News from Nepal May, 2011 (consolidated)

3 immigration officials abscond – CA members’ diplomatic passports misuse

May 1, 2011 @ 22:11

After the immigration officer Bhuminanda Bhandari implicated three immigration officials working at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and police wrote to the immigration office to handover them, they have absconded, according to the news report of Annapurna Post.

Bhuminanda Bhandari was arrested by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police on Wednesday after finding his involvement in the misuse of diplomatic passports of CA members, Gayatri Sah and Bishwanath Prasad Yadav.

Three immigration officials are section officer Shyam Babu Bhandari, computer officer Nanda Kumar Sunuwar and senior immigration assistant Devidatta Uprety. They have not gone to the office and are not found at their residences since past few days.

Police started looking for them at every possible place after the immigration office did not hand them over to them as per their request.

Sah and Yadav, who are charged of selling their diplomatic passports for a huge sum, are in police custody for investigation. Yadav’s diplomatic passport was using by Prithvi Chhatya and Sah’s passport was using by Sita Sah.

Another politician, Jhakku Prasad Subedi, got slapped

May 3, 2011 @ 06:39

Again another leader got slap from commoner. A coffeeshop owner at Tinkune, Kathmandu slapped Maoist lawmaker Jhakku Prasad Subedi twice on Monday, May 2 to vent frustration over the lawmaker for delaying the constitution drafting process.

Earlier in January, one Devi Prasad Regmi had slapped CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal in Itahari as political parties failed to elect a prime minister.

The slapper (coffeeshop owner) is identified as Premraj Devkota, of Gaikur VDC-8 in Gorkha district and has been taken into police custody.  Devkota shouted at Subedi when Subedi was returning from parliamentary, “When will you draft the constitution?” before slapping him.

“He (Devkota) asked me when the constitution would be drafted. I assured him of constitution promulgation and told him to have patience. Then he slapped me on my both cheeks,” media quoted Subedi as saying.

Subedi is the one who has defeated UML general-secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal in the Constituent Assembly poll in April 2008.

“I am not afraid to die but I won’t spare anyone who tortures people,” Devkota told reporters after police held him.

Gurkha Development Bank scam: NRB prescribes action

May 4, 2011 @ 19:32
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to request the concerned authorities to freeze all fixed and movable assets belonging to the former board officials, employees and creditors of Gorkha Development Bank (GDB) who were involved in irregularities to push the bank to near-collapse.

A meeting of the NRB Board of Directors on April 29 had made such decision and recommended action against the former GDB officials as per the Banking Offense Act.

The NRB had declared the GDB problematic on March 25 due to its bad financial health and the officials were found involved in irregularities. The Bank and Financial Institution Act (BAFIA) bars promoters and directors from taking loans from their own banks. But the directors have taken more than Rs 500 million, according to a Gurkha source.

Officials facing the central bank’s action (cited from Kantipur) are: –

1.      Former executive chairman Dambar Bahadur Bamjan

2.      Director Nirmal Gurung,

3.      Director Dhan Prasad Rai,

4.      Director Dinesh Shakya,

5.      Director Mina Shrestha,

6.      Director Sanjeev Kumar Mishra,

7.      Director Mahesh Prasad Rijal

8.      Director Ramesh Tamang.

9.      Immediate general manager/Promoter Rajendra Das Shrestha

10.  Immediate credit department chief Deepak Rana

11.  Former director Prabeen Naulakha (had resigned before the scandal came to light)

12.  Rakesh Adukiya, Managing Director, Nepal Mentha Product Limited

13.  Ruchi Jajodiy, wife of Adukiya

14.  Borrower Sajeev Kumar Agrawal

15.  Borrower Jeevan Ghimire

16.  Punam Khetan, directors of Krishi Premura

The central bank has also decided to dispatch request letter to concerned authorities to seize passports of former director Naulakha, borrower Ghimre and Agrawal and former general manager Shrestha. Passports of other former directors have already been seized.

