at his official residence in Baluwatar. Stating that he had acted in favor of the people, Yadav reiterated to remain a pro-people politician. The party had instructed Yadav to apologize publicly or resign as minister. Other members of the coalition and opposition Nepali Congress had condemned the acts of Yadav and demanded action against him. Compiled from reports
Judges Debar Bar President From Practice For Six Months
In a dramatic decision, judges have banned Nepal Bar President (NBA) president Bishwo Kanta Mainali from taking part in legal hearing in courts across the country for the next six months. The harsh decision from the judges has come in response to a remark attributed to Mainali where he termed judges as corrupt. The decision was made following the meeting of the full court on Thursday (Sep 18). It termed Mainali's remarks as 'objectionable and misleading.' The judges of district and appellate courts of capital valley had, on Thursday, boycotted hearing for two hours between 10 am and 12 noon, Thursday, to protest Mainali's remarks. Meanwhile, Mainali had said that he did not mean to belittle judiciary. "The NBA is quite aware about the importance of judiciary in this transitional phase. As its president, I cannot even imagine about belittling or soiling the prestige of judiciary," Bishwo Kanta Mainali told Nepal FM on Thursday morning. "What I said was that in existing laws, a judge is not made criminally liable for corruption. I said that the judicial council should work to bring the judges within the system of accountability. And I said that if that does not happen then a position of judge becomes like a license for corruption. And I stand by what I said," Mainali had said. Following the decision of the full court to ban him for six months, Mainali said it was a autocratic decision taken without allowing him to clarify himself. This episode marks the beginning of a new round of dispute between bar and bench. Compiled from reports
Protests Against Non Allocation Of Budget For Jatras
People from Newar community in Kathmandu staged angry protests against the government on Saturday (Sep 20) for not allocating budget for traditional jatras (religious festivals) observed in Kathmandu Valley. The protesters blocked traffic at several places by burning tyres on the road. There were protest rallies in Basantapur, Teku and Kalimati areas throughout the day. Shops remained closed in these areas with the protesters frequently clashing with the police. The local Newars took to the streets saying the Finance Minister, who unveiled the budget estimate for the fiscal year 2008/09, cut off the funding for jatras. Protests had started as soon as the Finance Minister presented the budget at the parliament. On the contrary, some news reports quoting government sources said the funding for jatras has not been cut off. However, the Finance Ministry has not said anything on the matter. Meanwhile, issuing a statement this evening, the Home Ministry urged the protesters to call off their protest and help maintain peace and security in the capital city. The ministry also said security has been beefed up in some areas in the capital to prevent possible violence in the wake of the protests. Compiled from reports
PM's Actions Symbolise Totalitarianism: Koirala
Former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala Thursday (Sep 18) remarked that the behavior and speech of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal are signs of totalitarianism. Speaking at a program organized in the capital today to mark the 11th Ganeshman Memorial Day, Koirala claimed that PM Dahal's statement that parliamentary system was unacceptable to his party clarify that the Maoist is an anti-democratic party. The former prime minister directed his party cadres to be ready to defend democracy under any circumstances. "When a man fails to recognize his power, he becomes feeble," said Koirala hinting at PM Dahal, adding, "That's why I would advise the PM to read history." The octogenarian leader said that Prime Minister Dahal's assertion on neither to accept the parliamentary democracy nor to establish socialism immediately is a threat to his own party CPN-Maoist. NC president Koirala said that he knitted web of words to establish communism in the country, but now he has been trapped in the same web. He opined that socialism is a fusion of communism and parliamentary democracy and the NC has also embraced the same. While underlining that the immediate challenges for now are to take the peace process to a logical end and write a new constitution by maintaining political stability, Koirala suggested the party leaders to assist in the process. Koirala said that it is not necessary for the NC to caricature any other party as it has its own strong and long-standing background. Likewise, senior NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was also present at the program, accused the Maoists of trying to impose a one-party communist dictatorship. Deuba called on his party youths to get ready as the responsibility to run the new era has been transferred into their shoulders. Other participants in the program urged the party leadership to move ahead by reforming the party. Compiled from reports
Kulekhani III Not To Complete By 2010
