19 PASSENGERS , CREW FEAREDDEAD IN CRASH BREAKING NEWS Kathmandu, 28 Sept.: Nineteen passengers andcrew are feared dead in the crash, The aircraft caught fire Friday immediately after it crashed at Sukumbasi Basti near epsi Colaa factory next to the TIA. First reports said there were no survivors. NO ROYALTY EXEMPTION FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS Kathmandu, 28 Sept.: The taskforce formed to recommend the government on appropriate ways to resolve royalty dispute in telecommunication sector has concluded that the government should not exempt the royalty of any telecom service Provider, The Himalayan Times reports.. The taskforce has forwarded its report to the cabinet in which it has recommended the cabinet to come hard on the royalty issue, said secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications Surya Prasad Silwal. The government had formed a taskforce led by minister for information and communications Raj Kishor Yadav to oversee the existing royalty structure and recommend appropriate ways to solve the existing dispute. The five-member committee was also mandated to oversee the overall royalty system of the broadcasting sector including that of television and radio. All six telecom service providers will be liable to pay royalty dues according to the licence conditions once it gets approved by the cabinet, secretary Silwal informed. Nepal Telecom and Ncell will be liable to pay a royalty of Rs 20 billion each every 10 years according to the licence condition. UTL will have to clear its royalty dues worth Rs 1.65 billion by October 3, 2012, to renew its licence, according to the ministry. Rural telecom service provider STM will be liable to pay four per cent of its annual revenue as royalty every year according to the licence. The licence conditions for royalty is different for Nepal Satellite Telecom and Smart. Rural service provider Nepal Satellite will have to pay Rs 2.5 million as royalty every year and Smart Telecom will have to pay an amount equal to 90 per cent of the licence fee. Its licence fee is Rs 62.5 million. The licence conditions for different telecom service providers are different in the country. Nepal Telecommunications Authority — the regulator of the telecom sector —has issued licences based on different sections of the Telecommunication Act. Instead of using the same section and clause to distribute licence, the authority has used various sections and subsections to issue licences. It has issued licences based on sub-section one, two and three of section 23 under the Telecommunication Act. It is the regulator’s mistake to issue licences based on different conditions, an official at the authority said. “However, service providers cannot ask for an exemption of the committed revenue and royalty because they had agreed to clear all liabilities while acquiring their licences.” nnnn CAMPS FOR FORMER MAOIST FIGHTERS CLOSED DOWN Kathmandu, 28 Sept.: : All PLA cantonments, where the former Maoist fighters were housed for over five years, have now become a history, as all of them were declared closed with the completion of the final round of the selection process, The Himalayan Times reports.. Screening of fighters wishing to join NA began on September 6 and 1,463 — 1,388 for recruit level and 75 for officer cadet level — were found eligible for joining the army. “We have sent all others who were found unfit for their integration back home,” said SC Secretariat member Gopal Singh Bohara. “They have been given lump sum retirement package and allowances till September 28.” The former fighters eligible for joining the army have been sent on 53-day leave. Their formal training will begin on November 21. All teams deployed from the Secretariat under the Special Committee (for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of Maoist fighters) and from the Selection Board returned from cantonment sites this morning after handing over security responsibilities of land, weapons and physical infrastructure of the remaining seven main and eight satellite camps to NA and Armed Police Force. Out of 28 camps stretched across the country, 13 were shut down in March, following two rounds of regrouping of the combatants. “Now the integration chapter of the peace process has been virtually completed,” said Secretariat Coordinator Balananda Sharma. These cantonments were set up in early 2007, following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between then ruling Seven Party Alliance government and then CPN-Maoist in November 2006. Initially, a total of 32,250 ex-fighters were registered as ex-PLAs, but later in May 2007, the number came down to 19,602 after the United Nations carried out the verification. The UN Mission in Nepal had declared 4,008 fighters ineligible, labelling them either as late recruits or as minors, who were discharged in early 2010. During two rounds of regrouping — late last year and early this year — only 17,076 combatants were found living in the cantonments. Among them, less than one fifth of the fighters, 3,123 to be precise, had chosen to join the national army. While six fighters opted for rehabilitation, 13,922 wished to go for voluntary retirement, and they were sent back home with cash incentives. nnnn