Kathmandu, April 28, 2009

Top brass of the three major political parties — UCPN-M, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML — remained busy throughout the day today in an attempt to resolve deepening political crisis following the government’s move to quiz Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal.

But the series of meetings failed to reach a conclusion. Maoist leaders today proposed to the NC that they would discuss all the NC’s grievances in detail at a separate place, possibly out of the Valley.

But the time and place were not finalised today. All the meetings in which it participated, the UCPN-M reiterated its stance of removing Katawal. The UML, on the other hand, tried to convince the Maoists and the NC of its proposal to remove Defence Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, CoAS Katawal and second-in-command General Kul Bahadur Khadka and to appoint General Chhatraman Gurung as the new CoAS. However, the Big Two rejected the UML’s proposal. The leaders of the three parties have agreed to hold a joint meeting tomorrow morning to resolve the CoAS row. Maoist leaders, including PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Finance Minister Dr Babu Ram Bhattarai, Narayankaji Shrestha and Ram Bahadur Thapa, met NC president Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter’s residence. During the meeting, the Maoist leaders tried to assure Koirala and other senior NC leaders that the party was not even thinking of capturing the state power as claimed by the NC. “However, we seriously drew their attention on the heightening crisis of confidence with them.

No desk to screen passengers at TIA

Kathmandu, April 28, 2009

Though the government has decided to set up a medical desk at Tribhuvan International Airport in response to swine flu virus A (H1N1) epidemic, officials at the Information Service Centre at TIA are ignorant of any such measure.

The government had announced on Sunday to take tough measures to control the swine virus A (H1N1) that has sparked pandemic fears, spreading from Mexico to USA, Israel, Canada and other countries. “We have received no information about the control desk for swine flu here at the airport,” said a terminal duty officer at the ISC, TIA. “We have heard of the government’s decision but nothing of the sort has been set up yet,” he said on condition of anonymity. According to ISC at TIA, 1,850 people arrived in the capital from abroad yest e r d a y . “About 2,000 visitors arrive in the capital via international flights daily. A majority of them are international tourists,” he added. A UK national, Dick Griffiths, who arrived here for a holiday, said there was no screening for the flu at the airport. “There was no checking. I came from UK via Dubai and Delhi,” he added.

The TIA official at ISC said it was the responsibility of the health ministry to work on the matter.