RACKET IN FAKE NEPALI CURRENCY NOTE DEALING BUSTED

TEJ BAHADUR BUDHATHOKI APPOINNTED ADBL CEO

Kathmandu, 28 Nov.: Tej Bahadur Budhathoki was appointed
CEO of Agriculture Development Bank Ld (ADBL) Sunday.
He retired voluntarily from the Bank last year where he worked for 29 years.
Budhathoki was among 18 candidates who applied to fill the vacancy.
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TWO ARRESTED WITH MORE THAN RS. 300,000 IN
FAKE NEPALI CURENCY NOTES IN CAPITAL
Kathmandu, 28 Nov.: Binod Kumar Shah, 30, of Achham and Shiva Shakti Pokharel, 38, Pyuthan, were arrested Sunday from Koteshwor in the
capital with fake Nepali currency banknotes worth Rs 311,000 in Rs 500 and Rs.1000 denominations.
The racket in fake Nepali currency dealing is one of the biggest uncovered in the capital.
The two were nabbed by Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal
Police.


.

Shah is a repeated offender and was earlier jailed and freed for dealing in fake Indian currency notes.
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WORLD ELEPHANT POLO BEGINS IN CHITWAN MONDAY

Kathmandu, 28 Nov.: The 30th World Elephant Polo Championship kicks ff at Meghauli in Chitwan Monday.
Six teams—two from Nepal—are participating,
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CAPITAL’S MONDAY MORNING TEMPERATURE

Kathmandu, 28 Nov.: The minimum temperature recorded
Monday morning in the capital was 7.5 degrees Celsius.
The day is expected to be clear in the afternoon with mercury
expected to rise to rising to 24 degrees Celsius.
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INDIA SEEKS PARITY BETWEEN IC AND DOLLAR FOR DRP

Kathmandu, 28 Nov.: At the upcoming inter-governmental committee (IGC) meeting, India is likely to ask Nepal to introduce Duty Refund Procedure (DRP) - a payback of local excise duty levied on exported goods - on imports against Indian Currency (IC) as enjoyed by importers paying in US dollars, Prabhakar Ghimre writes in Republica.

The secretary-level bilateral meeting is scheduled for December 5-6 in New Delhi. Both countries have already exchanged their agenda for the meeting.


Purshottam Ojha, secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS), said in addition to old issues, India has proposed the issue of equal treatment to imports against IC as US dollar for the purpose of DRP. "India has purposed to seek equal treatment for the inbound consignment imported by paying IC as in case of imports by paying US dollar," said Ojha.

India had raised the issue also during the last IGC meeting held in 2009 in Kathmandu.

Like at earlier IGC meetings, India has proposed the issues of timely arrangement of land for Manipal College in Pokhara, waiver of 4 percent Agriculture Reform Fee (ARF) on Indian farm products, and widening the margin of preference -- a difference in customs duty for Indian products and the same products imported from overseas countries. Nepal has been levying 5 percent ARF on imports of Indian farm products.

"To make Indian goods more competitive than third-country imports in Nepali market, India has this time also proposed to increase the margin of preference to India goods," Ojha added. In the Inter-Governmental Sub-Committee (IGSC) meeting held in March, India had asked Nepal to widen the margin of preference to 20 percent from existing 7 percent. Besides this, India is going to raise the issue of copying trademark of reputed Indian products in Nepal.

Similarly, Nepal has proposed early review of Railway Service Agreement, which should have completed in 2009, early operationalization of the Rohanpur-Sighabad route linking Bagladesh with Nepal, and opening Visakhapatnum port for the shipment of goods to Nepal. "Waiver of additional duty for over 162 Nepali products has also been put in the agenda by us to make our products more competitive in Indian market," said Ojha.

Similarly, Nepal is also seeking recognition for Nepali labs for standard accreditation for Nepali exportable products to make the process of exporting goods from Nepal to India more formal.

To facilitate the transportation of petroleum products from India, Nepal will also ask India to construct 42-km long Raxaul-Amlekhgunj pipeline.
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CHIEF GOVT. LEGAL ADVISOR ACCUSES SC OF CROSSING STATUTATORY LIMITS
Kahmandu, 28 Nov.: Attorney General Mukti Narayan Pradhan today said the Supreme Court had crossed constitutional and legal limitations while issuing verdict on extension of the Constituent Assembly tenure on Friday, Ananta Raj Luitel writes in The Himalayan Times.

“The verdict is based on extra-constitutional and extra-legal provisions,” Pradhan told The Himalayan Times. The AG also accused the apex court of undermining the principle of separation of power and checks and balances and the right of parliament to amend the Constitution.

“Article 64 is not a basic feature of the Constitution as claimed by the Supreme Court,” he said adding, “Was it a basic feature of the constitution and an unamendable provision, the Constitution itself should have spoken clearly.”

He further said the verdict has expressed serious dissatisfaction with the delay in constitution making, which is positive, adding. “And it has the right to caution the government and parliament.

This is the first time a sitting Attorney General has criticised the apex court verdict.

“We have been studying whether to seek review of the verdict by filing review petition,” he added.

A five-member special bench of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi and Justices Damodar Prasad Sharma, Ram Kumar Prasad Shah, Kalyan Shrestha and Prem Sharma had issued the verdict on Friday stating that Article 64 was unamendable, but mandatory.

“The rigid interpretation by the apex court has taken away the rights of the parliament to amend any provision of the Constitution,” Pradhan said. He also argued that Article 64 is related to Article 82 of the Constitution and its interpretation must be done correlating it with Article 82. The AG also criticised the apex court for issuing strict order to the Prime Minister, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly to choose options — either referendum or new election of the CA or any other suitable alternative.

“The order is not based on any Article of the Constitution or provision of the Act,” he said. “Had it issued any persuasive directive there would have been no problem, but it issued an order usually issued when government authorities do not perform their constitutional or legal liabilities,” he added.

“The apex court does not have the right to issue prohibitory order on amending the Constitution,” he argued. Citing the verdict, Pradhan added that the apex court insisted on imposing state of emergency. “The restrictive provison of Article 64 is related to state of emergency. Therefore, citing this provison means imposing state of emergency,” he said.
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DRI FACES HURDLE IN RECOVERING MONEY

Kathmandu, 28 Nov.:The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has found bank balance, at Hong Kong-based HSBC Bank, of Bhola Kishor Dangol, who is on the run to avoid charge of operating illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and GSM over Internet Protocol (GoIP).

Dangol — the owner of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Global Softnet and Global Internet Services Pvt Ltd – is found to be the main culprit in illicit call by pass that had bleed government coffer blue, an official involved in the investigation said. The primary investigation of the department has shown that Global Softnet and Global Internet Services had cheated around Rs 1 billion revenue through illegal VoIP and GoIP.

The department found some $200,000 of Dangol at the HSBC Bank in Hong Kong. “But HSBC Bank denied to freeze his account saying there is not any agreement between Nepal and Hong Kong to seize his bank balance,” the department source said, adding that the department through Ministry of Foreign Affairs has written to the HSBC bank to freeze Dangol’s account.

“Memorandum of Understanding between Nepal and Hong Kong is a must to take any further action,” the official quoted the bank as saying. “The department is facing hurdles to bring Dangol to book due to the legal problems.”

However, the department will keep on trying, director general at the department Shanta Bahadur Shrestha said.

Meanwhile, the department is all set to investigate more ISPs suspecting their involvement in illegal call by pass. “Net Plus, Cherry World Communication, I-Plus, and Namche are also under scanner of the department,” Shrestha said.
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