SPECIAL SECURITY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN CAPITAL

SPECIAL SECURITY CAMPAIGN STARTS IN CAPITAL WEEK-LONG

Kathmandu, 13 Jan.: A two-week, special campaign to
improve security in the Valley began Friday morning.
The campaign was launched two days after a trader from the capital secured his freedom after paying a hefty
Ransom
The drive will attempt use of arms and its illegal trade. amid several bombing incidents
‘We will also try to track crimes in Nepal that are coordinated by international gangs,” said Nepal Police Spokesman DSP Ravi Raj Shrestha.
Nearly 5,000 police have been deployed n the operation.
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SERVICE
QUALITY OF ALL TELECO OPERATORS POOR
REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Jan 13: Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) on Thursday issued strict directives to three leading telecom operators, including Nepal Telecom and Ncell, asking them to improve quality of their services within six months after its survey showed their services were below the benchmark set by the regulator.

Survey report on quality of services was also unveiled on the day. NTA officials said that the directive was issued as the operators didn´t respond to their earlier instruction to improve the quality of service. Operators had expressed commitment to improve the quality of service about a year ago.

"If the operators continue to defy the instructions; the regulator had the authority to scrap the operating license," said Ananda Raj Khanal, director of the NTA.

Independent Consultant carried opinion survey and performance test in the period of July to September 2011 in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Biratnagar and Nepalgunj.

The report shows that quality of service is comparatively better in the capital than in other cities. Under wireless service, the overall quality of service of Ncell and UTL CDMA was found 0.6 out of 1 (benchmark) meaning the service was satisfactory. Similarly, overall index showed GSM and CDMA service of Nepal Telecom (NT) at 0.2, meaning poor.

Parameters like call setup success, call drop, point of interconnection (POI) congestion, call quality index were considered for the finding of network performance of wireless service. Ncell has 91.8 percent of call setup success rate against NT´s GSM which is at 73.7 percent in Kathmandu.

Under the customer perception regarding quality of service of all three operators was found poor. Network performance, billing performance, enquiry service, supplementary service and maintainability of service index were the parameters used to find out quality of service.

Despite, NTA´s strict instructions there are few chances for the quality of service to improve.

Deputy Managing Director of NT Bhagat Man Singh Pradhan said they were not able to give quality of service as procurement process were always halted or delayed by authorities like Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

UTL officials said load shedding was interrupting the service as telecommunication infrastructure like Base Transcriver Station (BTS) had battery back of up only eight hours.

Meanwhile, Ncell officials said that they don´t agree with the outcomes of the survey stating that in most of the cases the operator was above the benchmark level in the separate survey carried by the operator itself.

“We on quarterly basis are doing the survey among the entire network of seven million customers which is completely contradictory with NTA survey report,” Ncell CEO Pasi Koistinen said.

He further suggested to the regulator to differentiate between network performance and customer experience measure for network quality.
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MAOIST HARDLINERS OPPOSE SILENCE ON LAND, ASSET CEILING IN PROPOSED CONSTITTION
Kathmandu, 13 Jan.: Lawmakers from the hardline faction of the ruling UCPN (Maoist), who had earlier turned down proposals advanced by the dispute resolution subcommittee, have now objected to other provisions proposed for incorporation in the new constitution, Republica reports.

A proposal to leave the new statute silent on the ceiling for land and property to be owned by Nepali citizens was brought up for deliberations at the Constitutional Committee (CC) of the Constituent Assembly (CA) but some CC members, including Mahendra Paswan of the Maoist party and Sunil Prajapati of Nepal Workers Peasants Party (NWPP), objected to the idea.

The lawmakers objected to the proposal even though leaders of the subcommittee, which is headed by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and has representation of key leaders from the major political parties, had earlier agreed to keep the new constitution silent on the issue, arguing that it was not for the constitution to set a ceiling on land and property.

Maoist lawmaker Paswan, who is from the party´s hardline faction, said such a provision cannot be acceptable to them.

