People have responded to the draft constitution, now leaders' turn to reciprocate

 July 25: This week, the country witnessed yet another democratic exercise in the constitution-writing process after the second Constituent Assembly election of 19 November 2013, as the CA sent the preliminary draft of the constitution to all the 240 electoral constituencies for public feedback. 

In response, thousands of people put forward their opinion and suggestions on diverse aspects of the constitution. People also had the option to feed in their suggestions to the Constituent Assembly by phone, fax, e-mail and post. 

And as data suggest, there was overwhelming response from the people to the draft constitution in the public consultations held in the districts. According to the CA Secretariat, it received 26,581 suggestions including 17,395 on its website, 5560 through e-mail, 973 via fax, 2,415 on the toll-free phone and 153 directly submitted to the CA Committee on Citizen Relations and Public Opinion Collection. Apart from these, 85 different organisations made their submission on the draft constitution directly to CA Chair Subas Chandra Nembang. 

The public consultations on the draft constitution went ahead smoothly except for some sporadic instances of obstructions caused by a few parties and groups unhappy with the draft constitution. Now, that the task of collecting people's feedback on the draft constitution is over, how these loads of suggestions from the people are to be assimilated into the constitution has become the moot question. 

While the types of comments that were put forward by the people cannot easily be generalised, there were some common tendencies that were evident. The people of the Madhesi, Janajati and marginalized groups said that the names and demarcation of the boundaries of federal provinces should be determined before the constitution is promulgated whereas a majority of the people from the hill high caste groups, who made their submissions, wanted the provision of secularism in the draft of the constitution to be scrapped and replaced with Nepal as a Hindu state or at least a State with religious freedom. 

There was also a majority suggestion from the people on such key topics as citizenship provisions, federalism, state restructuring, electoral system, the form of government and fixing threshold for parties, among others. 

Through their suggestions, people have put forth their opinions in no uncertain terms on the need of amending certain provisions related to these issues mentioned in the draft constitution. This should be taken in positive light as it will make the new constitution more acceptable. 

In a democracy, the voice of the people is taken to be the voice of the nation. In this light, the opinions and suggestions from the people on the draft constitution hold significance. The Constituent Assembly and the political parties represented there should take heed to the people's say. This would go a long way in making the new constitution a widely-accepted document. 

Although it would be hard to reconcile the parties' differing ideological lines in terms of their stance on certain issues, they should rise above partisan interest and work towards delivering a constitution that ensures freedom, justice and prosperity for all. This exercise of collecting people's feedback has shown that the people are far more pragmatic and progressive on the issue of constitution than the party leaders are. 

After this massive exercise of collecting public opinion on the draft constitution, now the ball is in the court of the political parties and the Constituent Assembly. This is also the time for the major parties to take the disgruntled parties into confidence. They should reach out to them, hold dialogue and consultations, and address their concerns. This might require more time. But the parties should not make the mistake of rushing through the constitution-making process. 

Even though the feedback process may yield some insight, the drafters of the constitution should think with open mind and invite leaders of the indigenous nationalities communities, Madhesi parties and other fringe parties for discussion and welcome their feedback to prevent large-scale unrest in the country in future. They should try to accommodate all sides as far as possible so that all will have a feeling of ownership over the new constitution. 

The country is passing through a political transition for long. There is the need to end this transition and take the country on the path of economic development. This would be possible only if we have a workable constitution. People have waited for eight years now for a constitution to be written by their elected representatives. This is a dream that the people had for the last 60 years. Materialization of this dream seems so close at hand now with the first draft of the constitution having gone through the process of public consultations. 

If the submissions made by the people on the draft constitution are not properly entertained and addressed, then, these agendas would be highjacked by religious and regional parties. There will be a surge of such communal parties in the country and the major political parties' power will wane. The rise of communal forces will not be good for the country and the people in the long run.

Nepali missions solicit views

 JUL 21 - Nepal’s missions in the Gulf and Malaysia have urged Nepalis working there to provide feedback on the draft constitution. Nepali embassies in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are also holding various consultations besides facilitating the feedback collection process.

The government had directed its missions in the major labour receiving countries to hold public consultations to incorporate the voice of migrant population into the new constitution. An estimated 3.5 million Nepalis, mostly youth, work in the Gulf countries and Malaysia.

“The missions are organising various consultation programmes to collect feedback on the draft. Many migrant workers are themselves providing suggestions via email,” said Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey.

