News update from Nepal, 1 December 2008 News Update from Nepal 1 December 2008 Security, Law and Order Nepal's security and law and order situation continues to deteriorate. On November 13, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam admitted that the government has been unable to"maintain peace and security as expected by the people. The party youth wings are a threat to peace." On November 30, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC), K.N. Upadhyaya suggested the parties to ban their youth wings as they"are giving protection to criminals" and are"responsible for the country's poor human rights record." Media frequently report the clashes between CPN-UML's Youth Force and the Maoist's Young Communist League(YCL). Two youths of Kathmandu abducted by YCL about a month ago were found buried in Dhading. The affected family members de­manded justice and the student wing of Nepali Congress(NC) and CPN-UML formed a Citi­zens' Struggle Committee(CSC) and called a general strike in the valley. After the govern­ment agreed to compensate the bereaved family, the strike was called off. Maoists denied its involvement in killing. On November 10, a pregnant woman died in Saptari district for want of treatment due to the indefinite Madhesh strike called by Federation of Nepal Backward Class(FNBC) demanding the formation of a national committee for their development. One armed gang killed a col­lege student in Janakpur, another killed a police in Sirha and Tarai Cobra detonated bombs in Sarlahi. Another explosion took place at Kapilvastu. In Dang, an armed gang robbed pas­sengers. Another gang torched 13,000 copies of Himal magazine. NC and Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum(MJAF) cadres looted paddy in Gaushala of Mahottari District. On November 23, the Federal Democratic National Forum(FDNF) warned the government of an armed revolt if the government failed to implement in two weeks the five-point pact on federalism it signed. On November 19, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority(CIAA) asked government secretaries to take the issue of corruption control seriously. Nepal ranks 131 st position in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. The CIAA argues that among its 180 directives to the government last year, 143 were never implemented while 37 are still under consideration in the court. The CIAA directed the government to pre­pare a Technical Assessment Regulation in order to assess various development projects in the country. On November 16, the Office of the Auditor General submitted an audit report of the fiscal year 2007-08 to president Dr. R.B. Yadav, showing$12.46 million government spending unaccounted for. 1