Reorganized UN, Proposed Constitution, Methods

Reorganize The United Nations For Globalization

1. Abolish the veto.
2. Every member country pays 1% of its federal budget to the UN as a precondition for membership.
3. The General Assembly is reorganized along a House/Senate arrangement where, in the upper house, all member countries have a vote each, whereas in the lower house, a country's weight is directly proportional to its population.
4. The Secretary General is elected directly by the two chambers. Any member country may nominate a person, but such a nomination is to be seconded by enough member countries so as to garner at least 20% of the votes in both the chambers. An election is held if there be more than one nominee. Only the top two remain for the third round, and a run-off is held until the top contender gets at least 50% of the votes in both the houses.
5. The World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO are brought under the U.N. Their heads are to be part of the Secretary General's cabinet.

Proposed Constitution

Preamble

1. Nepal is a federal republic, a total, transparent democracy, with the sovereignty resting firmly with the Nepali people.

Article 1: The Legislative Branch

1. There is to be a lower house, the Pratinidhi Sabha, with 180 members, 60 per state, and a upper house, the Rajya Sabha, with 60 members, 20 per state, all of whom are to be directly elected through constituencies demarcated such that the largest has a population not more than 5% of the smallest, geographically in close approximation to a circle or a square, and protected from partisan gerrymandering by an autonomous Election Commission. The constituencies need not respect district boundaries. Three constituencies for the Pratinidhi Sabha will make one for the Rajya Sabha. The entire Sabha is dissolved en masse when its term nears expiration.
2. All matters of national importance are to be decided by the national parliament through a majority vote, unless otherwise stated. Parliamentary procedures are to be laid out or revised with a 60% vote margin.
3. The legislatures are to elect their Speakers and Deputy Speakers. The legislatures shall assemble at least once every four months, and as often as necessary.
   
4. No parliamentarian may be arrested while the parliament might be in session except for felony charges. Their speech in parliament is protected from any and all oversight, legal and otherwise.
5. A simple majority of the parliament will pass the budget. All budget proposals must originate in the Pratinidhi Sabha.
   
6. All bills must be posted online in three languages - Nepali, Hindi and English - for at least one week before they may be voted upon.
7. All regional and international treaties that Nepal might enter into will have to pass a 60% majority in the parliament.
8. Political parties may not engage in fund-raising activities. Instead each national party, described as those that garnered at least 5% of the votes in the previous nationwide elections, will get an annual sum that will be directly proportional to the number of votes it earned. That money is to be used for party-building and electioneering activities. Details of expenses are to be posted online in the three languages to the last paisa on at least an annual basis. The Election Commission holds secret ballot elections for party leadership for each national party.
   
9. Every person on the state's payroll - elected officials, bureaucrats, justices, police, army personnel - is to submit a Family Property Statement, to be posted online and archived and updated annually. Upon exiting the public sector, they may discontinue the practice, but the archives will remain, and the updates will resume should the individuals re-enter public service.
10. Details of all expenses incurred by the state, to the last paisa, are to be posted online in the three languages. All contracts offered by the state to the private sector are to be bid for in a similar transparent manner from beginning to the end. All job applications and promotions in the public sector are to be similarly handled in a transparent manner.
11. All formal political deliberations at all levels of government are to be posted online in as real time as possible in the language that was used at the venue. Efforts are to be made to make the same available in Nepali, Hindi and English. All votes are to be similarly made public.
12. Every elected official at all levels of government is to get a decent monthly salary.
13. Anyone above the age of 16 is a legible voter. Members of the Pratinidhi Sabha will have to be at least 23 years of age, and that of the Rajya Sabha at least 25 years of age. The terms of members of the two bodies shall last four and six years respectively. All elected officials are to have been citizens.
14. Acts of impeachment require a vote of 65%. This constitution can be amended by the same vote margin.
15. In the case of a tie in the Pratinidhi or the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister's designate gets to break it.
16. The parliamentarians may not increase their salaries in a way that might affect the members of the existing class. The same applies to the salaries of members of the cabinet.
    

