FATHER, DAUGHTER KILLED IN MOTORCYCLE COLLISION

PRESIDENT EXTENDS TIHAR GREETINGS

Kathmandu, 26 Oct.: President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has extended best wishes for the happiness, peace and prosperity of all the Nepalis on the occasion of the great festival of Tihar or the festival of lights, RSS reports.

May this festival, observed as a special festival that brings light in the midst of darkness, bring economic prosperity and fraternity and social goodwill and unity, and thereby inspire us all to achieve peace, stability and progress, President Yadav has said in the message.

Likewise, Vice-president Parmananda Jha has also extended best wishes to all Nepali brothers and sisters living inside and outside the country on the occasion of Dipawali and Chhath festival.

Stating that the constitution is the most awaited subject as a national need and priority as per the people´s aspiration, he said that may the brightness of Deepawali put an end to the political impasse in the constitution-making process, and thereby bring peace, happiness and prosperity to all the Nepalis.
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FATHER KILLED WTH DAUGHTER IN MOTORCYCLE COLLISTON WITH TRUCK
Kathmandu, 26 Oct.: Two persons died in a motorcycle accident in Dumkibas-5, Nawalparasi, along the East-West Highway Tuesday night, RSS reports from Kawasoti.

District Traffic Police Office, Nawalparasi, said the 35-year-old Nar Bahadur BK and his five-year-old daughter Alina of Dumkibas-2 died in the accident after the motorcycle (Lu 6 Pa 1027) that Nar Bahadur and Alina were riding collided with the stationary truck (Ba 1 Kha 2938) at 10:45 P.M.

Seriously injured Nar Bahadur and Alina died on the way while they were rushed to local Kali Gandaki Hospital, police said.
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CCTV SET UP AT CUSTONS ON NEPAL-INDIA BORDER

Kathmandu, 26 Oct.: Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTVs) have been installed in Belahiya Customs Office in Rupandehi district as an attempt to stop irregularities and corruption. Belahiya Customs Office is the third largest customs office in the district, RSS reports from Butwal.

Earlier, the government had directed to install the CCTVs in the office following maximum reports on irregularities and corruption in the customs office.

The CCTVs have been placed in the office of the Rastriya Banijya Bank at the same premises to capture the activities of the passengers’ lounge, checking room, two warehouses among other rooms of the customs office.

Chief Customs Officer Dikar Dev Bhatta said that some new CCTVs were added while the old CCTVs were brought into use by repairing them.

Bhatta said the CCTVs were installed as a part of customs office’s modernization and reforms step.
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ADMINISTRATIVE RESTRUCTURING UNIT AT PM’S OFFICE
Kathamandu, 26 Oct 26: To facilitate restructuring of the entire administration in line with the federal system and coordinate with the government over this, the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) has set up an Administrative Restructuring Unit (ARU) within its own structure, Bimal Gautam writes isn Republica.

According to OPMCM Secretary Somlal Subedi, the ARU will float technical advice to the government and other stakeholders to develop public administration as per the federal structure.


"This unit will help adjust public administration in line with federal structure before and after the country enters into a federal system," said Secretary Subedi.

A secretary will take charge of the ARU and a dozen government staff will be deputed to it.

The unit will carry out mainly two tasks. First, it will make prior arrangements for restructuring the administration, and secondly, it will implement the provisions regarding federal structure to be incorporated in the new constitution.

For now, the ARU will make plans setting out the structure, number and nature of government ministries and departments to be set up in the provinces under the federal structure.

"The unit will do detailed work on the role, number, jurisdiction and other aspects of various government agencies to be set up under provincial states," said OPMCM Joint Secretary Sarad Paudel.

The government will draw its conclusion on whether to set up ministries or departments in provincial states, on the basis of ARU recommendations.

The unit will also extend technical advice to the government including on who will appoint employees for government agencies to be set up in provincial states.

Some donor agencies have shown interest in supporting the OPMCM in operating the ARU. "However, we won´t accept any support without assessing their interest," said Secretary Subedi, adding, "That is why we have sought progress reports from donor agencies that have shown interest in supporting us."

Donor agencies interested in supporting the OPMCM in running the ARU and working on administrative restructuring have to furnish through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs their work history in the area of federalism within Nepal´s context.

"We have suggested to them to submit their work details on federal system only through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Subedi added.

According to Secretary Subedi, all the ministries are also being asked to set up technical wings of the ARU to work under the central unit set up at the OPMCM. "We have also sought the contributions made by various government agencies to the administrative restructuring file," he added.
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ROW OVER COMPENSATION ENDS

Kathmandu, 26 Oct.: Long stalled acquisition of land for the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Road may start soon after all stakeholders tentatively agreed on the rate at which the land for the project will be acquired from individual landowners in Makawanpur district, Prabhakar Ghimere reports in Republica.

The rate will be Rs 100,000 - Rs 275,000 per kattha (3,638.20 square feet).

The dispute over the price on which the government can acquire land for the proposed 76-km express highway was settled after Central Regional Administrator Madhav Regmi intervened to speed up the acquisition process. He called an all-party meeting in Hetauda to forge consensus over the land price.

“I pushed for an all-party consensus mainly because lingering the issue would only add burden to the government as prices have been escalating with time,” said Regmi told Republica.

“A tentative agreement has been reached at the all-party meeting to pay Rs 100,000 - Rs 275,000 per kattha depending on the location and valuation as compensation to landowners,” said a participant in the all-party meeting.

The government has to acquire 1,400 kattha of land in seven VDCs of Makawanpur, five VDCs in Lalitpur, one VDC in Kathmandu and Bara districts, requiring around Rs 500 million in compensation.