As per the Banking Offense Act, they may be slapped with three- to five-year jail term along with the payment of the amount equivalent to the offense and fines, if proved to be guilty.

Girl´s love affair with uncle brought mother´s life to an end

May 5, 2011 @ 20:12

The District Police Office of Nawalparasi on Thursday made public Asmita Gahatraj and her maternal uncle Binod BK on the charge of killing Shanta Sunar, 38. Sunar is mother of Gahatraj, 18 and sister of BK.

Gahatraj and BK were arrested on Tuesday by a special police team led by sub-inspector Suresh Raj Bhatta from Ramche VDC of Myagdi district. They are accused of killing Sunar, 38, by using a sharp weapon on March 9.

According to the Superintendent of Police, Krishna Prasad Gautam, both have confessed that they had been in love affair since the last four years and committed the crime in a fit of rage as Sunar refused their marriage proposal owing to their blood relationship.

Load-shedding cut down by 3 hrs

May 5, 2011 @ 20:32

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Thursday said that the daily load-shedding has been cut down to 11 hours from 14 hours. Load-shedding hours have been reduced after rising of water level in the hydro power plants that has improved the generation of electricity.

There was heavy rainfall in the last few days in different parts of the country causing the rise of water level.

The new load-shedding schedule will come to effect from Friday.

Fake IC notes found in the capital

May 6, 2011 @ 20:10

Fake notes with a face value of IRs 3,095,000 in 1000 and 500 denominations were found during raid by a special police squad at Hotel Landmark in Kamaladi on Friday. 51-year-old Hussain Syed Sardar, Pakistan-based ‘smuggler’, has been taken into custody by Metropolitan Police.

On Thursday Sardar had checked into the hotel. He had concealed fake notes in a false bottom of his luggage and was able to manage to sneak through the Tribhuvan International Airport, according to SP Kedar Rijal, in charge of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu. He came to Kathmandu from Pakistan.

On Wednesday night also, police have caught Nawal Kishor Yadav, 39, of Parsa red-handed with fake IC notes with a face value of IRs 832,000 in denomination of IRs 500. The notes were concealed in the ‘factory-packed’ Johnson baby powders and potato chips.

Clash of Student groups in Trichandra Campus

May 8, 2011 @ 18:36

Clash occurred between two students groups supporting the All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (ANNFSU) and the Nepal Students Union (NSU) on Sunday morning at the Trichandra Campus in Jamal, Kathmandu when some NSU supporters pelted stones at the ANNFSU students as the latter tried to obstruct their protest. The protest was for exerting pressure on the concerned authorities to release one of their comrades, Bijendra Giri, who is in the police custody for about two months.

Security personnel have been beefed up in the Campus area to prevent further clash following the morning incident.

Giri was arrested in Kapan finding connection in the intimidation in a tender bid. However, the police records apparently showed Giri’s name as mentioned otherwise. According to ANNFSU’s Samik Badal, Giri had inflicted injuries on Birendra Rawal, an ANNFSU leader, after attacking him with a khukuri in the Campus premises on December 19 following dispute over admission of new students.

+2 examinees vandalized for not allowing to cheat

May 8, 2011 @ 18:38

Tension ran high when the grade XII students appearing for the finals resorted to vandalism and arson at Buddha Padma Higher Secondary School of Taulihawa, district headquarters of Kapilvastu, on Sunday.

The students vandalized the school’s furniture and burned the documents for not allowing them to cheat during the exam. Students from Siddhartha Higher Secondary School, Buddha Jyoti Higher Secondary School and Sunshine Higher Secondary School were sitting for their finals at that centre.

Four motorcycles and seven bicycles belonging to the schoolteachers were also damaged, police said. The students also encircled the District Administration Office and imposed a banda at Taulihawa in the afternoon. A brief clash occurred between students and police personnel.

Police rounded four students in connection with the vandalism and arson at the school. When the students were assaulting the proctors, many students fled without submitting their answer sheets.