Article 2: The Executive Branch

1. The legislative party leader of the majority party in the Pratinidhi Sabha becomes Prime Minister. The Prime Minister may elect members to the Cabinet that might or might not be members of the parliament.
2. When a majority might be lacking, the largest pre-poll alliance, or the largest single party, whichever might be larger, gets invited to form the government, and is given 30 days to prove majority.
3. The Prime Minister makes nominations to the Supreme Court and other constitutional bodies like the Election Commission (EC) and the Commission to Control Corruption (CCC) to be confirmed by a 60% vote in the parliament. The commissioners serve 6-year terms.
4. The army, to be called the Nepal Army, is not to be larger than 0.1% of the national population and is to be downsized accordingly within 5 years of this constitution getting promulgated. The Prime Minister is the Commander-In-Chief of the army.
5. The central bank is to be autonomous, and the governor, to serve a six-year term, is to be appointed by the Prime Minister.
6. All appointments made by the Prime Minster, except for his or her personal staff, will need a majority vote in the parliament for confirmation.
   

Article 3: The Judiciary Branch

1. The judiciary will reflect the composition of the government, from village/town to district, to state to the national level. Towns and cities with more than 30,000 people will be served with more than one court, the number to be decided through a formula by the state government. There will be a layer between the district and the state levels, the Appeals Court, 10 per state. The system is to be peopled like the civil service, on merit.
2. The Prime Minister makes nominations to the national Supreme Court. The Chief Minister makes nominations to the State Supreme Court. Both are subject to their respective parliaments for 60% of the vote. Justices to the Supreme Court are to serve to the age of 75 or upto their voluntary retirement.
3. The state and national Supreme Courts interpret the constitutionality of laws passed by the parliaments when thus challenged, but such interpretations may be overturned by the parliaments through a 65% vote.
4. The parliament, federal or state, may not diminish the salary of a sitting judge.
   

Article 4: The States

1. The current "zones" and "development regions" are to be abolished, but the "districts" are to be retained. The country is to be divided into three states, roughly of equal population, Eastern, Central, and Western, to be called Purbanchal, Madhyamanchal, and Paschimanchal, that are to include all three geographical regions, Terai, Pahad and Himal. Each state is to have a Pratinidhi Sabha, 120 members, and a Rajya Sabha, 40 members.
2. The districts will have their own governments, forming a third layer, named Zillapalika. It is for each state to design the formation and functioning of its component district and town/city governments. The village units are to be called Grampalika, the town units are to be called Nagarpalika, and the city units Mahanagarpalika, and will form the fourth layer of government. District, town/city and village elected officials are to be at least 21 years of age.
3. The federal government will directly transfer 10% of its annual budget to the 25 poorest districts measured by per capita income. This does not prevent further federal expenditures on those districts.
4. The income tax structure is to be as follows: 50% federal, 30% state, 10% district, and 10% village/town/city. The income tax is to be collected by the federal government, and funds transferred by the same to the other levels of government as per this formula.
5. The education system shall follow a tri-lingual policy up to Class 10, beyond which it is for each individual institution to decide on their own as to the language of instruction. The first language is to be the student's first language, the second language is to be Nepali. For those for whom Nepali might be their first language, the student may choose any language spoken in Nepal. The third language is to be English, the contemporary language of science and commerce. This policy applies to schools in both the private and the public sectors. The language of instruction for all other subjects to Class 10 will be a decision to be made by the individual school boards for the public schools and by the owners of the private schools.
   

Article 5: The President

1. Every elected official in the country is to vote for a President who is to serve a five-year term and is to be the guardian of the constitution. A block of at least 30% of the national parliament may make nominations for the candidacy. When there are more than two candidates, the one who gets the most votes wins.
2. Each state is to similarly elect a Governor.
   