Around 30 percent of the total feedback received via email came from Nepalis living abroad, according to

the Constituent Assembly Secretariat.

Concerned officials, however, say the inflow of feedback is not encouraging compared to people living there. “The feedback so far from overseas is not as encouraging as in Nepal as people are occupied with their work. But many people are participating in the consultation progress and providing feedback on their own,” said an official at Nepali embassy in Malaysia.

Besides email, the embassies are also receiving feedback through fax and telephone.

Nepalis living abroad can submit their feedback , suggestions and recommendations on the draft until Tuesday.

A majority of Nepali migrants who attended the consultation at the Nepali embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Monday suggested the government replace the word “secularism” with “religious freedom” and adopt a directly-elected presidential system.

Many speakers, including Nepal’s Ambassador to Malaysia Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat, spoke in favour of referendum. They also asked the government to replace the cow with the one-horned rhino as a national animal, make military training mandatory for all citizens above 18 years old and change the national flag. “Though

secularism is good, it would be best to decide through

religious freedom,” said Ambassador Basnyat.

Most of the speakers asked the CA to heed public suggestions instead of confining the consultation process as routine work.  Meanwhile, many overseas indigenous organisations and international wings of Madhesi and Janajati

parties have burned and tore the copies of draft, claiming that the draft attempts to

curtail the rights of historically marginalised groups and communities.

Car bomb in Somalia's capital kills 11

SOMALIA, OCT 13 - A car bombexploded outside a popular cafe in Somalia's capital on Sunday, killing 11 people and wounding eight others, a senior police official said.

The blast struck the Aroma cafe in Mogadishu and the bomb was believed to have been detonated by remote control, senior police official Mohammed Hussein said. Most of those who died were sitting outside the cafe, he said.

Somali soldiers sent to the scene fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd that gathered amid shattered coffee glasses, and broken tables and chairs. Medical workers transported the wounded into waiting ambulances.

"What crime have these innocents committed?" said Liban Abdi, who survived the attack, which killed his friend.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion has fallen on the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants who have vowed to avenge the death of their leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was killed in early September in a U.S. airstrike. Godane has been replaced by Ahmed Omar, also known as Abu Ubeid.

Al-Shabab has continued to carry out attacks on Somalia's capital despite being pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union forces supporting Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government in August 2011. The Somali government troops backed by AU forces are making progress in capturing the remaining al-Shabab strongholds. Recently, they captured the port town of Barawe.

Earlier Sunday, gunmen shot and seriously wounded a Somali television reporter, officials said. The African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, condemned the attack on the reporter, who was shot three times while fleeing from the gunmen.

The Somali government said the attack on Abdirizak Jama, the director of Somali Channel TV in Mogadishu, was an attempt to silence the media.

The attack was the third targeting journalists in Somalia this year, AMISOM said. Somalia remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Last year, 18 journalists were killed in Somalia.

Car bomb kills at least 22 in southern Syria

AUG 16 - A car bomb exploded outside a mosque in an opposition-held town in southernSyria on Friday, killing at least 22 people, activists said.

The Britain-based Syria n Observatory for Human Rights said the blast took place around the time of Friday prayers in the town of Namar in Daraa province.

It said at least two children and several rebels were among those killed, while at least 30 people were wounded.

Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman said it is not clear who was behind the bombing. The monitoring group relies on a network of activists inside Syria .

In northern Syria , fighters from the Islamic State group seized control Friday of the village of Beden in Aleppo province, the Observatory reported.

The capture of Beden comes two days after the extremist group captured two towns and several villages near Syria 's border with Turkey. The group has overrun much of northern and western Iraq as well, and has declared the establishment of a self-styled Islamic state.

The Islamic State group's advances in Aleppo province have squeezed Syria 's mainstream rebel factions, who are fighting both the extremist group as well as forces loyal to Syria n President Bashar Assad.

Posted on: 2014-08-16 09:32

Car bomb kills 20 in Baghdad Shi'ite district

 JUL 23 - A car bomb exploded in a crowded marketplace in a mainly Shi'ite Muslim district of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people, police and medical sources said.

A further 48 people were wounded by the blast in the Shurta neighborhood of southwestern Baghdad.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Islamic State militants who control large parts of northern and western Iraq often target Shi'ites whom they denounce as "rejectionists".

A massive blast that killed more than 100 people less than a week ago in the town of Khan Bani Saad was claimed by Islamic State.

Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite paramilitary groups are currently focused on the western province of Anbar, where they have been gearing up for an offensive to retake the mainly Sunni Muslim governorate - Iraq's largest.

The United Nations said earlier this month that nearly 15,000 people had been killed in the 16-month period up to April 30.

Blasts kill at least 29 in Nigerian city of Gombe

JUL 23 - At least 29 people died and 60 were wounded in multiple bomb blasts at two bus stations in the northern Nigerian city of Gombe on Wednesday evening, a Red Cross official said.

There was no immediate claim for the bombings but they bore the hallmarks of Islamist jihadi group Boko Haram. At least 50 people died in two bombings at a market in the same city last Friday.

The first bomb, which exploded around 7 p.m., was detonated by a suspected suicide bomber at a mosque at Dadin Kowa motorpark as people gathered to pray, two witnesses said.

Umaru Sani, a shopkeeper, said a second bomb went off at Nasarawo junction near the same bus station, where people were selling vegetables.

"I heard two loud explosions, one after the other; I saw people coming out of the mosque with blood gushing out ... I counted about seven dead bodies," Ahmed Abu, a bus driver, said.

An official with the National Emergency Management Agency said at least seven people had been killed but they were still picking up bodies from the blast sites.

Another two blasts occurred at the gate of the major Duku bus station and a small nearby market.

"I was going towards my house when I heard two loud explosions coming from Kasuwar Mata ... on arrival at the scene, I saw many dead bodies, I cannot count how many because it was getting dark," Hussaini Adamu, a farmer, said.

Police spokesman Fwaje Ajiri said that he could not give a death toll yet but confirmed that there were blasts in both areas about an hour apart. He confirmed there was at least one blast in each location.

At least 15 dead in Egypt after boat capsizes on Nile: interior ministry

 JUL 23 - At least 15 people drowned when a small boat collided wit

h a barge and capsized on the Nile River near Cairo on Wednesday night, Egypt's interior ministry said in a statement.

The collision occurred on the Nile near Giza, across the river from Cairo, the ministry statement said.

In addition to the 15 dead and six rescued, about seven people who were believed to have been on the boat were still unaccounted for, security sources said.

Mahat invites Modi to donor conference

 JUN 13 - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that he would try his best to find time to attend an international donors’ conference to be hosted in Kathmandu on June 25.

During a meeting at his office in New Delhi on Friday, Modi told visiting Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat that India stands by Nepal during the crisis created by the earthquake. “PM Modi has pledged to participate in the conference as far as possible. Otherwise he said he will send a senior minister for the meet,” Mahat told the Post.

Modi accepted Mahat’s invitation to participate in the donors’ conference. He also expressed India’s commitment to extend “whatever support is required in Nepal’s reconstruction".

Mahat discussed the economic loss faced by Nepal and the rebuilding plans with the Indian PM. Modi expressed India’s commitment to provide economic and technical assistance. Earlier, Mahat held talks with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj.

Modi, Sharif to hold bilateral talks in Russia

JUL 09 - India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will engage in bilateral talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Friday, at the sidelines of the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Ufa, Russia.

The sit-down meeting — the first between the two South Asian leaders in more than a year — was initiated by New Delhi, according to Indian newspaper the Hindu. Modi’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar reportedly made a request to Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry through the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan on July 3, just over a week after meeting the Pakistani High Commissioner.

However, the tone for the talks was set by a phone call from Modi to Sharif on June 16, which appeared to mitigate the long-standing tension between the two neighbors that had been escalating in recent months.

The last time the leaders met one-on-one was Modi’s first day in office in May 2014, and an effort to conduct a similar meeting at November’s South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Nepal was rebuffed because of various disagreements. Since then, the relationship has been marred by simmering clashes on the India-Pakistan border and in the disputed region of Kashmir, as well as flare-ups in rhetoric after Modi’s visit to Bangladesh and India’s covert operations in Burma, officially now called Myanmar, earlier this year.

The implicit expectation from Friday’s meeting is that concrete steps will be taken to ensure a bilateral dialogue is maintained, and agreements may be announced on relatively nonsensitive issues such as trade and bilateral visa exemptions.

Indian PM Modi to skip donors" meet on Nepal reconstruction

JUN 23 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the June 25 international donors' meet on reconstruction of quake-hit Nepal as it coincides with a conclave in Delhi to announce the 'Smart Cities Mission', according to a senior official.

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has been deputed to stand in for Modi and pledge New Delhi 's strong support at the Kathmandu meet, the official told ET.