Putalisadak tense due to clash between NSU and police

May 11, 2011 @ 03:20

On Tuesday, Putalisadak area was tensed due to the clash between Nepali Congress-aligned Nepal Students Union (NSU) and police at Shankerdev Campus when NSU were protesting with a demand of  unconditional release of Bijendra Giri of Trichandra Campus, who is currently in custody.

The students burnt tyres on the roads and obstructed vehicles from moving in the area. The clash ensued after police intervened the protest.

From the Campus premises including the roof top, the students pelted stones at the police. To control the situation, the police lobbed few rounds of tear gas shell to disperse the agitators.

(Photo Credit: Rajesh Gurung)

Student accuses Manipal college teacher of molestation

May 11, 2011 @ 06:58

A 19 year-old Indian student is reportedly molested by a senior teacher in Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara. According to an Indian newspaper, Hindustan Times, the incident took place on May 4.

It is told that the teacher asked the girl to come to his office to inquire about her marks in tests. She alleged that the teacher molested her and asked her to go to his room to explain everything.

On May 5 the mother and brother of the student arrived in Pokhara and lodged complaint with the police and the college. The teacher is reportedly denied any wrong doing and he also has lodged a case to police alleging physical assault by the family of the student.

The student and her family returned to their home in Delhi, India on May 6. The internal inquiry by MCOMS, Pokhara claims that the teacher had patted the student while explaining the situation and that doesn’t count as a sexual harassment.

CA members Yadav, Sah suspended and CIAA demands for 15 years jail term

May 13, 2011 @ 01:58

Constituent Assembly (CA) members B.P Yadav of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum and Gayatri Sah of Nepali Janata Dal automatically lost their Constituent Assembly membership as per Section 33 of Corruption Prevention Act, 2002 as the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed corruption cases against them at the Special Court on Wednesday. Yadav and Sah are facing charges of misuse of their diplomatic passports

CIAA also filed cases again others seven suspected for assisting them in renting their passports for hefty sums. Suspected seven are:-

  1. CA member Sah’s father Hari Charan Sah, who heads the Nepali Janata Dal,
  2. Santosh Raj Upreti, Hari Charan Sah’s aide
  3. Head of the Immigration Department Khadananda Dhakal,
  4. Section Officer Shyam Babu Bhandari
  5. Section Officer Bhumi Nanda Bhandari,
  6. Computer Officer Indra Kumar Sunar and
  7. Junior Officer Devi Dutta Khatri

The CIAA has demanded jail sentence up to 15 years for Yadav and Sah-

  • 10 years for the crime as per Section 3(1) of the Corruption Prevention Act, 2002,
  • additional 2 years for tampering the red passports as per Section 11 of the Act and
  • additional 3 years for misusing honourable positions.

CIAA has also demanded for Rs 16 million as fine since the investigation has found that the duo had sold their passports for Rs 16 million with the help of a mediator named Santosh Uprety. CA members Yadav and Shah are currently in police custody while other accused are at large.

Nepal Bandh, Anti-strike rally in Kathmandu, British money

May 13, 2011 @ 07:44

On Friday the 13th of May, Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) had organized a Nepal Bandh (Nepal strike). The streets in Kathmandu were empty and more people were walking to go to their jobs.

The police has told that they have nabbed 73 workers of NEFIN who were forcing the businesses to close and stopping vehicles. By 11 in the morning the police has told that it has already arrested more than a 1000 people all over Nepal.

At the same time, some youths have organized a motorbike rally against the strike, in Kathmandu. The strike was organized by using social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter and mobile phone SMS message:

Enough is Enough. Nepalese want constitution NOT Bandhs. Come one. Come all, with your motorbikes & cycles and ask for Constitution & defy Bandhs. Rally starts at 10 am. May 13. Friday, from Tridevi Marg, Thamel. Alliance against Bandh. Please forward to all

Kantipur has reported that, in response to the strike, the British government agency has withheld the support equivalent of Rs 110 million to NEFIN. The British agency has told that such strike violates human rights and they can’t help organizations involved in violation of human rights.