3. The parliament may not diminish the salary of a sitting president or governor.

Article 6: The Individual

1. The individual is the most important component of the state and is to be protected and celebrated. Every person has a birth right to freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, a right to a speedy, public trial, and a right to privacy, a protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. No person may be tried and punished for the same crime twice. No person will be compelled to testify against themselves. No person will be deprived of life, liberty or propety without due process of law. Private property may not be taken for public use without due compensation. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended. No ex post facto law shall be passed. No warrants are to be issued, except upon probable cause, and should specifically describe the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. A person charged with a crime is to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his or her favor, and is to have the Assistance of Counsel for his or her defence.
2. Every person born in Nepal is a citizen of Nepal. But this does not prevent people not born in Nepal from seeking Nepali citizenship.
3. Every person is equal under the law. Any law that might conflict with that fundamental premise will become null and void as soon as this constitution takes effect.
4. No person shall be taxed more than 40% of their income by all levels of government put together. Those in the bottom 40% income brackets are not to pay any direct taxes.
5. No business may be taxed more than 25% of its income, and businesses in the bottom 25% income brackets will not pay any taxes. All business expenses are tax write-offs.
6. The sales tax may not exceed 10%.
7. Elections at all levels are to be organized on Saturdays.
8. No citizen of age may be barred from voting for whatever reason.
9. It is a stated goal of the state to make possible lifelong education for every person in the country through creative partnerships between the private and public sectors. The state shall also attempt to provide universal access to secondary education and primary health care free of cost to all.
10. The state shall attempt to provide universal access to micro-credit to all in the bottom 40% income brackets.
11. All persons that might enter into agreements, either in the private or the public sector, to access credit will have the option to declare bankruptcy as a last resort. Money owed by an individual, as opposed to by a business or a corporation, may not be passed on to the next generation. Indentured servitude is an illegal form of collecting money owed by an individual or family. Money owed may not be paid for through manual labor. Any person, group or organization, lending money on interest, the total of which is larger than Rs 20,000, to be indexed to inflation, is to register as a small business owner, and will be subject to taxation and regulation.
12. All educational institutions, public and private, must have at least 10% of its students on need-based full scholarships. Institutions may also opt to have 5% on such full scholarships, and 10% on need-based half scholarships, or 5% on full, 6% on half, and 6% on one-third scholarships. But at no time should the proportion of full scholarship dip below 5%.
13. Employees of the state in the education and health sectors will be paid salaries that are at least 10% larger than to those with similar qualifications serving in other fields.
14. An accurate, scientific census is to be conducted every 10 years, and scientific projections are to be made for the intervening years.
    

Article 7: Capitals

1. Within 10 years of this constitution getting promulgated, the national capital is to be shifted from Kathmandu to the Chitwan valley which will also serve as the capital of Madhyamanchal. Udaypur valley will serve as the capital of Purbanchal, and the Surkhet valley will serve as the capital for Paschimanchal.

Methods

1. Total, Transparent Democracy: All political deliberations are to be posted and archived online as all votes that make decisions when consensus might not be possible, all expenses the same. Political parties are publicly funded based on the principle of one person, one vote.
   
2. Non-Violent Militancy: To never resort to violence, but to use words like they were bullets, to use organizational acumen like knives, to use communications technology to the maximum, to use money with utmost efficiency, to always know the importance of message, to make the best use of dialogue and coalitions, and to use the state apparatus to great effect once acquired.
   

Prachanda Press Statement

Prachanda has issued a press statement.

• Prachanda Press Statement INSN

Some observations I make:

1. He says he is ultra careful that his party does not become pro-King or pro-India. Okay, so you are for a republic. As for India, it can not be that you are against India as a country. You have active ties with the Maoists in India. So if that is ideological, that is okay? If it is okay for you to have ties across the border along ideological lines, why is it not okay for people of other political persuasions to have the same? Maybe the Nepali Congress is close to the Congress (I), maybe the Sadbhavana is close to the Janata Dal. Maybe they have ideological affinities too. Since when did your ideology become more relevant? But then political links are not all. Every Madhesi I know has family relations in India. Maybe your mother is from India, or your brother or sister got married to an Indian. If you are anti-India in a blanet way, you are trying to split up these families: undoable and laughable. It can not be the India of cultural and religious ties.
   
