Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam has said police investigators are in hot pursuit of the killers of Ram Hari Shrestha of Koteshwor.

Speaking at the Constituent Assembly’s legislative meeting on Monday, Gautam said the search for the killers is going on, and expressed confident that Kali Bahadur Kham Magar ‘Bibidh’, the suspended division commander of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army who is the prime suspect in the murder case, would be arrested soon.

The Maoist leadership had suspended Kham Magar from the PLA post in the wake of pressure from protesting family members of Ramhari Shrestha, human rights groups and political parties. He is at large for some time.

The Home Minister’s statement came after the lawmakers from the main opposition Nepali Congress demanded information regarding the progress in the investigation into the murder case.

Defence minister Ram Bahadur Thapa came under fire for allegedly meeting Kham Magar during a recent visit to his constituency in Chitwan district. However, furnishing clarification in the House on Sunday, minister Thapa refuted reports of his meeting with the absconding PLA commander, who is in the wanted list of the police.

Ramhari Shrestha, a restaurant owner from Koteshwore, Kathmandu, was killed in captivity at a PLA camp in Chitwan in May this year. nepalnews.com mk Nov 10 08

A recently established biotechnology company based in Kathmandu, Intrepid Nepal Pvt. Ltd., has claimed that it has successfully detected proviral HIV DNA using molecular based technique utilizing Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in its Thapathali based laboratories, from blood samples obtained from consenting HIV-affected individuals. This is the first time the technique of QPCR has been used to precisely detect HIV incorporated within the human genome, in Nepal, a press release by the company said.

The HIV virus becomes lethal once it becomes part of the human genome (provirus). To date, there have been no reports of HIV virus being quantified or detected as a provirus in any laboratory in the country. This company, with focus on molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases, has already carried out a number of tests including detection and quantification of Tuberculosis (TB) causing bacteria using real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (QPCR), again a first of its kind within the country.

According to a press release, the company also hopes to foster biotechnology in Nepal by providing accurate diagnostic services in areas of infectious and chronic diseases (such as HIV, HPV, Hepatitis, TB), genetic disorders, paternity determination and other tests that require genomic (DNA and RNA) detection. nepalnews.com Nov 10 08

Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala
Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala said his party will adopt a “wait and see” approach concerning the 9-point memorandum it submitted to the prime minister Sunday.

Speaking briefly to reporters emerging from the party’s parliamentary party (PP) meeting where he spent just 20 minutes on Monday, Koirala said his party will wait till today evening for the government’s views on the ultimatum given to it to fulfill the party’s nine-point demands that include implementation of the past agreements including immediate return of properties seized by the Maoists during the decade-long insurgency.

The former prime minister also said that his party will not create obstruction in the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly to be held in the capacity of legislative assembly, until the government reaction comes, adding that that NC will move ahead carefully reviewing the political situation and government’s behavior.

The meeting was called after NC lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction over the nine-point demand which included an ultimatum, saying it was submitted to the prime minister without enough internal consultations. The meeting also discussed how NC lawmakers will present themselves in the CA proceedings and their future course of action if the government ignores their ultimatum.

Meanwhile, the hopes of two prominent Congress leaders – Sher Bahadur Deuba and vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel – to become NC parliamentary leader were watered down today when Koirala staked claim over the post.

Koirala told reporters after the PP meeting that he would become the parliamentary leader this time too.

Recently, vice-president Poudel had announced that he would stand for the parliamentary leadership, expressing confidence that he would be elected to the post even though Sher Bahadur Deuba is known to be likeliest candidate if Koirala opted out.

Six months after the Constituent Assembly polls, the NC has still not been able to choose its parliamentary leader. nepalnews.com ag/mk Nov 10 08

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said that the recent political transformations observed by Nepal are not mere cosmetic changes but complete metamorphosis.

Addressing the inaugural session of the Conference on Democracy, Development and Peace in Asia, in Kathmandu Monday, PM Dahal said that recent global crisis has seriously affected poor countries.

“The global meltdown that started from the US and, which is having chain effect elsewhere, is triggering tremendous negative effect on countries of the south,” he said.

Professor Samir Amin, a noted political economist, termed the recent global financial crisis as systemic failure of capitalism.