It seems, with the popularity of social network in Nepal, any future such strikes will fail. Following photos were taken by Shreedeep Rayamajhi. (more photos of artists in anti-bandh rally)

YAN to encircle CA building with 50,000 youth on May 28

May 13, 2011 @ 19:35

Youth Association Nepal (YAN), wing of ruling party, CPN-UML, has announced that about 50,000 youths will encircle the Constituent Assembly (CA) premises in New Baneshwar on May 28 (Jestha 14) to exert pressure on political parties for ensuring peace and constitution-drafting. On May 28, the extended term of the CA will expire, if not decided to extend once again.

Organizing a press conference at Reporters Club in the Capital, YAN chairman, Mahesh Basnet made such announcement on Friday and he also announced that there will be mass gatherings in 18 different places across the country on May 26. On May 19, YAN will protest the “irresponsible attitude and wrongdoings of the CA after the CA elections” in front of the CA building.

He further said that the CA term should not be extended again without giving justifiable reasons. On Thursday, the government has registered a proposal in Parliament to amend the Interim Constitution and extend the tenure of the CA by one more year.

Meanwhile, YAN is set to hold an interaction between Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress President Susil Koirala and CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal on the topic “Peace, Statute and National Consensus” in Kathmandu to mark its 21st anniversary on Monday.

PM Khanal was greeted by black flag by his own cadres

May 14, 2011 @ 23:59

Black flags were waved to Prime Minister and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal by his own cadres in a public programme in Inaruwa, Sunsari on Saturday. The programme was organized by the UML, itself.

The incident happened when PM Khanal had just taken his seat in the podium and UML chief whip Bhim Acharya was addressing the programme.

Sarada Niraula, a member of UML’s local committee was taken under control by security personnel as soon as he showed the black flag to Prime Minister Khanal muttering a few words. Niraula is the leader of Telecom Employees’ Association of Nepal too.

UML cadres also manhandled Khanal when the police whisked khanal away.

In the same district, Khanal had received slap from Devi Prasad Regmi nearly four months ago during a public function.

Man who devoted entire life in cleaning Bagmati river is no more

May 15, 2011 @ 17:14

Bhagawan Das Manandhar, who devoted his entire life keeping Bagmati river clean died on Saturday at the age of 86. He had been cleaning Bagmati River without any financial supports for more than 60 years.

He alone went to the river and started cleaning it without which he wouldn’t have his afternoon meal. Manandhar’s son Durga Das remembered his saying, “If you can, keep Bagmati clean, if you can’t, don’t pollute it.”

Anonymous DDos attack on a deserted island – Nepalgov.gov.np

May 17, 2011 @ 04:54

An ‘Anonymous’ group named #OpEverest has hacked the Nepal Government’s official website nepalgov.gov.np. The group says that the extreme measure was done to draw attention towards corruption, internet spying, internet filter, and mismanagement in Nepal.

The DDos attack on the website confirm the impact of this letter (click on the image on the right to enlarge it). The letter mentions various other government and political party websites as their next target.

I am surprised how could they attack some website to fulfill such clueless demands. Nobody knows how to fulfil these demands. The letter says: r
educe corruption – everybody is saying that and the government has also punished some corrupt people (a show-off). It can’t be done by a magic wand. Missmanagement – what is that? How does one know if they are spying internet or not? And internet filtering can be stopped. But, is this the right way to demand such things?

Let’s analyze their next target sites and impact on them:

First – none of these sites have any useful information. Nither the government nor the citizen care if the sites go offline for a couple of days or weeks.

  • ucpnm.org (Maoist website – last two updates March 9 and April 26)
  • nepalicongress.org (Nepali Congress website – Google has flagged it as Attack Page and they haven’t cared to correct the problem)
  • cpnuml.org (CPN UML website – last two updates on Feb 17)
  • mjfn.org  (I couldn’t open it, even Google hasn’t indexed it – so couldn’t check the cache – I suspect it is not online at all)

As you can see, these sites are mostly blogs. They post contents and don’t update the sites for months. Nobody relies in these sites for any works. These sites are only made to show their online presence. Most of the Nepali (including myself) don’t even know they existed before today.