2. If you are a responsible leader of Nepal, you can not be ignorant of the political plight of the Madhesis, part of the DaMaJaMa coalition. The anti-India stick is the one primarily used to foment ethnic prejudice and hatred and discrimination against the Madhesis. I am not saying you are necessarily doing that. But you have to publicly draw the distinction and come out saying you are against the India stick used against the Madhesis. The Madhesis are as much Nepalis as Pahadis. Your ideology seeks Janajati liberation. It must also seek Madhesi liberation. Right?
   
3. Which brings me to some legitimate grievances Nepalis should have when it comes to Indian foreign policy. You have to be specific and say what is what. Is it the 1950 treaty that bothers you? Then be specific. Is it the Sugauli treaty? Be specific. I think the only true solution for small countries like Nepal is to come around to this idea of a reorganized United Nations.
   
4. When you are not specific, you just play into the hands of the false nationalists.
   
5. I am glad you use the word flexibility. It is much in demand.
   
6. I am extremely glad you have agreed to the idea of a Constituent Assembly as a common minimum program for all Nepali democrats and our friends, wherever in the world. I don't mean to say this is a new stand for you, and I don't mean to say your line is different or independent from Baburam's. I have always only sought respectful dialogue with the Maoist organization, which means I leave the Maoist inner-party differences to the Maoists, not that I am in any position to get involved even if I wanted to.
   
7. I hope you take heed of my last blog entry where I have urged you and your party to do the smart thing on military issues. Let your military thoughts be guided by this one issue alone. Ask yourself, am I helping or hurting the cause of a Constituent Assembly? Military refrain is the way you can best help the cause. And I urge you to do the right thing, the wise thing.
   
8. I am extremely glad you have finally decided to move beyond press statements to actual bilateral and multi-lateral dialogues. Better late than never. It is extra important to create and maintain communication channels. It is super important for the democrats and the Maoists to not row the boat in opposite directions.
   
9. Hold your gun, let the movement gather momentum.
   
10. I am glad your party is thinking in terms of an ideological transformation to fit with the times. Marxists are supposed to be scientists, and scientists are supposed to face facts, and new facts keep emerging. I urge you and Baburam to take a look at these: (1) Nepal Communist Party (Progressive) (2) Shortcut To A New Constitution, Shortcut To Peace
11. 
    
What Mao did in the 1930s is not necessarily the best thing to do today.
12. 
    
Microsoft has an operating system: Windows. There was Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000. The operating system changes. My point being no dogmatic Marxist is a true Marxist. I urge the two of you and the others in your party to take a serious look at the concept of total, transparent democracy. That is surgery with anesthetics. I think it is foolish to insist on conducting surgery without anesthetics when anesthetics are available.
In The News


• 
  
Baburam Bhattarai: Only Visiting Indian Express ..... Bhattarai or Laldhwaj as he is called by fellow comrades is the man, negotiators hope, who can change the plot by steering the Maoist ship towards mainstream politics without a gun. .....
this 51-year-old ..... took shape in the famous Left bastion of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Bhattarai spent his crucial years in JNU as a research student under Professor Atiya Habeeb Kidwai of the Centre for Study of Regional Development. He received his PhD in 1986-87....... he was not in the thick of JNU’s political action. He was short, thin, frail, docile and distanced from any distraction to his academic pursuits ....... The 893-page thesis called ‘‘The Nature of Underdevelopment and Regional Structure in Nepal’’ is one of the longest submitted to the Centre. In fact, the original draft was 1,800 pages which was returned by Kidwai to be redone. He calls himself Kidwai’s ‘‘problem child’’ while acknowledging her contribution......... While in Delhi, Bhattarai had a near brush with death. He was hit by a bus while crossing the Outer Ring Road outside Old JNU campus. He went into coma and many of his friends thought they had lost him. He recovered and went on to complete his project........ Though not in the forefront of student politics, he and his wife Hisila Yami spent considerable time with Nepali immigrants in Delhi........ In the northern most mountainous region, he says, it was a direct conflict between man and nature...... In the central hilly region, it was a triangular conflict between the dominant class, nature and the exploited class while in the Southern Terai region it was a straightforward clash between the dominant and the exploited.......

