ONE KILLED. 34 INJURED IN JHAPA BUS ACCIDENT

ONE KILLED, 34 INJURED IN JHAPA BUS ACCIDENT

Kathmandu, 13 Dec.: At least one person died and other 34 were injured when a passenger bus overturned in Biring rivulet located in between Ghailadubba and Surunga along the East-West Highway at around 11 on Monday night, RSS reports from Bhadrapur.

Among the injured, Rana Bahadur Subba (58) of Taplejung district died while undergoing treatment in Neuro Hospital in Biratnagar at 3.30 on Tuesday morning.

Seven among the injured are in critical condition, said District Traffic Office, Birtamodh.

Critically wounded bus driver Ram Bahadur Bhujel (32) of Narayangarh and an adolescent aged around 18 were sent to BP Koirala Institute for Health Sciences for treatment while other injured including Ripan Muslim, Rabin Parajuli hailing from Pokhara, an Indian national Jamal Muslim and Nanda Kumari Subba are undergoing treatment in the Neuro Hospital.

Other injured are being treated in a hospital in Birtamod.

According to police, a (Na 2 Kha 7465) of Munal Travels heading towards Butwal from Kakadbhitta met with accident immediately after crossing Biring bridge due to high speed.
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STOP ALLOCATING 3G FREQUESCIES NTA TOLD

KATHMANDU, 13 Dec : The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Monday ordered Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) to immediately stop allocating 3G frequencies to different telecom companies and shelve its plan of issuing unified licenses, which would allow telecom operators to cater all types of services using a single permit, Republica reports.

“The decision was taken based on a complaint filed at the CIAA which said giving away 3G frequencies to telecom operators was inflicting huge revenue losses on the government and the plan to issue unified license smacked of suspicious motive of serving certain groups´ vested interest,” a reliable source of the CIAA, told Republica.

Based on the complaint, the CIAA, two weeks ago, had asked the secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications - the parent authority of the NTA - to initiate an investigation into the matter. But after the CIAA didn´t get any response, it decided to issue the order on Monday.

“We have basically asked the NTA to stop allocating frequencies and put its plan of issuing unified license on hold until the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) completes its investigation into the matter and issues an order,” the source said.

The PAC, a parliamentary committee, has recently formed Frequency Allocation Investigation Sub-committee to probe into the matter.

During its Sunday meeting, various lawmakers complained that the NTA was rampantly giving away frequencies - electromagnetic spectrum used in mobile telecommunications - allocated to various telecom companies for “temporary” purpose on “permanent basis”.

The lawmakers also said NTA has already decided to permanently give away 4MHz of frequency to Ncell, a private mobile phone service provider.

Following this, Nepal Telecom has also asked the NTA to give away 8.4 MHz of 3G frequency, allocated to the company on temporary basis, on permanent basis.

Lawmakers have said if the NTA, the telecom sector regulator, continues to give away frequencies without auctioning them off, the government will lose tens of millions of rupees in revenue.

Due to similar misstep in India, in which 2G licenses were issued on a first-come, first-served basis, the country is said to have suffered a loss of around $39 billion in revenue. Following this, the communications minister lost his job and several senior politicians were sent behind bars.

Nepali lawmakers have also asked the government not to make any controversial decision that could draw criticism from the various sectors.

However, during the sub-committee´s meeting on Monday, Minister for Information and Communications Jay Prakash Gupta said: “The NTA had followed due process while allocating the 3G frequency to various companies.”



Submit IP-CDMA tender documents: CIAA

The CIAA has asked state-controlled Nepal Telecom (NT) to immediately submit tender documents on purchase of IP-CDMA infrastructure after allegations of misappropriations surfaced.

“The CIAA had received a complaint saying the company that was awarded the contract to install IP-CDMA technology had installed only 155 base-transceiver stations, against the pledged 700 stations," a reliable source of the CIAA, told Republica.

NT had awarded the contract to install the IP-CDMA infrastructure to China-based Huawei Technologies in August.

The technology is said to allow NT customers to enjoy 3G facilities under Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) technology that offers high-quality of voice and data service regardless of the terrain.
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GOVT. TO ROLL BACK DUAL PRICING ON DIESEL, KEROSENE

Kathmandu, 13 Dec : Bowing before mounting pressure from the business community, Minister for Commerce and Supplies Lekha Raj Bhatta assured a delegation from the private sector that the government would roll back its decision to enforce a dual-pricing mechanism for diesel and kerosene within ten days, Republica reports.

“We decided to enforce dual-pricing as a stopgap measure to resolve the problems and settle the dues of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). I express commitment to withdraw the decision within ten days,” Pashupati Murarka, vice-president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) said, quoting minister Bhatta.

Murarka said Bhatta was convinced after the delegation apprised him of the possible impacts in the industrial sector with the rise in the price of diesel and kerosene. FNCCI has already urged the government on Sunday to immediately revoke the decision, which it says, would weaken the competitive strength of Nepali industries with a rise in the cost of production.

FNCCI had also asked the government to implement the decision of the previous government to provide diesel at a rate cheaper by Rs 10 per liter for the industrial sector.

NOC had decided on Saturday to introduce dual-pricing in which the price of diesel and kerosene has been set at Rs 95 per liter for industries, hotels, foreign missions, hospitals and development projects, keeping existing price of Rs 76 per liter unchanged for general public and the transport sector.

Business people have said production of electricity on diesel will cost Rs 30.25 per unit, up from existing Rs 25 per unit if the price of diesel rises by Rs 19 per liter.

Two influential business associations in Eastern Nepal - Morang Trade Association and Morang Industry Association - have also jointly announced not to buy diesel unless the government withdraws the move to impose dual-pricing in diesel and kerosene.
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