A tentative traffic analysis of these sites. The biggest site, Anonymous choose to attack, is ranked almost 2000 in Nepal and it is ranked 1,667,960 worldwide. A month-old blog with a couple of posts can get over that rank in Alexa within a few months. Other websites are even worse.

Yes, Alexa is not reliable. But, I am the most reliable source – I or anybody I know have
ever felt the need to visit these sites. I don’t know what they want to prove by attacking these sites. An attack to any Joe’s personal blog will create more ripple effect than doing anything to these sites.

I won’t be surprised if government and Nepali people don’t even notice such an attack on the sites. This shows, the stark reality, Nepali is still not ready to be taken digitally.

Maoist spokesperson regrets over the death threat to Bhattarai

May 18, 2011 @ 03:06

UCPN (Maoist) spokesperson Dinanath Sharma, releasing press statement on Tuesday, condemned the death threat issued to its senior leader and vice chairman Baburam Bhattarai and thanks the security guards for alerting everyone about the conspiracy on time.

Further the press statement reads “The party has been shocked and alerted by the revelation that the conspiracy to execute party Vice Chairman Baburam Bhattarai was being plotted within the premises of the party central office in Paris Danda.”

In the statement he has suspected of the infiltration of reactionary forces in the party at a dangerous level of state and expressed commitment to investigate those involved in the plot and bring them to justice.

Media has published on Monday that Bhattarai had received death threat from own party cadres for assisting in the arrest of Kalpadip Rai, All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) leader at Casino Anna. Rai is accused of murder attempt of Gyan Man Dangol, who is a leader of a rival faction supporting Dr. Bhattarai.

It has been learnt that Janak Gadtaula, labour union leader, was calling some men to the party headquarters at Paris Danda over the phone saying, ‘we must finish Baburam’.

TU students, now, can see answer sheets

May 19, 2011 @ 06:47

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday issued an order to Tribhuvan University (TU) to allow its students to have a look on their examined answer sheets on their request, after the results are published.

The Information Commission has decided to allow students to see their answer sheets as per their right to information and TU has filed writ against it saying such provision would breach the confidentiality and values of the examinations. But the SC upheld the same decision. A joint bench of Balaram K.C and Awadesh Kumar Yadav took this decision.

However, students cannot demand for reexamining the answer sheets and TU also must ensure confidentiality about the examiners, SC said.

‘Constitution of Nepal’ – Name of New Constitution

May 19, 2011 @ 19:05

The long time dispute on naming the new constitution has been resolved on Thursday. A meeting of the sub-committee formed under the Constitutional Committee decided to name the statue as ‘Constitution of Nepal’.

Different parties were proposing different name for the constitution. During deliberations held at the CC in 2009, there was a serious split among major parties on giving the constitution a name. Different proposed names were: –

  • “Constitution of People’s Federal Republic Nepal” by Maoists.
  • “Constitution of Federal Democratic Republic Nepal” by Nepali Congress and CPN-UML
  • “Constitution of the Socialism Oriented Republic of Nepal” by Nepal Majdoor Kishan Party
  • “Constitution of Federal Republic Nepal” by Sadbhawana Anandidevi

CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said, altogether eight disputes including six disputes over the name of the upcoming constitution were resolved on Thursday. Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal heading sub-committee has decided to forgo any mention of the Maoist combatants in the constitution. Similarly, another dispute was resolved by deciding to incorporate the clauses of fundamental rights within the Directive Principles of the State. There are still 22 more disputes to be resolved.

To get the final approval for the name, it still needs two-thirds votes in the 596-member Constituent Assembly.