• 
  
The Heavy Price Of Feudal Nostalgia The Guardian King Gyanendra, according to a foreign ministry official, believes that the Indian government, the EU and the US are offering too much support to the country’s democratic parties...... Seven leading political parties agreed earlier this month to oppose the king’s “cruel experiment in outdated tyranny” ...... Both India and the British embassy, speaking on behalf of the EU, welcomed the agreement, observing that it offered a possible basis for a dialogue...... India routinely interferes in Nepal’s affairs. It offers a retreat for Nepali politicians and activists of all stripes when they have to absent themselves from the country; it provides military equipment, training and intelligence to the army in its war against the Maoists; and it supplies occasional shelter to those same Maoists, perhaps with an eye to intelligence. India’s Hindu parties maintain close links with the monarchy, and bilateral treaties give India the power to veto arms supplies from elsewhere, while geography offers it the power to turn off the trade tap at will. Frankly, it’s a little late to complain about interference...... What the king really objects to is not interference per se, but the kind he regards as unhelpful to his plan to let the army rip, without human rights scrutiny, to defenestrate the legitimate political parties ...... When the US flew in a series of “security experts” last year to argue that talks with the Maoists would only bear fruit after the rebels had been given a “bloody nose”, the king raised no objection. Indeed, when a delegation of officers from US Pacific command flew in to give the benefit of their advice to the Royal Nepalese Army, he seemed quite happy. When the US offered special forces training and the UK offered military supplies, the palace was content. But to encourage democratic political parties, he says, is to go too far........ the army and the Maoists are in a military stalemate from which the only exit is via negotiation...... Nepal is paying a heavy price for his refusal to let go of feudal nostalgia.......

• 
  
Interview With US Ambassador Moriarty Nepali Times We welcome the lifting of the state of emergency but obviously things have happened since then to cause people to doubt the seriousness of that action...... I am not trying to defend the king’s actions, we have already said that we are concerned by them....... The parties say some reasonable things to me in private but if you look at what they say in public, well its pretty tough....... this should be the beginning point for talks rather than a bottom line ultimatum ..... The published record of what I say and the private record of what I do all is a recognition that the arrests are unacceptable, that the detainees have got to be released ..... I have been pretty outspoken since February 1st on the matter of curbs on civil liberties. It is just plain dumb. Frankly, they put in the state of emergency much more effectively than they lifted it....... Between 1990 and 2002, life expectancy increased 50 percent, education increased more than that, the network of paved roads trebled, income went up significantly. Frankly, if you had not had this ideological insurgency, you would have seen conditions for an economic takeoff, with the economy growing at seven or eight percents a year right now....... If the army has the weapons and ammunition, it will not be possible for the Maoists to win. What happens if your military runs out of bullets, is the number one question facing your country today......... Frankly if the army runs out of bullets, they can come in with khukuri knives........ you may actually see the Maoists come out more unified and tougher, leaner and meaner ....... two and half years ago Maoists were active in 14 out of 75 districts. Today, it is 70 out of 75 ....... You’ve got a glass here, obviously it is mostly empty, maybe only a quarter full, but there is some fullness here and it is not that everything has gone to the extent of your worst nightmare.
• 
  