The completion of the Kulekhani-3 hydroelectricity project has been delayed following the lack of cooperation among government authorities and insatiable demands of the locals. Although the project started in the fiscal year 2062/63 with the target of completion within 2010, only some 10 per cent work has been completed while 25 per cent work should already have been carried out by now. According to Madhusudan Mall, chief of the project, the project could not speed up because of the indifferences of the Makwanpur District Forest Office, the Forest Ministry and the local authorities. He said, "We are not allowed yet to use the land that the community forest owns." The project targets to generate 14 megawatt electricity from the power house using water from Kulekhani-2 and other streams. eKantipur reports
Delay In Framing Rules On Drafting Constitution
Even after five months since the election for the Constituent Assembly (CA), the major task of writing a new constitution has not started. In fact, it has been three months since a committee was formed chaired by Narayan Man Bijukchhe, president of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP), to draft rules for constitution writing and setting up of various committees. Although around ten different committees have been proposed, the issue has been stalled after even smaller parties clamored for their representation in each of them. According to the interim constitution, the CA will have to write a new constitution in two and a half years. Meanwhile, a new canteen has been opened in CA. A committee on management of canteen led by CA member Pari Thapa handed over the responsibility to Kings Burger Pvt Ltd. Nepal Samacharpatra daily reports
PM Dahal Returns Home Happy Over Delhi Visit
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal returned home Thursday (Sep 18) afternoon, wrapping up his five-day official tour to India. He had flown to India on September 15, leading a 44-member delegation in what he claimed as his first "political visit" to a foreign country, although he had visited China last month to attend the Olympic Games closing ceremony. Speaking to the press at the Tribhuvan International Airport on his return, PM Dahal said he was satisfied with his tour to the southern neighbor, claiming that the visit had taken the bilateral ties to a new height. "I put the agendas of bilateral interest in a sincere manner," he said, adding, "I believe it was a successful visit." He added that India pledging to build the 240 MW Naumure hydel for Nepal, as a gesture of goodwill, was the "culmination of the positive-ness of the visit". Asked if the Indian side raised concern about his earlier visit to China, the PM said the issue didn't figure in the meetings in Delhi. "Only the media persons asked this question," said he. According to him, the secretary-level meetings on the agreement reached during the visit would take place within a month. On Wednesday, a 22-point joint press statement was issued following a meeting between the Prime Ministers of Nepal and India with both sides noting their deep ties and pledging to expand them in future. In the joint statement, the Indian government has agreed to provide Rs 320 million as immediate relief to flood-affected people in Sunsari and Saptari districts and also pledged to rebuild a segment of the East-West highway, damaged in the recent Saptakoshi deluge. India also offered a credit of to Rs 2.4 billion to Nepal for the next three months to ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products. Similarly, India also agreed to implement the Naumure hydro-electric project on the Rapti River. The same day, PM Dahal traveled to south Indian city of Bangalore to observe the rapid development of Information Technology. Apart from meeting his counterpart Dr Man Mohan Singh, PM Dahal also met Indian President Pratibha Patil, vice-President Hamid Ansari, ruling Congress (I) President Soniya Gandhi, former Indian prime ministers, opposition party leaders, high-level officials and dignitaries during his five-day stay. Compiled from reports
Buddha Air’s ATRs To Start Operation
Buddha Air will start flying its newly-purchased two ATR 42/320 aircraft from Wednesday (Sep 17). Addressing a press meet, Tuesday, managing director of Buddha Air Birendra Bahadur Basnet said that the airlines with its two-new aircrafts ATR 42/320 that it bought from France will fly to five loss-making sectors like Dhangadi, Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa, Biratnagar and Bhadrapur. “After these 47-seater will start flying, Buddha Air can slash its air fares and fly passengers at lower cost,” he added. Buddha Air had a total of seven aircrafts — five 1900D Beech aircraft and two 1900C Beech aircraft before it bought the new aircrafts with the help of IFC. IFC, a member of World Bank Group, had provided $10 million loan to the experienced private air operator Buddha Air to strengthen its market leadership in August. “For the purchase of two ATR 42/320 aircraft from France, Buddha Air submitted an investment proposal to IFC and it approved it after going through it minutely,” he said. IFC had approved a 10 year term loan of $10 million to part finance this expansion. Buddha Air has been in operation since October of 1997. The Himalayan Times daily reports
