Week in news

Political Briefs

UCPN-Maoist Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung came down heavily on the four-point deal signed between his party and the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha, dubbing it “anti-national”. He said the pact should be scrapped as it would have far-reaching consequences on national sovereignty in the long run. Gurung, who is close to the hard-line faction led by Vice-Chairman Mohan Baidya, remarked that his faction would not join the government unless what he called the “anti-national point” in the four-point deal was scrapped and the decision to hand over the keys of arms containers is revoked. (Sept 18)

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar has said that he would make all security agencies and Home Ministry free from political interference and corruption. Minister Gachhadar claimed that there were no differences with any other coalition partners while transferring Home Secretary Lilamani Poudel. He defended the government’s move by saying that the Home Secretary was transferred in view of the sensitive nature of the Ministry. He reasserted that he would not interfere in the bureaucracy and would bring down corruption in all offices under his ministry to the zero level. (Sept 17)

The 11th Central Committee (CC) meeting of the CPN-UML endorsed a five-point political proposal on peace, constitution and government. Dubbing the current government led by Dr Baburam Bhattarai as ‘opportunist alliance’, the UML concluded that this government cannot complete the peace and constitution. The meeting was convened to discuss a range of issues including the current political situation and party’s internal issues. The UML has stressed on the need for a ‘national consensus’ to conclude the twin task of peace and constitution writing. (Sept 16)

Nepali Congress (NC) Leader Sher Bahadur Deuba has expressed surprise over the delay in arms handover of the ex-Maoist combatants. He questioned, “How long the party will take to handover the weapons of the PLA combatants if the party took four years to hand over only the keys of the arms containers.” Inaugurating the district conference of the NC Kathmandu District Working Committee, he said lasting peace will not be established until the weapons are surrendered. Deuba added, “Peace and constitution are NC’s priority. NC will not obstruct this process.” Also, speaking on the occasion, NC General Secretary Prakash Man Singh said party’s leadership should get a chance to work for the whole term or else the party would lose its legitimacy and influence. (Sept 15)

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is most likely to be a forum for newly-elected Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to interact with regional leaders, including his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh on its sidelines. Singh will be in New York from September 22-26 to address UNGA and is said to be interested to meet Bhattarai there. Singh will be addressing the General Assembly after a gap of three years. His meeting with Bhattarai as well as Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakshe has already been fixed. Those meetings have been interpreted as the Indian effort to focus firmly on South Asia after Dr Singh’s' Dhaka initiative’. (Sept 13)

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Legislature-Parliament has directed the Finance Ministry to release the amount to the Foreign Ministry equivalent to the tax payable by the diplomats posted at various Nepali missions abroad. PAC also directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cooperate with the Ministry of Finance to deposit taxes of Foreign Ministry employees. It has been revealed lately that the taxes payable by the diplomats was not deposited. (Sept 12)

UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal held discussions with Vice-Chairman Mohan Baidya and Party General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa in a bid to settle the dispute over the issue of integration of the ex-Maoist combatants. Dahal urged Baidya to participate in the government. He urged Baidya to resolve the differing views through dialogues. Dahal discussed also about peace process and cabinet expansion among other issues with party Vice-Chairman and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. The Baidya faction has not participated in the government of their own party, protesting against the handover of the keys of the arms containers to the Special Committee. (Sept 12)

NRB Officials Linked with IC Scandal?

Nepal Rastra Bnak’s (NRB) inaction has once again come under scrutiny following the scandal involving misuse of Indian currency. NRB had turned a blind eye to the big banks’ wrongdoings even when they have reportedly misused Indian currency worth about one billion rupees. The central bank remaining a mute spectator to irregularities has made the episode even more controversial.

The central bank has been issuing new directives time and again in the name of improving the banking sector of the country. The same authority has apparently not paid any attention to a scam of this magnitude. Either NRB was totally unaware of the scam or it simply let it happen. Whatever may be the case, this has proved that regulation and supervision of the banks are not up to the mark.

A source at the Ministry of Finance has informed that NRB is trying to show that it became aware of the scandal only after the government formed an investigation team to look into the misuse of Indian currency. According to the preliminary investigation by the police, it has revealed that banks like Laxmi Bank, NIC Bank, NB Bank, Everest Bank, Siddhartha Bank and SBI Bank are involved in the scandal. Birgunj branches of all these banks have been found misusing the Indian currency. The same investigation discovered that NIC Bank has misused 800 million rupees worth of Indian currency and Everest bank has misused 80 million worth of Indian currency.

If the Revenue Investigation Department investigates the matter seriously, it can be assumed that many central bank officers will be drawn into the controversy.

(Drishti / Sept 13)