CC sub-committee rejects provision of mandatory military training to all

May 21, 2011 @ 16:23

The meeting of sub-committee of the Constitutional Council on Friday rejected the UCPN (Maoist) proposal of making military training mandatory for every citizen above 18 years of age in new constitution.

Coordinator of the sub-committee and Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal informed the media that they have agreed not to include the provision of compulsory military training in the new constitution.

The meeting was held to discuss on disputed issues seen in constitution drafting, but couldn’t hold discussion on other disputed issues as it was shortened due to the mass gathering program of the Nepali Congress.

There are yet 21 more disputes to be resolved by the sub-committee as per reports submitted by various thematic committees.

Fashion Designer of the Year 2011

May 22, 2011 @ 15:12

Aakriti K.C. was announced the winner in the event “Designer of Year 2011” that was organized at World Trade Centre in Kathmandu on May 21.

With the title “Designer of Year 2011”, Aakriti K.C also received the cash prize of 100,000 and the position of authorized fashion designer in London Fashion House, London. London Fashion House, situated in the city of London, Hayes and Harlington, had organized this event. The focus of event was on the dresses designed from Nepali Dhaka. 23 designers have participated in this event.

The event was organized to promote the skill and creativity of participants by providing them platform and merchandising their products in domestic and international market.

MoE plans to double scholarship quota for marginalized and poor community school students

May 24, 2011 @ 16:46

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has started homework for doubling the full scholarship quota from 5 % to 10 % targeting students from marginalized and poor community.  It has also started homework for allocation of teachers in higher secondary schools from the new academic session starting July.

Tribhuvan University is trying to phase out the Proficiency Intermediate Level from long time ago, but, still, there is no post for government teachers in +2 education.

MoE had presented a Bill in the Cabinet seeking amendment to the Education Act 1971. After the cabinet finalizes the Bill, it will be forwarded to the parliament for endorsement.

According to MoE Spokesman Janardan Nepal, the amendment as sought will define education as envisioned in School Sector Reform Programme (SSRP), that is, up to Plus Two as school education, categorizing Grade 1 to 8 as primary level and 9 to 12 as secondary level.

Police raid on VoIP operating company, Rs 5 lakhs offered as bribe

May 25, 2011 @ 12:03

On the basis of the information received from the informer, police raid on Future Business and Investment Company in Kupandole, Lalitpur on May 24 and arrested Prakash Kumar (Pawan) on the charge of illegal operation of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Police has seized 17 UTL SIM cards, 58 NCell SIM card and 12 Nepal Telecom SIM card from the accused. Eight gateway SIM boxes, cord port, GSM antenna, CDMA port and seven big inverters were also confiscated.

Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) was investigating on it from long time and when police raid there, Pawan was busy in call bypass receiving from foreign country. Head of CIB DIG Rajendra Singh Bhandari said Pawan, working as an engineer at the Investment Company, has been found to be operating the illegal business from a long time. DIG Bhandari also showed Rs. 5 lakhs that was offered by Pawan as bribe to the police.

Nepal Unites’ ‘No Work No Pay’ event in London on 27 May

May 25, 2011 @ 16:49

To pressure the Nepal government in writing the constitution within the time frame and for better coordination and cooperation between the top three parties in Nepal for the progress of the country, an event is set to take place on 27th MAY from 12-2PM outside the Embassy of Nepal in London.

In the following video Lex Limbu explains what the event means to Nepal and Nepali:

More information is available in the the event page in Facebook.

The organizers have informed the local police station about the event and the Embassy of Nepal and The Kensington Borough Council have also granted the permission to host the event in the area.

The Nepali community in Sydney, Australia is also planning to do a similar event on the same day, 27 May, 2011 from 12 am to 12 pm.

CA term can’t be extended by more than six months without special condition: SC

May 26, 2011 @ 17:17

The Supreme Court (SC), on Wednesday, said that the Constituent Assembly (CA) term cannot be extended by more than six months unless there are special circumstances and a state of emergency is imposed.

SC quashed the writ filed against last year’s extension of CA which was filed by advocates Bharat Mani Jangam and Balkrishna Neupane demanding the extension annulled.