"We must enforce a revolutionary land reform program so as to do away with age-old semi-feudal socio-economic conditions and for that a ceiling on land and property must be fixed in the new constitution," Paswan said, informing Republica about the views that he aired at the CC meeting on Thursday.

Leaders from other parties, however, said that the way Maoist lawmakers at the CC meeting have been turning down the subcommittee´s proposals one after another has made things serious.

The CC, at an earlier meeting, could not endorse proposals to retain the name Legislature-Parliament in the new constitution and to name the lower house the House of Representatives, due to objections from some CC members from the Maoist hardline faction.
Also, they had earlier objected to a proposal to grant the suffrage to all Nepali citizens above 18 years of age. All three issues had earlier been settled at the subcommittee.

Asked why they have been standing against proposals recommended by a subcommittee headed by Maoist Chairman Dahal himself, Paswan said they can´t accept a proposal just because it was suggested by the Dahal-headed subcommittee.

"How can we accept everything our party chairman agrees to, as he has made several compromises in contravention of our party´s official policies and decisions, at the behest of other parties such as Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML?" Paswan said.


Republica adds: Nearly a week has passed since all the members of the Maoist Central Committee (CC) completed their speeches at the CC meeting, but party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal continues his struggle to conclude the meeting due to mutual distrust among the rival factions of the party.

The meeting was supposed to conclude last Friday, but party leaders citing lack of homework stated that they would wrap it up on Sunday.

On Tuesday, in a surprising turn of events, party radicals led by Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya and Chairman Dahal agreed to withhold their separate political documents presented at the CC and formulate a common proposal to mobilize the masses for the sake of "people´s constitution" and "dignified" integration of the PLA into the Nepal Army (NA).

But deep suspicion between the moderates and hardliners placed the fate of the agreement in jeopardy.

"Suddenly, they began to spread propaganda that we are joining the current government. It is nothing but an attempt to divert the public attention from the genuine issues and split the party," said Kul Prasad KC who is close to Baidya.

The next day of his meeting with Baidya, Dahal met senior leaders from the Bhattarai faction and reportedly told them that the party hardliners are also ready to join the current coalition, and that infuriated the Baidya faction.

Taking strong exception to the statement, KC said: "We had just agreed to formulate common political programs and nothing else. It is an attempt to tarnish us," said KC.

Leaders close to Baidya say the party chairman was also positive about recalling Baburam Bhattarai from the government, one of the key demands of the Baidya faction, and review the four-point and seven-point peace deals.

But Dahal´s changed stance created mistrust between the two rival factions and they are still discussing the content of the proposal.

"We have put forward our suggestions to the chairman, and the issues are yet to be settled," said party leader Netra Bikram Chand who is close to Baidya. He said the party will hold a CC meeting on Friday if the differences are resolved.

Baidya had met Dahal at the latter´s residence on Thursday evening to discuss the issue, but sources say the leaders could not agree on the agreement.

As per the earlier agreement between the two leaders, the party was to mobilize the masses for a "pro-people" constitution and "dignified" integration of the PLA personnel, and foment an urban insurrection if the party fails in its endeavor.

While Dahal wants to stick to the line of peace and also retain Baidya in the party, the latter thinks that an immediate revolt is inevitable as parliamentary parties -- the NC and UML -- are against the people´s constitution and dignified integration of the PLA personnel into the NA directorate.
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However, CC member Agni Kharel of CPN-UML said they had decided to keep the new constitution silent on the ceilings after careful thought. "Fixing a ceiling on land and property is not something to be mentioned in the constitution. This is an issue to be provisioned in laws," Kharel told Republica.

He explained that it sounds illogical to enshrine such a provision in the constitution, which needs to be endorsed by a two-thirds majority of the CA, while a government that can formulate laws is formed by the support of a simple majority in the House.

He added that a constitution following democratic values and principles cannot prohibit a citizen from earning more money than a certain limit. "What a democratic statute can do to do away with economic disparity in society is to enforce a system of progressive taxation," Kharel said.
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