At the same programme, former general secretary of UML Madhav Kumar Nepal said that Nepal presently has six tasks in its hand.

He listed constitution writing, inclusion, restructuring of state, scientific land reforms, logical conclusion of peace process and improvement in governance as major tasks ahead of the country.

The three-day conference is being jointly organised by Least Developed Countries (LDC) Watch, South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE), Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA) and Korea Democratic Foundation (KDF).

Meanwhile, speaking at a conference on science and technology in the capital, PM Dahal said that the “first republican” government of Nepal will give top priority to the development of science and technology field as without it the development goals of the country can’t be achieved.

Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal and Vice Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology Dr Homnath Bhattrai (L) attend the inaugural ceremony of the fifth National Conference on Science and Technology in Kathmandu Monday, Nov 10 08. nepalnews.com/rh

Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal and Vice Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Science…
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 5th National Conference on Science & Technology, he said that Nepal lagged behind in development because enough was not done in the science and technology field in the past, and indirectly blamed the failed policies of previous Maharajas and governments for this.

Nepalese people had to suffer a lot because the past political leadership couldn’t be “more honest and hardworking”, he added.

Talking about the advantage science has over politics, PM Dahal said there is always cheating and deception in politics but not in science.

“As this [science] is a field where you’ve to very work hard and there is also no room for any cheating, we should also have a very scientific approach towards politics,” he said. He, however, expressed regret that there never any good inter-linking between politics and science in Nepal.

PM Dahal said a conducive environment should be built so that gifted Nepali intellectuals who have settled abroad would be encouraged to return to the country, and pledged that the government will develop this sector in such a manner that it would discourage the “brain drain” from Nepal.

To prove that the government is serious towards the development of this sector, he said that many in the new Maoist-led government come from science and technical background. He also informed that some programmes have been introduced in the budget for the development of the sector.

Before becoming the prime minister, even before his underground days as a Maoist chief, Pushpa Kamal Dahal was a science student. He did his graduation with Agriculture as a major subject.

Speaking at the same programme, Minister for Science & Technology Ganesh Sah stressed on the need to do away with what he called “foreign dependence” in the field of science & technology and develop efficient manpower to work in the area in the country itself.

Vice-chancellor of National Academy of Science & Technology (NAST) Hom Nath Bhattarai, scientist Dinesh Raj Bhoju and lawmaker Bishwanath Prasad Agrawal also put forth their views in the program

NAST is organising the three day even participated by over 1200 Nepalese and foreign scientists and technicians.

Meanwhile, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav issued a congratulatory message on the occasion, and said that for Nepal which is facing challenges like many other developing countries, scientific knowledge would be important for meeting its development goals. nepalnews.com sd/ag Nov 10 08

Former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala has expressed sadness over what he called “lack of emotional unity” inside his party, clearly hinting at ongoing intra-party power tussle.

“There is some discord [inside the party] but it won’t finish off [Nepali] Congress,” Kantipur Daily quoted Koirala as saying.

Koirala made this remark after unveiling a statue of late NC leader Ganesh Man Singh at the B.P Koirala Museum at Sundarijal in the outskirts of the capital city Sunday.

“There will be unity and it will be an emotional one,” he added, “rest assured.”

The octogenarian leader also lashed out at Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, whom he called Prachanda ji, saying that the army integration issue is overshadowing the important task of constitution drafting. nepalnews.com Nov 10 08

Deepak Sharma Bajagain of Khumaltar, Lalitpur is trying to register a new world record set by him for continuous reading in the Guinness Book of World Records, reports Kantipur Daily.

The 23-year-old lad claims that he easily beat the 1987 world record set by Britain’s Adrian who had continuously read for 110 hrs and 46 minutes.

Sharma had continuously read for 121 hours or 5 days and one hour from September 19-24 at the big public space in Tudhikhel in the heart of Kathmandu. The event was organized by The Readers’ Club.

Sharma told Kantipur Daily that he read 17 books written by Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Bishweswor Prasad Koirala, Lil Bahadur Chettri, Khagendra Sangraula and D.P Bhandari while setting out to make a new world record for continuous reading.

