11 PARTIES PREPARING PROTESTS AGAINST BUDGET

11 PARTIES WORKING OUT DETAILS OF PROTESTS AGAINST BUDGET

Kathmandu, 2 May: NC parliamentary party meet Monday will formulate details of 11-party plans to obstruct the budget session of parliament beginning Monday.
Government is presenting the annual budget for fiscal year 2011/12 aheadof normal schedule.
The budget session begins Monday.
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TW FEMALES BURIED ALIVE IN DHADING

Kathmand, 2 May: A mound buried alive two females at Gundi in Dhading Sunday.
They were 12 and 22 years old.
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NC-AFFILIATED EX-SERVICEMEN MEET

Kathmandu, 2 May: NC President Suhsil Koirala is inaugurating the fourth general convention of the party-affiliated Nepal Ex-servicemen’s Organization in the capital Monday..
The convention that ends Wednesday will be inaugurated at Rashtriya Sabha Griha and will hold election for a new leadership.
.Nearly 350 representatives from 60 districts are attending the meet..
Chairman Maj, Dipak Gurung, elected thrice, is not standing up for re-election.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

‘The candidates [in race of vice-chancellors for vacant posts of VCs] should be capable of carrying out their duties and responsibilities on academic, not political, basis.”

(Former TU VC Kedar Bhakta Mathema, The Himalayan Times, 2 May)
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NEW RULES OF NEPAL EMBASSY FOR WORKERS IN QATAR

Kathmandu, 2 May: In a bid to address the problems facing the Nepali migrant workers here, the Qatar-based Nepali embassy has decided to start verification of their documents from Sunday, Dinesh Regmi reports in The Kathmandu Postfrom Qatar..

The embassy introduced the new provision in view of the problems the migrant workers have been facing due to the illegal and wrong approaches they adopt to arrive here. It is estimated that half of the Nepalis working in Qatar come here through personal links and other non-institutional channels. "Over 90 percent of the workers who arrive here for employment through non-institutional or individual links use fake and forged documents to get visa," said Nepal's Ambassador to Qatar Surya Nath Mishra. He said verification of documents would largely ease the migrant workers' woes.

According to embassy officials, there are around 350,000 Nepalis currently working in the Gulf country.

The embassy said all the migrant workers who reach the country either through employment agencies or individual process are required to submit their documents mainly visa and employment contract to the embassy for verification.

"We initiated the move in consultations with the Nepali migrant workers in Qatar in view of the problems they face upon arrival here," said Ambassador Mishra. He said that the office would start to upload the detailed information about migrant workers in its website from Sunday and the information would be sent to the Department of Foreign Employment. "The new measure will help address most of the problems of the workers," he added.

For individual visa verification, the company willing to demand workers from Nepal should submit entry visas and photocopies of the migrant workers' passports to the embassy after verifying them at the Qatar Chamber of Commerce. The verified documents can be accessed by logging in the passport number of a concerned worker.

The embassy said the workers' names and passport numbers, company names, their occupations, salaries and phone numbers, among others, would be available in the site. Mishra said the provision was also introduced considering the upcoming World Cup 2018. A large number of Nepalis are expected to arrive Qatar to work in infrastructure development for the mega event.
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NT REVENUE FROM I’NTL CALLS FROM 50 PERCENT
Kathmandu, 2 May:: Revenue of Nepal Telecom (NT) from international calls decreased by as much as 50 percent in fiscal year 2009/10 as compared to a year ago, thanks to increasing use of internet telephone and competitive tariffs, Samiksha Koirala writes in Republica..

NT´s earning from international call dropped to Rs 420 million in 2009/10 from Rs 814 million recorded in the preceding fiscal year.

NT officials say revenue from international calls is dropping, due to emergence of alternative forms of communication. Alternative forms of communication like voice chat through Skype and Google among others are offering calls at far cheaper rates than direct telephone calls.

NT has witnessed drop in revenue from international calls in all forms of services -- PSTN, GSM and CDMA. It earned Rs 325.5 million from PSTN service, Rs 76 million from GSM and Rs 18 million from CDMA in 2009/10. Its earning from international calls in 2008/09 was almost double in all services.

NT Spokesperson Surendra Prasad Thike increasing competition amongst local operators and increasing use of internet telephone were the major reasons behind drop in revenue from international calls. “We are compelled to reduce tariff in international call because of tough competition in market. Despite of this, traffic volume has not gone up as expected,” Thike added.

Thike also said increasing internet penetration was the other factor behind drop in revenue from international calls. “People talk to their near and dear ones living abroad through Skype and Google Talk and online chat,” he said.

“Besides, internet service providers are also offering cheaper international tariff.”

Meanwhile, use of PSTN service is slowing with the growing popularity of GSM service. NT´s revenue from PSTN service dropped to Rs 9 billion in the last fiscal year, from about Rs 13 million recorded in 2008/09. Income from recharged card, however, increased by 40 percent.

“There is no reason to be disappointed, as these things happen with technological advancements,” Thike said, adding, “Now our focus is on domestic market and we are introducing new value added services to generate additional revenue.”
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