WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 40 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 36.2 C 8.6 C Tuesday, March 30, 2021 | 17-12-2077 Nepalgunj Jumla Oli is paying Nepal faction leaders with their own coin The UML chair suspends Madhav Nepal and Bhim Rawal as party’s general members for six months and asks Surendra Pandey and Ghanashyam Bhusal to furnish clarification. TIKA R PRADHAN & ANIL GIRI The court order to revive the UML KATHMANDU, MARCH 29 and the Maoist Centre, broke, in essence, the alliance between Dahal Ever since the Supreme Court revived and Nepal, as the latter was left with the CPN-UML and the Communist no option than to return to the UML Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) on fold under Oli. March 7, KP Sharma Oli, the UML The party, in a letter sent to Nepal chair, has taken a series of decisions and Rawal, has stated that they are aimed at striking senior leader being given a final chance to mend Madhav Kumar Nepal with venge- their ways and work in favour of the ance. party. On Monday, the UML suspended “The party can reduce the Nepal, who led the party for 15 years suspension period if you mend your as former general secretary between ways. The party can take further 1993 and 2008, as well as Bhim Rawal, actions if you continue anti-party the party vice-chair, as general mem- activities,” reads the letter. bers for six months, saying the clarifi- Action against Nepal follows his cations they had furnished were not faction’s decision to continue parallel satisfactory. party committees as part of its strug- The party also decided to seek clari- gle against Oli and what it calls “Oli POST PHOTO: HEMANTA SHRESTHA fication from two other leaders, tendency”. Nepal national team and officials pose with the trophy after they beat Bangladesh 2-1 in the Three Nations Cup at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu on Monday. (Report on Pg 7) Surendra Pandey and Ghanshyam The Nepal faction which recently Bhusal. Though the party had asked organised a national gathering of the four leaders to furnish clarifica- leaders and cadres close to it has been tion, Pandey and Bhusal had holding meetings of its own leaders failed to respond. separately. Until the March 7 court Storm has been brewing in the Court seeks copies of Nepal’s and Bhattarai’s decision when the Nepal party for quite a while, as Oli has been Communist Party (NCP) trying to tighten the noose around was intact, Nepal, Rawal, Pandey Nepal and other leaders who once Cabinet decisions relating to Lalita Niwas case and Bhusal had sided with stood against him, even demanding Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his resignation. formed their own faction within After Nepal and other leaders The two former prime ministers were among key people spared by the anti-graft body the party. The Nepal Communist returned to the UML following the Party (NCP) was formed in court order, Oli amended the party which last year filed graft cases against 175 individuals, including three former ministers. May 2018 after the merger statute, making himself all-powerful of Oli’s UML and Dahal’s in the party. March 14, 2013. The Nepal-led Cabinet Maoist Centre. >> Continued on page 2 had decided to expand the area of the prime minister’s residence in Baluwatar by giving certain land to fake tenants. Such a decision taken by the Cabinet on April 11 could not be implemented due to the refusal of the land reform office as per allegations made by a probe committee. Then, the Cabinet on May 14, decided to instruct the land revenue offices to implement the Cabinet decision. The Bhattarai-led Cabinet had allegedly decided to register govern- POST FILE PHOTO ment-owned land in the name of a Madhav Kumar Nepal Baburam Bhattarai guthi. As there cannot be tenants in the government lands, Bhattarai-led PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHA vate individuals, be presented before Cabinet has been accused of facilitat- KATHMANDU, MARCH 29 the court. ing land dealers to get hold of the The court was responding to a writ prime lands through fake tenants. The Supreme Court has sought copies filed by advocate Balkrishna Neupane. “Originally, there was no ownership of the Cabinet decisions taken during Neupane had filed the case on of any guthi in any portion of disput- the tenures of former prime ministers February 10 last year. ed government land in Baluwatar and Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam The court has asked authorities to there were not a single tenant. But Bhattarai with regards to land trans- present the copies of the Cabinet deci- fake tenants were created after bring- fers of Lalita