Nepal Confronts Growing Insurgency Washington Diplomat “For some time, we will have to curtail some civil liberties, we will have to clamp down on human rights, we will have to put a few people behind bars, which may not be very pleasing to Western countries, but we have to take these measures,” says Shrestha, a career diplomat with more than 40 years of experience in Europe, South Asia and the United States........ Once we have peace, then we can talk about other things, like democracy and human rights....... has pledged to hold elections within three years. So far, however, no clear roadmap for reaching that goal has been annunciated...... “Last year as many as 10,000 schoolchildren and teachers were abducted for periods of up to seven days. They try to indoctrinate them and send them back” ...... The ambassador says there are an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 “hardcore” rebels, plus about 12,000 to 15,000 “militia” on whom they can call. “But that is a very rough estimate,” he cautions. “They seem to come in large numbers, but how hardcore they are, how well-trained they are, how willing they are to fight is difficult to establish.” ...... Their guerrilla-style tactics make it difficult to combat the rebels militarily, Shrestha adds. “They hit and run,” he says. “They have this advantage of surprise and assimilation. They surprise you in the dark of the night and then they disappear and immediately mix in with the common people. They are just not there.” ...... The ambassador says the government’s strategy for containing the insurgency focuses first on political dialogue, even though the Maoists have twice broken cease-fires during peace talks in 2001 and 2003........ The king had to make a very bold decision and take the reins of the government into his own hands ....... After Feb. 1, the government put several opposition leaders, including former prime ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba and Girija Prasad Koirala, under house arrest .... “It was also for their own safety,” he adds. “When violence starts, you never know how it will end up.” ...... the media is now “lively and critical of the government.” ...... Shrestha admits that the king’s clampdown may have helped to unify the political opposition, but he insists that the move has significant popular support. “[Supportive] groups are not well organized, so you do not hear their voices as much as you hear the opposition’s voice,” Shrestha says.......

Common Minimum Program: Constituent Assembly

The king disappointed in his speech a few days back. This is a rhinoceros, not about to change course, and headed into a ditch. Leaders of dictatorial outfits tend not to change their minds, they instead go down in defeat. Look at Saddam. He never compromised, and instead ended up in a hole, unshaved, a tiny pistol in his hand. Dictators are not capable of flexibility and creative political solutions. That is the alley of democrats.

Used to be the Monarchists, the Maoists, and the democrats were going their own separate ways. But now there is an informal understanding between the Maoists and the democrats. There is an emerging common minimum program. It is called Constituent Assembly. This shows the Monarchists are on their way out, and in a major way.

The Maoists are advised to follow the recent communique of Dr. Baburam Bhattarai. He has sought a CMP of a Democratic Republic and a Constituent Assembly. The political parties are already behind the idea of a Constituent Assembly. This is the first time such a common ground has emerged between the Maoists and the political parties.

The longer it takes to get there, the more the country is going to tilt towards the idea of a Democratic Republic. Already the cadres in all parties are for it. The leaders so far have not had the guts to come out for it. But they will not be able to stand in the way of the tide. Once the momentum builds, they either come along with the idea, or they stand getting sidelined.

This is not a constitutional monarch, this is a feudal monarch, going by his public actions.

The country is going republic.

The people do not need his consent to declare a republic. He stands to get thrown out. The movement is gelling. As it gathers momentum, it will likely turn into a revolution.

At this point the worst thing the Maoists could do is engage the RNA militarily. It would be unrealistic to ask them to disarm unilaterally. And also unrealistic to ask them to declare a ceasefire. But they should refrain from picking fights. Just stay back. If they attack, and pick fights, and if the RNA stocks go down, the foreign powers will be forced to replenish the RNA stocks, and that the Monarchists will paint as political victory. If the Maoists have some sense, they should not allow such a development as a resumption of foreign military aid.

So, yes, do not necessarily declare a ceasefire, but act like there is one in place. Instead let the peaceful democratic movement gell. Let it gather momentum. Don't give the Monarchists an opportunity to quash it claiming there has been armed Maoist infiltration.

It was foolish of Prachanda to have put Baburam under arrest two months back. It would be foolish of him to not get back behind the Democratic Republic and Constituent Assembly CMP in the most effective way possible. And the most effective way right now is not military. The military way plays into the hands of the Monarchists and strengthens them politically.