A five-member special bench chaired by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi said that it is meaningless to annul the extension as there are only three days remaining of the extended term and the annulment of the extended term would affect the tasks carried out by the CA in the extended term. The final verdict was delivered on the review of the November 4, 2010 judgment. The other bench members are Justices Damodar Sharma, Rajkumar Prasad Shrestha, Kalyan Shrestha and Tahir Ail Ansari.

The bench claimed that CA had breached its jurisdiction by using the authority of the Legislature Parliament to amend the constitution at midnight in May 28, last year. The CA term should have been extended by the Legislature Parliament after amending the interim constitution, not by the CA itself.

Clash in Baneshwor

May 27, 2011 @ 01:24

vehicular movement halted for about 40 mins due to torch rally – CA met for only 95 minutes in extended one year

Cadres of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) clashed with police near the Constituent Assembly (CA) building, New Baneshwar on Thursday and around three dozen cadres including central committee member Gita Basnet were injured, General Secretary of RPP-N Raja Ram Shrestha said to media.

Some security personnel were also injured in the clash. Those injured are undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

The pro-monarchy RPP-N was staging demonstration at the prohibited area of New Baneshwor, in front of the CA building, demanding fresh elections and dissolution of the CA. So, the clash broke out when the demonstrators defied the prohibitory order and pelted bricks and stones at police.

The government has declared the area outside the CA building as prohibited zone considering the protests by various disgruntled groups in the run-up-to the May 28 deadline of the CA.

RPP-Nepal had started protest in the area since Wednesday against the proposed extension of the CA’s term that will continue till May 28. “It would be an irresponsible task if the CA term is extended for the next time”, said Party chairman Kamal Thapa.

Last year, CA was extended for one year, but, the CA has only met merely 7 times in the last 1 year and for only 95 minutes in those 7 meets. More than 110 BILLION rupees have all been bled in vain in the last 3 years. According to event page in facebook, now, what sense does it make to add 1 more year when the last 3 years have been completely wasted?

At around 6:15 PM, torch rally was started from New Baneshwor and ended at Basantapur Darbar Square. In Thapathali and Tripureshwor area, vehicular movement was halted for about 40 minutes due to torch rally and later causing traffic jam.

Vehicles vandalized, some arrested

May 27, 2011 @ 18:27

Vehicles were vandalized in several places during the course of the bandh called by various organizations on Friday.

At 4:45 AM, group of two/three unidentified persons torched a Nepal Yatayat bus (Ba 1 Kha 7324) at Jadibudi in Bhaktapur by throwing bottle of petrol in it. The bus is totally vandalized. Police took two suspicious persons under control and initiated action against them.

Similarly, at Banasthali in Kathmandu, three men in a 220 c.c motorcycle set ablaze the van (Ba 5 Cha 9375) belonging to the Kantipur Television after following from Putalisadak. Police took six persons including 20 years old Bhagnath Dallakoti of Chitawon under control from Balaju and 20 years old Bikki Lama of Ghattekulo from Maitidevi at 11 am, as suspects.

At Dillibazaar height, Kathmandu also, a microbus (Ba 1 Ja 6255) was torched by group of five persons at 5 am and external glasses and seats were demolished in the fire, according to police. Similarly, at Sukedhara Prakashmarg, Kathmandu, an unidentified person vandalized glass of a taxi (Ba 1 Ja 7548) by pelting stone in it at 5 am.

Police detained two persons including Bhumiraj Niraula, general secretary of Chure Bhabhar from New Road, Kathmandu at 7:45 am while forcefully enforcing bandh. Thirty men and seven women of Chure Bhabhar were also held by police during rally from party office Anamnagar to Baneshwor.

Two persons including Ganesh Pokhrel of Biratnagar, cadre of Brahman Samaj were detained in Morang. Bandh supporters have destroyed motorcycles (Ba 23 Pa 6889 and Ga 4 Pa 3974) at Shanti Chowk, Chitawon district while heading towards Narayangadh from Khairani, but, not harmed much.