Niwas in Baluwatar. sions taken on April 11, 2010; May 14, ing certain land under the ownership Justices Anil Kumar Sinha and 2010; April 13, 2010 and October 4, 2012 of a guthi just to give the land to some Hari Phuyal ordered on Monday that and other documents through the interest groups,” said former secre- the copies of the Cabinet decisions Office of the Attorney General. tary Sharada Prasad Trital, under and other relevant documents, Nepal served as the prime minister whose leadership the government had including the proposals that were from May 25, 2009 to February 6, 2011. formed a probe committee on the made in relation to the transfer of Similarly, Bhattarai was the prime Baluwatar land scam. government lands in the name of pri- minister from August 29, 2011 to >> Continued on page 2 A Qatari woman aims to climb Everest to inspire women in her region Sheikha Asma Al Thani is on the quest to scale the tallest peaks in the seven continents and reach the two poles. Everest will be fourth of the nine feats. SANGAM PRASAIN protocol of the Nepal government— KATHMANDU, MARCH 29 conducting the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test after arriving A Qatari woman is on a quest to com- in Nepal–Sheikha Asma will apply plete the Explorers Grand Slam– for the climbing permit,” said Ishwor reaching the summits of the seven Dotel, an official at TAGnepal. “She highest mountains in the seven conti- will be spending 45 days in Nepal for nents and the two poles. the Everest mission.” After reaching the North Pole, Asma of the Qatari royal family climbing 6,959 metres (22,831 feet) said she also wants to demonstrate Mount Aconcagua in South America women’s empowerment in Qatar while and 5,895 meters (19,340 feet) Mount inspiring a new generation of women Kilimanjaro in Africa, Sheikha across the region to dream bigger. Asma Al Thani’s sight is now set on “Through my journey, I aim to Everest. shatter the stereotypical image of the If she climbs the 8,848.86-metre traditional explorer and demonstrate (29,031. 69 feet) Everest, she will also women’s empowerment in Qatar be the first woman from her country while inspiring a new generation of to climb the mountain and 472nd from women across the region to dream the world, from the Nepal side. bigger,” she wrote on the website. A total of 6,507 mountaineers have The position of women from climbed Everest, which straddles POST COURTESY: SHEIKHA ASMA AL THANI the eight Gulf States–Bahrain, Iran, Nepal and China, from the south side Sheikha Asma first trekked to Everest Base Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi since 1953. Junko Tabei of Japan Camp in 2019. Arabia and the United Arab became the first woman to climb it in Emirates–is much behind other 1975. wrote on her website. countries which are economically on “In April/May this year, I will take Asma, the director of marketing par with them. on my biggest challenge yet, conquer- and communications for the Qatar Authorities in the Gulf view ing Mount Everest. I am only the third Olympic Committee, is scheduled to modernity as achievements in Qatari to ever attempt the climb and, land in Nepal on Thursday, her local economy, technology and education, if successful, I would become the first expedition organiser TAGnepal told while socio-political involvement is Qatari woman in history to stand 8,848 the Post. seen as problematic. [sic] metres above sea level,” Asma “After fulfilling the necessary travel >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Families of two youths who died in a Holi fair demand investigation A clash broke out during Holi celebratrions in Baglung on Sunday, leaving two dead and six injured. PRAKASH BARAL A video of the clash became public BAGLUNG, MARCH 29 immediately after the incident but the police have not been able to arrest the Families of two youths who died in a perpetrators of the crime. clash during Holi celebrations in Following the incident, the Baglung on Sunday have refused to deceased’s wife had filed a complaint receive the bodies and demanded the at the Area Administration Office and arrest of the guilty at the earliest. Area Police Office in Burtibang According to the District Police demanding the arrest of the individu- Office in Baglung, Prakash Kunwar, als captured in the video and investi- 36, and Dipak Pariyar, 34, of Nisikhola gation into the case. Ward No. 7 died in the clash that took On Monday, an 11-member team, place at Baldechaur in Badigad Rural including District Police Chief Municipality ward no. 10. Krishna Bahadur Pallimagar, reached “The bodies of the deceased were the incident site to take stock of the found 400 metres from the incident situation.