Now it is for the democrats to work on the movement in the most effective way possible. It is an organizational challenge.

May 29

• Journalists protest closure of Nepal radio centre Peninsula On-line, Qatar The Ministry of Information and Communications on Friday ordered the centre, which provides programming to 14 of the 50 private FM radio stations across the country, to shut down...... Guragain, who insisted Saturday he would defy the closure order....... several newspapers had been shut down by the authorities or had closed due to financial problems....... more than 1,500 supporters of seven student unions demonstrated in Kathmandu demanding reinstatement of multi-psssarty democracy...... more than 40 refugees driven from the countryside by Maoist violence were arrested yesterday for demonstrating for food and shelter
• Nepal's Maoist rebels kill policewoman, child Reuters AlertNet, UK Maoist rebels sprayed the house of a policewoman with bullets killing her and her four-year-old son
• Nepal opposition defies king near Deuba's trial venue:- Webindia123, India Nearly 5,000 people braved the scorching mid-day heat and a possible police crackdown to take part in the first mass meet called in the capital Friday by a coalition of seven major opposition parties.... security personnel, who watched over the two-hour meeting, made no attempts to prevent the proceedings...... if the king continued to rule with absolute power, there could be a mass uprising ......
  
• Save my husband, pleads detained Nepalese leader's wife:- Webindia123 Lila Mani Pokhrel ..... has stones in his kidney, paralysis symptoms and diabetes. Pokhrel also has symptoms of hernia and needs immediate surgery ...... Pokhrel is deprived of "basic human rights", like not being allowed books, newspapers or even writing material ...... He is also not allowed to meet anyone except family members......
  
• India steps up patrolling on Nepal border to curb Maoists:- Webindia123
• Nepal king says aims to hold polls in stages Reuters AlertNet, UK said he planned to hold polls in phases to all elected bodies in the revolt-torn nation, but set no dates .... "Necessary preparations have already been initiated to hold these (municipal) elections and activate, in stages, all elected bodies" ......
  
• Nepal releases 75 political leaders and activists Sify
• King of Nepal now eager to bring democracy back in Nepal India Daily There is persistent rumor that Maoists are in direct secret talks with Indian Government.
  
• Crackdown continues in Nepal Hindu The crackdown on political activists and media appears to continue in Nepal with royal government detaining 20 political activists who were staging protests against King Gyanendra, even as it re-arrested a former minister immediately after his release from prison...... Others who were released on Friday include Nepali Congress spokesman Arjun Narsingh K.C., former Ministers Bimalendra Nidhi, Bhim Kumari Budhamagar, Suresh Malla, Mina Pandey and Dip Kumar Upadhyay as also ex-Parliament members Khem Raj Bhatta Mayalu and Tek Bahadur Chokhyal...... "We will not shut down our operation, we will continue the operation despite the government's instruction and go to the Supreme Court for a stay order when the office opens on Monday," said Suresh Acharya, News Editor of the Communication Corner and former President of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists...... Calling the government directive as the end of the rule of law in the country, Acharya said the ministry has alleged us of operating illegally without mentioning any law.
  
• UK resumes non-lethal military aid to Nepal Hindustan Times, India Britain has decided to resume non-lethal military assistance to Nepal on humanitarian grounds, following in the footsteps of India....... the meeting in Luxembourg discussed EU-India ties as well as regional and international developments, where Nepal reportedly featured on the agenda ...... the meeting, the resumption of non-lethal military assistance and the parliamentary notice have been kept low-key with even the British media not getting a whiff of it.