Even as Nepal tried hard to host Modi, for the third time in one year, even for less than 24-hours, the PM decided to continue with his pre-scheduled engagement of launch of three major new initiatives 'Smart Cities Mission', 'Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation' (AMRUT) and the 'Housing for All' initiative, officials said.

The conclave in Delhi will be attended by Ambassadors of 15 countries, including those of the US, Japan, Germany, Canada, France, Sweden and Russia, which have shown interest in building smart cities in India besides providing other urban solutions. Also present at the meet will be elected mayors and chairpersons of 500 corporations and municipalities from across the country.

Explaining the decision, an official said, "The 'Smart City' initiative and sprucing up Indian urban centres top the PM's priorities and the June 25 event was a prescheduled one."

A senior Nepalese government official told ET, "The Nepalese government was extremely keen to host PM Modi as a special guest for the donors' meet. He had informed our leadership that he will certainly nominate a senior minister in case he is unable to attend the meet."

Swaraj, on her return from New York where she participated at the International Yoga Day at the UN, will head towards Kathmandu and is expected to announce hefty aid for the reconstruction of the country, which was ravaged by a 7.8-magnitude quake in April.

Nepal is a foreign policy priority for the Modi regime, officials said, adding that India and Japan are planning to co-host a follow up donors' conference.

Both Delhi and Tokyo were earlier keen to host the first donors' meet but Kathmandu turned down the offer on the ground that through this meet the government wants to boost confidence of the locals and once again showcase the country as a tourist destination.

India was the first to reach aid to Nepal after the quake. Japan, on the other hand, possesses world-class expertise in post-quake reconstruction activities.

While Nepal invited Chinese Premier Li Keqiang through the Chinese mission in Kathmandu, Beijing is expected to depute a senior leader for the meet. Foreign Minister Wang Yi could represent China at the meet, according to media reports.

Nepal has estimated that it would require nearly $7 billion towards reconstruction and rehabilitation. It had shared its estimate with India when its Finance Minister, Ram Sharan Mahat, visited Delhi to invite Modi for the June 25 meet. This was followed by an informal visit by Nepal's Planning Minister, Bimalendra Nidhi, to Delhi to meet Swaraj and other Indian officials last week.

Swaraj: Adopt maximum consensus for statute

JUL 16 - At a time when the preliminary draft of the new constitution is being circulated for public feedback, India has said that the statute should come through maximum consensus.

In a meeting with UCPN(Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the Hyderabad House on Wednesday, Eternal Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj urged to ‘find more consensus’ for the new statute. Dahal is in New Delhi on the invitation of the government of India.

 India has been optimistic over Nepal since the signing of the 12-point agreement in 2005. Today I told them to be positive on our recent 16-point deal that paved way for drafting the constitution,” Dahal told the Post.

It is impossible to have absolute consensus on a constitution anywhere in the world, Dahal told Swaraj, reminding her that it took 12 years for the south Indians to agree on the Indian statute. “We are trying to accommodate as many disgruntled forces as possible,” Dahal said.

Dahal assured Swaraj that once public feedback is collected, concerns raised by the Madhes-based parties and other stakeholders will be accommodated. He added that the parties have agreed to settle down the delineation of the states before promulgating the new statute.

Stating that there was widespread rumours that India was not happy with the 16-point deal, he urged India to support the pact.

“I will have a better understanding on India’s position once I meet the President and prime minister. Initial indications are positive,” he added.

Rebuffing allegations made against him for visiting India at a crucial time of drafting the constitution, he said that it was compulsory to visit the neighbouring nation to win their confidence.

“I am here to create a positive environment for the constitution. We have other lawmakers to seek public suggestions on the preliminary draft,” the former prime minister said.

During the meeting with Swaraj, Dahal also raised the issue of Lipu-Lekh, a small portion of Nepali land situated in Nepal-India border now agreed between India and China to develop as a trade, business and tourism route.

In response, Sushma pledged that officials from both sides will sit together to study old pacts on Lipu-Lekh before reaching an understanding.

Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae and Joint Secretary ( North) Abhay Thakur were present at the meeting. Dahal was accompanied by his personal aide Shiva Khakurel.

The Maoist chairman is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday afternoon.

Delhi mission ‘in dark’ about leaders’ visits

JUL 13 - The Indian External Affairs Ministry and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu fixed the date of Nepali leaders’ upcoming visit to New Delhi without consulting with the Nepali embassy in Delhi, said a Nepali official.