There was a dispute over how to fix the price of land to be acquired, making the compensation distribution process delayed by more than a year.

A High Level Committee to Facilitate Land Acquisition for Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Road had suggesed to fix price in the range of Rs 80,000 to Rs 280,000 per ropani (5,476 square feet) depending on the location of land. However, local villagers were demanding almost double the price estimated by the high-level committee.

Though the government had released Rs 46 million in 2009/10 and also allocated additional Rs 340 million in 2010/11 for compensation to the land owners, the amount couldn´t be spent due to delay in fixing the price of land in Makawanpur district.

“Now that compensation amount has been agreed upon, we are going to start land acquisition for the proposed four-lane super highway within a month,” said Regmi. Process of land acquisition in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bara would follow the process in Makawanpur.

Clearing the confusion over who would be eligible for compensation, a high-level committee in September had recommended to the government to provide compensation equal to 75 percent of the land value for the residents not possessing land ownership certificates.

The team had clarified that the settlers who are residing for over 20 years are eligible to get the compensation against the acquisition of their land.

The panel led by Chet Nath Ghimire, former deputy attorney general, had also advised the government to provide additional 10 percent of the total compensation to those who would be displaced while acquiring the land.

The government has allocated Rs 710 million for the fast track project, including Rs 340 million for land acquisition in the current fiscal year.
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MAOIST LAWMAKERS DEMAND TRANSPARENCY IN MANAGEMENT OF LEVY MANAGEMENT
Kathmandu, 26 Sept.: UCPN (Maoist) lawmakers have mounted pressure on their Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to make transparent the amount of money they pay to the party as levy every month, The Kathmandu Post reports..
The Maoist party generally receives Rs 10,000 per month from each Constituent Assembly (CA) member; a whopping Rs 2.37 million every month.
Maoist lawmakers are complaining of a lack of accounting and auditing of party funds, and many have pointed fingers at the party headquarters’ “monopoly” of resources.
According to a lawmaker, this was the main agenda of the party’s Parliamentary Party board meeting held last week.
In an interview with the pro-Maoist magazine, Samayabodh, Maoist Standing Committee member Netra Bikram Chand said the financial system of the party had gone haywire. “Several lawmakers are complaining about the mobilisation of financial resources they provide for the party,” he said. After pressure from lawmakers, Dahal has agreed to collect only Rs 3,000 from each CA member beginning next month. According to Chand, after long discussions in the Parliamentary Board, the party decided to collect only Rs 3,000 from each lawmaker every month.
In a move to further appease critics, during a Central Committee meeting that ended on July 23, Dahal announced the formation of a Finance and Accounts Department “to manage the party’s income, expenditure and resources in a collective way as per the party statute”. However, despite these assurances, leaders still doubt its
effective execution. Although the
CC has mandated the party headquarters to hand over details of financial transactions to this newly-formed department, concrete results have been elusive.
The party headquarters has
not taken any step to maintain financial transparency in the party, the
lawmakers said. “The party should maintain financial transparency and audit its funds,” said lawmaker Tej Bahadur Mijar.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Baidya faction of the party have asked lawmakers not to pay levy if the chairman fails to maintain financial transparency. After the intra-party rift grew, the issue of financial irregularities has become pricklier
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NEPAL LIKELY TO HOST 18TH SAARC SUMMIT

Kathmandu, 26 Oct.: Nepal has decided in principal to host the 18th Saarc Summit in the first half of 2013, six months later than the regular schedule owing to political and technical reasons, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The Saarc Charter (Article III) states that the Heads of State or Government shall meet once a year or more often as and when considered necessary by the member states. However, the summit is being convened in a gap of one-and-a-half years.
The 17th Saarc Summit is scheduled to be held in Addu Atoll island in the Southern hemisphere of Maldives on November 10 and 11. It will take a final call on the date of the 18th Saarc summit to be held in Nepal.
Officials say the six-month margin is the result of uncertain political course and the urgency to promulgate the new constitution and hold elections for a new parliament. “We also need to vacant the Constituent Assembly building, which needs to be renovated to hold such an international jamboree,” an official privy to Saarc affairs told the Post on condition of anonymity. “Considering the timeline for drafting the new statute and conducting periodic elections, we have principally agreed to host the summit in the first half of 2013,” said the official.
Since the inception of Saarc in 1985, Kathmandu hosted two summits—third in 1987 and 11th in 2002.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, special envoy of Maldivian President Mohamad Nasheed arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday to extend an invitation to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to attend the 17th summit. Zaki is meeting PM Bhattarai on Wednesday at the latter’s
residence.
According to officials, Maldives has requested Nepal for a small official delegation. “Due to hospitability reasons, the official team would not exceed 13 as Maldives has requested to make it not more than nine.”
Earlier, Zaki had come here in August and invited the then PM Jhalanath Khanal to attend the summit. “According to the practice, invitations are extended on personal basis. As Khanal is no more at the helm, so Zaki is in town again to invite PM Bhattarai,” said Saarc secretariat spokesman Niranjan Man Singh Basynat.
Meanwhile, Saarc Secretary General Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed called on PM Bhattari, Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Acting Foreign Secretary Durga Bhattarai on Tuesday and apprised them of the ongoing preparation in the run-up to the 17th Saarc summit. “During the meeting, matters related to forthcoming 17th SAARC summit, regional cooperation and other contemporary Saarc issues were discussed,” said a Foreign Ministry release.
According to the Saarc secretariat, the official engagement of the summit would begin on November 6 followed by joint secretary level meetings of the eight member states. Foreign secretaries of the member states will be meeting on November 7 and 8, which will finalise the agendas of the summit and declaration. The meeting of Council of Ministers of the member states is holding a meeting on November 9.
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