“I didn’t sleep and had 5 minutes break every hour to eat,” he told Kantipur, “I even re-read some of the books.”

He said he has with him the videotape which shows he had continuously read for 121 hours.

“I am assembling necessary documents to register this record in the Guinness Book of World Records,” he told the daily. nepalnews.com Nov 10 08

The committee formed to draft regulations for the Constituent Assembly (CA) has finalised them, Sunday evening.

The regulations were finalised after the much-disputed issue of whip was settled earlier by the four big parties who agreed to let the rules remain silent on that issue.

The regulations were finalised by the committee headed by Narayan Man Bijukchhe in its meeting held on Sunday evening in presence of CA chair Subas Nemwang.

The CA regulations state that the process and provision on impeachment against president and vice president will be as per the constitution.

The regulations also have provisions on forming various subject wise committees, methods of passing bills on constitution, ways of their authentication and so on.

The regulations will now be passed by the CA paving the way for starting the process of writing new constitution.

In absence of the regulation, the process of writing the constitution could not start even eight months after the CA election.

The major sticking point was the system of whip. However, the issue was settled when a few days ago, the big four parties – Maoists, Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) and Nepali Congress (NC) – had agreed not to have any reference to system of party whip in the Constituent Assembly (CA) rules.

“We have decided against any reference toward whip. This means there will not be whip system,” said Dinanath Sharma, chief whip of the Maoists.

Chief whip of opposition NC, Laxman Prasad Ghimire, had added that the parties will have their own provision regarding whip in their respective party statutes. “In party statutes, it will be clear on which matters the parties need to issue whip and on which matters the individual members will be allowed to exercise their conscience,” he said.

Earlier, NC, Maoists and UML were in favour of whip system while MJF and other smaller parties, particularly Madhesi parties, favoured allowing members to vote their conscience on important matters during constitution writing. nepalnews.com sd Nov 10 08

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is leaving for New Delhi, India on Wednesday to attend the second summit of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

He will address the summit on Thursday.

He will meet with the regional leaders who participate in the summit.

He is expected to meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday. PM Dahal will return home on Friday.

The BIMSTEC has seven member states including Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. It is a regional initiative for economic cooperation. nepalnews.com sd Nov 10 08

The opposition Nepali Congress (NC) party is preparing to forge its strategies, Monday, regarding the ongoing dispute over the special committee on army integration.

“We are holding the meeting of our parliamentary party on Monday morning, which will decide the course the party will take,” said vice president of NC, Ram Chandra Poudel.

He said so after he submitted a nine point memo to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The memo included demands that the government implement the past agreements including immediate return of properties seized by the Maoists during the decade-long insurgency.

Other demands in the memorandum include scrapping of the paramilitary structure of the Maoist youth wing, Young Communist League (YCL) and reconstitution of the army integration special committee on the basis of political consensus.

Earlier, addressing the Constituent Assembly, Poudel had come down heavily against the government and warned of strong opposition. nepalnews.com Nov 09 08

Breaking his silence weeks after being accused of hobnobbing with an absconding Maoist PLA commander on police wanted-list for murder of a Kathmandu businessman, Ram Hari Shrestha, Defense Minister Ram Bahadur Badal denied such reports as false and baseless.

Answering questions posed to him by Nepali Congress lawmakers who had sought his and Home Minister’s explanation regarding the case at the Constituent Assembly meeting held in the capacity of Legislative Assembly Sunday, Minister Thapa denied news reports that he met Kali Bahadur Kham aka Bibidh, who is accused of murdering former Maoist sympathiser and restaurateur Ramhari Shrestha of Koteshwor, while he was in Chitwan on October 20 to visit his constituency in Chitwan and said that he never met the man.

Thapa, who is also a senior Maoist leader, said that he is aware of the dignity of his ministerial position and responsibilities, hinting that he would not let it be tainted by meeting a convicted man on whom his party has also taken action upon.

“The government is committed towards establishing the rule of law,” he said, and referring to Kham’s case promised that “action would be taken against the guilty and the compensation would be given to the victim”.

Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam was to answer the queries of lawmakers but could not attend the session as he was outside the valley. nepalnews.com ag Nov 09 08