UCPN (Maoist) Chairman and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is scheduled to arrive here on Tuesday. CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, and Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel from the Nepali Congress are expected to reach the Indian Capital within this month.

However, all the visit s were scheduled without the prior knowledge of the Nepali ambassador to India.

Nepal had appointed Deep Kumar Upadhyay as the ambassador this year after a four-year gap. Upadhyay assumed office three months ago. But the tendency of the Indian establishment to issue invitations and schedule the visit s without regard for the diplomatic agency has not changed.

“The Indian External Affairs Ministry (EAM) has hinted to us that the invitations for Delhivisit s were extended at repeated requests from the Nepali politicians themselves,” said a senior official at the Nepali embassy. “It appears that even the Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu is unaware of the schedule and the details of the visit s.”

A senior official at the EAM, who looks after Nepal affairs, said they were preparing to invite some leaders of the major political parties of Nepal. However, he hinted that the visit s were solicited by the Nepali leaders themselves. Experts have remarked that these “agenda-less” visits by Nepali politicians could be controversial, especially at a time when discussions on the first draft of the new constitution are under way in Kathmandu. Besides, the Constitution Assembly has repeatedly urged lawmakers to visit their constituencies to collect public opinion on the draft.

Upadhyay said that Nepali leaders visit ing Delhi should adhere to the diplomatic norms. “Thevisit s of former prime ministers, at the invitation of the Indian government, should not create major problems,” he added.

Meanwhile, on the Lipu-Lekh controversy that surrounds an agreement between India and China to carry out bilateral trade through the pass without taking Nepal into confidence, Ambassador Upadhyay said the issue was not a new one and had been taken seriously at the highest levels of diplomacy between the two countries.

“Lipu-Lekh is a part of Kalapani, which, with Susta, forms the two disputed territories between Nepal and India,” he said. “Foreign secretary-level discussions have already been initiated to settle the row and this has to be resolved with utmost care.”

Hyundai’s Creta SUV slated for Sept launch

 JUL 23 - Hyundai has planned to roll out its much awaited new SUV Creta in Nepal in September following its official launch in India on Tuesday. Laxmi InterContinental, the authorized distributor of the Korean auto maker in Nepal, said that they planned to unveil the vehicle by the first week of September and that it would have a starting price of approximately Rs3.9 million.

Anjan Shrestha, managing director of the company, said, “Hyundai has entered the mass SUV segment with the Creta. We have been receiving many enquiries about the model, and we hope that it will do very well as we will fix a very competitive price for the domestic market.” The vehicle will be competing with the Ford Eco-Sport in Nepal.

The Korean auto major launched the car in India with a starting price of IRs859,588, ex-showroomNew Delhi . The global launch of the Creta was done in India. The auto is available in three engine options: 1.6 litre dual VTVT petrol, 1.4 litre U2 CRDi engine and 1.6 litre CRDi diesel.

The Creta is based on Hyundai’s Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design and features superior driving dynamics, high end safety features along with robust body structure, multiple power train options and engineering excellence. This is Hyundai’s first entry in the compact SUV segment from which the company has high expectations.

Launching the vehicle here on Tuesday, BS Seo, managing director and chief executive officer of Hyundai Motors India, said, “The Creta is the most awaited SUV of the year, and would be a revolutionary product in the Hyundai portfolio.

This vehicle will herald a new chapter in Hyundai Motor India’s success story and will set a new benchmark in the SUV segment with its unmatched capabilities.”

Seo said that the company had already received 15,000 bookings in 20 days in India. The company offers a three-year unlimited kilometre warranty.

The “Hive Structure” body of the Creta measures 4,270 mm in length, 1,780 mm in width and 1,630 mm in height.

The vehicle has a wheelbase of 2,590 mm and 190 mm ground clearance. The company offers two transmissions, a six-speed manual and six-speed automatic. The automatic transmission with 1.6 CRDi VGT is a first in the segment.

According to the company, the 1.6 litre Gamma dual VTVT petrol has a fuel efficiency of 15.29 kmpl, 1.4 litre U2 CRDi VGT diesel has a fuel economy of 21.38 kmpl, while the 1.6 litre CRDi diesel has a fuel economy of 19.67 kmpl.

As Hyundai is focusing on safety features, the Creta comes with dual airbags, anti-lock braking system (ABS) and reverse parking camera.

On the interior side, the Creta features multi-function steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth controls, 5-inch touch screen audio system, 1 GB internal memory and rear AC vents, rear centre armrest with cup holders, flatbed rear seats, front and rear power outlets.