May 27

• Thousands attend Nepal pro-democracy rally Reuters AlertNet, UK .....5,000 supporters of seven mainstream parties, many punching their fists in the air, attended the second biggest rally in a week against the monarch ..... on Friday when a dozen rebels, armed with automatic weapons, fired at a security patrol in the western town of Bhairahawa .....the seven parties wanted the restoration of the parliament to solve the political crisis and were ready to hold elections to a constituent assembly to end the Maoist revolt ..... The demand for the constituent assembly was the sticking point in talks with Maoists in 2001 and 2003...... the royalist government ordered troops on alert fearing infiltration of Maoist rebels into anti-monarchy rallies
• Nepal on alert ahead of anti-king rally Reuters AlertNet ..... Witnesses said riot police armed with bamboo sticks and helmets had been posted around the site of the protests
  
• Nepal govt frees over 50 political detainees Sify, India .....Narsingh K C and two former ministers Bimalendra Nidhi and Dip Kumar Upadhyay
• NEPAL: National report fails to stress the impact of conflict on ... Reuters AlertNet, UK .... second periodic report to the United Nations Committee on Rights of the Child (CRC)..... "In many ways, Nepal was not a country fit for children" ..... The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) was particularly critical of the report, which had omitted the most important adverse effects of the conflict on children ..... Over 300 children are estimated to have been killed from 13 February 1996 to 28 February 2005. Of these, 168 children were reportedly killed at the hands of the state and 138 at the hands of the Maoists ...... The girls have been raped and molested by the security forces ..... Nepal ratified the Convention on the Rights of Children in 1990 ..... Since then, the country has introduced several laws and ratified key international conventions to promote and protect children's rights that were non-existent during the pre-1990s era.
• Bodies of 25 Maoists recovered in Nepal Hindu ..... Around 15 Maoists torched the ancestral house of Chief Justice Hari Prasad Sharma at Tarigaun village in Dang district on Monday night, an army official said adding the two-storeyed building was completely gutted..... Maoists allegedly raped two women in Singhdevi area of Ramechhap district ...... Eight Maoist rebels surrendered before security forces in Bharatpur Municipality in Chitawan district
  
• Progress in Nepal Washington Post, DC ..... 2002 ... All the king did .. was act in accordance with the Nepali constitution and consent to the dissolution of the parliament as recommended by the prime minister...... Since lifting the state of emergency on April 29, the country has begun to restore civil liberties..... Nepal is restoring peace and stability to accelerate the restoration of a fully functional democracy as soon as possible
• Bhattarai meeting raises questions on Nepal policy Times of India The revelation that Nepal's Maoist leader, Baburam Bhattarai, has been meeting Indian Communist leaders in the capital .... Bhattarai carries an Interpol red corner notice on his head. .... One of the best proposals coming out of the seven-party alliance in Nepal, therefore, was to invite the Maoists. But the Maoists refused...... Bhattarai's hobnobbing with India, sources say, could leave the space open for a king-Maoist understanding, at India's cost.
  
• Nepal frees 18 political detenus Hindu, India Former Deputy Prime Minister and Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Poudyal and hundreds of other political detenus are still languishing in different jails across the country. The Government last month extended their detention order by another three months despite their deteriorating health conditions.
• Ex-Nepalese PM Koirala to visit India:- Webindia123 will undergo his annual medical check-up at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. He had undergone a check-up at the same institution last year too..... will also be using his stay in New Delhi to meet Indian leaders and authorities to muster support for the anti-monarchy movement...... Koirala's daughter Sujata and nephew Dr. Shekhar Koirala are also currently based in New Delhi...... While Sujata was in the US and Britain to take part in anti-king rallies this week, Dr. Koirala met Indian leader and former foreign minister Yashwant Sinha Wednesday...... with the Nepal government stopping several opposition leaders at the airport to prevent them from leaving the country, it remains to be seen if Koirala will be allowed to proceed to the Indian capital.
  
• Nepal opposition seeks Yashwant Sinha's support:- Webindia123 Rajan Bhattarai, member of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Shekhar Koirala and Mathura Prasad Ghimire of the Nepali Congress, Pradip Giri of ousted Nepalese prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's Nepali Congress (Democratic) party, Hridayesh Tripathi and Rajendra Mahto of Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A) and Chandra Dev Joshi of United Left Front, met BJP leader and ex-minister for external affairs Yashwant Sinha at his residence.