Lawmakers’ death rituals performed by people’s movement victim

May 28, 2011 @ 15:42

Netra Pani Subedi, 46, of Kaskikot-4 has performed once again ‘Shraadhha’ annual death ritual observed by the Hindus, on May 28 2011. He had performed the first ‘Shraadhha’ one year ago, on May 28 2010. He was injured during the 19-day agitation. Subedi performed the mourning rituals for all the 601 lawmakers accusing them of failing to deliver the new constitution by the extended May 28 deadline.

Similarly, Gautam, 24, of Purunchaur-9, shaved his head and long-time-grown beard as a protest. Gautam is also the victim of the People’s Movement-II (19-day agitation). He has sent it to the lawmakers as a protest against the Constituent Assembly (CA) members.

They said that they are deeply saddened to have to do it and added further that CA members are as good as dead after being unable to release the constitution in two years.

CA to extend 3 months: Maoist, UML and NC signed a 5-point deal

May 28, 2011 @ 23:11
UPDATE: The CA is extended for another 3 months. In an election held in CA, out of total 508 votes 504 votes were cast for the proposal and only 4 CA members voted against the extension.

The top three political parties CPN Maoist, CPN UML, and Nepali Congress have reached to an agreement and signed a 5-point deal. The meeting of the parliament to approve the extension of the Constituent  Assembly has started at 4:30 am on Sunday.

The full text of the deal (translated – credits Republica):

We the political parties have reached the following agreement today, May
28:

  1. To complete the basic tasks of the peace process within three months
  2. To prepare the first draft of the constitution from the Constituent Assembly (CA) within three months
  3. To implement effectively the various past agreements reached with the Madhesi Front, including the one to make the Nepal Army (NA) an inclusive institution
  4. To extend the CA term by three months
  5. The prime minister to resign and pave the way for the formation of a consensus national unity government

Signed by Prachanda, Sushil Koirala, and Jhalanath

Fourth Republic Day celebrated

May 29, 2011 @ 19:03

The fourth Republic Day is being observed with various programmes all across the country and among the Nepali Diaspora abroad on 15th of Jestha to commemorate the declaration day of Nepal as republic. This is the day when the first meeting of the elected Constituent Assembly had declared Nepal a Republic and abolished the 240-year old monarchy.

A special programme is being organised at the Nepal Army Pavilion at Tundikhel, Kathmandu where helicopters of Nepal Army showered flowers and Nepal Army soldiers, various cultural groups and students paraded.

President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Vice President Parmananda Jha, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, Speaker Subash Chandra Nembang, high level government officials and other dignitaries were present in the programme.

President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and political leaders have extended greetings and good wishes to the people.

On this occasion, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, on the recommendation of the cabinet, ordered to set free over 300 prisoners, who had completed half their terms of imprisonment, on the grounds of good conduct while in jail.

Five point pact signed by Dahal will be discussed within party: Gajurel

May 31, 2011 @ 23:55

UCPN (Maoist) General Secretary CP Gajurel has said on Tuesday that Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal’s decision to form a national consensus government by dismantling the present Khanal led government will be seriously discussed within the party.

Speaking at the Reporters’ Club Nepal in Kathmandu, Gajurel claimed that demanding the prime minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s resignation was against the party mandate, so, serious deliberations would be hold within the party on how Dahal happened to sign the agreement against the party decision. Gajurel said “we won’t dismantle the government that we formed.”

Maoist Chairman Dahal had signed a five-point pact on Sunday before agreeing to extend Constituent Assembly (CA)’s term for three months. The last point of the pact states the prime minister will resign to pave the way for the formation of a consensus national unity government.

Gajurel further claimed that the implementation of the five point pact has many hurdles in implementation and expressed dissatisfaction for compelling to reach the five point agreement for extending CA term.

He also emphasized on the process of handing over weapons and integration should go hand in hand.

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