The vehicle features triple slat chrome grille, sleek and premium split-type tail lamps, unique vertical fog lamps, sporty front and rear skid plates on the exterior side.

Fall in price triggers gold rush

JUL 23 - Gold buyers thronged bullion shops in the Kathmandu Valley on Wednesday after the price of the precious metal plunged Rs1,500 per tola. Prices are expected to drop further with miners cutting costs and a looming rise in US interest rates.

The yellow metal was traded at Rs48,000 on Wednesday against Rs49,500 on the previous day. According to the Federation of Gold and Silver Dealer’s Association of Nepal (Fenegosida) which fixes bullion prices in the domestic market, this is the first time gold has dropped to this level since July 29, 2011.

The price of gold in the international market fell to $1,094.80 per ounce on Wednesday from $1,105 a day earlier. International media also reported that gold prices dropped fell to a five-year low. A reduction in the customs duty on gold seems to have helped bring down its price in the domestic market.

This has increased interest among consumers to buy the precious metal. Gold has been in free fall since last week after the government slashed the import duty by Rs1,000 to Rs4,200 per 10 gram through the Financial Act.

“As the government reduced the customs duty and the price has been falling significantly, we are seeing a rise in the number of customers since the start of this fiscal year,” said Rajan Adhikari, sales manager at Shree Riddhi Siddhi Jewellers, New Road.

According to Reuters, a looming rise in US interest rates, the first in nearly a decade, has dented gold’s investment appeal, encouraging more sellers in the market after Monday’s 3 percent rout, its biggest one-day drop since September 2013.

Holdings in the world’s biggest gold-backed exchange- traded fund (ETF), SPDR Gold Shares, fell for a fourth day on Tuesday, declining another 4.8 tonnes to hit their lowest since 2008. Its reserves have nearly halved from their 2012 peak.

Monday’s selloff came on the back of huge volumes traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after investors dumped more than $500 million of bullion in New York in four seconds during early Asian trading hours.

Physical demand has been sluggish despite this week’s steep price drop. India is not rushing to pick up slack Chinese demand as would-be buyers wait for further

price drops, with a wedding season lull and poor rains curbing appetite, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Tej Ratna Shakya, special member and former president of Fenegosida, said that a fall in international prices and reduced customs duty both contributed to the plunge in prices in the country.

“Gold has been losing its shine among investors as the US dollar is strengthening against other major currencies with people investing in US dollars instead of gold,” he said.

NA is ‘for statute, not democracy’

JUL 23 - Taking a serious exception to articles of the draft constitution, the Nepal Army has said as an apolitical institution, it is “accountable to the constitution but not to democratic principles”.

In a set of suggestions submitted to President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Constituent Assembly Chairman Subas Nembang, the Army has raised reservations on eight Articles of the draft charter.

The Article 262 which mentions the NA as an organisation “committed to democratic principles, inclusive in character and national in form, for the protection of national sovereignty, integrity, independence and national unity”, contradicts with its nature, the NA argues. “An apolitical institution can never be accountable to the democratic principles.”

It has reservations over a provision that authorises the President to appoint and remove Chief of Army Staff (CoAS). Such provision could politicise the national security force as the CoAS retires either after completing his tenure or due to age limit under the existing Army Act, the Army has said. “The appointment of CoAS is a sensitive issue and there should be a clear provision that CoAS will be appointed by the President on the recommendation of Council of Ministers,” it says.

It has also strongly opposed the provision of Article 55 A(5) that includes Nepal Police and Armed Police Force as national security forces. Claiming itself a sole institution in national security system, it has said that there is no international practice to involve police in national security system.

The Army has demanded representation of the CoAS in the National Security Council, the authority for the mobilisation and control of the Army. Objecting to the provision of Article 261 that envisions a prime minister-led five-member council, comprising defence, home and foreign ministers as members, the Army has said the CoAS should be included as sixth member in the body. It has also demanded that the chief secretary be made the council’s secretary instead of the defence secretary, considering the importance and sensitive function of the council.

On other provisions, including the ones that allow Public Service Commission (PSC) to recruit Army staffers and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to investigate graft charges against retired Army personnel. “Since decisions on the recruitment, appointment and promotion of army personnel are made as per the Nepal Army Act, it is not necessary to involve PSC in the process,” the Army says, adding as those found involved in corruption can be booked under the same Act.