IOC CURTAILS POL EXPORTS TO NEPAL Kathmandu, 23 Nov.:: India Oil Corporation (IOC) has curtailed POL exports to Nepal creating shortages and long queues at petrol stations. IOC move comes after non-settlement of dues. nnnn HEALTH DEPT. TO REOPEN FRIDAY Kathmandu, 23 Nov.; Health Department has stopped the transfer of more than 600 officials on trade union protests. The move came following talks. Six unions padlocked department offices charging nation-wide transfers during Tihar were secretive. Offices will reopen Friday. nnnn VENUE OF UML SHIFTED TO CAPITAL Kathmandu, 23 Nov.: The venue of the statute body meeting of UML’s Youth Association Nepal has been shifted to the capital from Mahendranagar in Kanchanpur. The meeting as scheduled to stat one week later and vene has bee shifted to accommodate greater participation. nnnn. ANOTHER CONSIGNMENT OF CHINA-BOUND HASH INTERCEPTED SERVICE KATHMANDU: The anti-drug body of the Nepal Police has nabbed five drug traffickers with a huge amount of narcotic and pharmaceutical drugs in the Capital in the past one week. Those arrested are Bahadur Singh Syangtan (35), Shrawan Bahadur Tamang (42) and Amar Gurung (43) of Dhading, Naresh Pun (58) of Rupandehi and Rajendra Giri (24) of Makwanpur. SSP Nawa Raj Silwal, deputy in-charge of the Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU), said Syangtan, Tamang and Gurung were intercepted in Mahadevsthan with a consignment of 50 kg refined hashish when they were trying to push the narcotics into China through the Tatopani customs point. “Intelligence report says that the final destination of the contraband was the northern neighbour. This is the second time that the police have foiled the durg traffickers’ plot to smuggle hashish into China in less than three weeks,” he said. “The frequent seizure of China-bound narcotics indicates that there is a growing demand for Nepal-made hashish in the Chinese drug market. It seems drug racketeers are gradually switching to China,” Senior Superintendent of Police Silwal said. Hashish fetches racketeers $13,000 in the developing countries against Rs 10,000 in the local black market. Deputy Superintendent of Police Rabindra Regmi said Nepal-made hashish fetches racketeers huge money in China which is why the racketeers are attracted towards the northern neighbour. He informed the NDCLEU will hold talks with the Chinese authorities on arresting the suspects there. SSP Silwal said, “It has come to our notice that the traffickers were planning to supply diazepam and buprenorphine to students residing in Kathmandu-based private hostels. The NDCLEU had arrested three students with heroin and pharmaceutical drugs from two hostels at Purano Baneshwor and Shankhamul during raids carried out two months ago. Nnnn NTA COLLECTING FREQUENCY FEES Kathmandu, 23 Nov.: The government is planning to collect frequency fees from telecom operators after unveiling of a new frequency policy. The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has stated that it would ‘immediately write’ to Nepal Telecom (NT) and Ncell to pay over Rs 3 billion fee for third generation 3G spectrum, Ramesh Shrestha writes in The Kathmandu Post.. As per the Telecommunications Radio Frequency Distribution and Pricing Policy 2012, endorsed recently by 17th meeting of the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee, both the operators will have to pay Rs 12 million per MHz for 3G frequency. The NTA had assigned 2x10 MHz paired spectrum for downlink and uplink for 3G service to the NT and Ncell on May 29, 2006, and July 29, 2007 respectively. The amount will also be the base rate for 3G frequency auctioning in the future. However, the new policy stipulates that the existing operators pay floor price as spectrum fee from the first fiscal year until the government set a new fee for spectrum through auction. Addressing a programme to inform about new policy on Thursday, Minister for Information and Communications Raj Kishor Yadav said that the operators would have to pay a fee of Rs 240 million to the government for 3G spectrum. “The price is set keeping in mind the local telecom market capacity and auctioning among other operators in future,” added Yadav, who also chairs the Frequency Determination Committee. The government plans to bring on at least two more 3G service operators after auction of spectrum among the existing four telecom companies—United Telecom Limited, Nepal Satellite Telecom, Smart Telecom and STM Telecom in the future. The government would make available 2X40 MHz band after spectrum re-farming. The two operators—NT and Ncell—are currently using 3G spectrum without any fee as the government has not yet set a fee. “We will immediately ask both the operators giving specific period to clear their 3G spectrum fee for up to current fiscal year,” said Ananda Raj Khanal, officiating chairman of the NTA, revealing that the NT would have to pay spectrum fee for seven and Ncell for six years beginning from fiscal year 2006/07 and 2007/08 respectively. According to the NTA, the state-owned telecom company is liable to pay Rs 1.68 billion for 3G spectrum. Likewise, Ncell has to pay Rs 1.44 billion. A report prepared by the dissolved parliamentary Public Account Committee last year had stated that the allocation of 3G spectrum to operators at free of cost without adopting auctioning provision had incurred a loss of Rs 7-10 billion. Yadav said that the new policy would help the government generate comparatively more revenue adopting frequency auctioning provision as suggested by the PAC. He also said that the new policy gave equal footing to all telecom operators encouraging to apply for unified licence which would ultimately make local market a competitive one to offer services at cheaper rate among users. Apex court clears way for MoIC The Supreme Court on Thursday gave go ahead to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC)to appoint chairman and a member in the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). Rajiv Rauniyar, applicant for both posts, had filed a writ petition at the court seeking stay order on selection procedure. After the court’s decision, the Communications Ministry said that it would recommend names to the government. “We will recommend three names after holding an interview of potential candidates by the end of next week,” said Surya Prasad Situala, secretary at the ministry. After an interview, a selection committee under the coordination of Secretary Silwal had last month recommended names of government officials Dhan Raj Gyawali, Maniram Ojha, and Ranjan Krishna Aryal for the post of member. However, the committee attracted criticism for suggesting names of government’s own officials instead of considering other experts. nnnn CIVIL SCIETY CALLS FOR GRAND COALITION Kathmandu, 23 Nov.:: Civil society members have joined the bandwagon of opposition parties to protest against Baburam Bhattarai-led coalition government, The Himalayan Times writes. Civil Campaign for Nationality, Democracy and Social Justice, a grouping of civil society members, issued an appeal demanding the formation of an all- party national consensus government, guarantee of free and fair Constituent Assembly elections and end to impunity. Civil society members have also urged all to build a consensus on basic issues of constitution before holding the next CA polls and to maintain communal harmony. Addressing the gathering, former president of Nepal Bar Association Shambhu Thapa, said Prime Minister Bhattarai knew there were legal hurdles to hold fresh CA elections, yet he announced polls to hoodwink the people. The former NBA chief said a new government should be formed to ensure the rule of law. “We need a new Prime Minister, who can uphold democratic principles, not merely a new face on the PM’s chair.” Thapa urged political parties not to squabble over the chair of the prime minister. “If things are not improved soon, we will hit the streets after a week,” he further said. Human rights activist Sushil Pyakurel blamed the totalitarian attitude of prominent leaders for the failure of the CA. Another human rights activist Charan Prasain said declaration of CA elections is a pretext for Unified CPN-Maoist to cling on to power. President of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Shiv Gaunle said a new consensus government must be formed for fresh CA elections. Former president of FNJ Dharmendra Jha said PM Bhattarai should step down because he has failed to hold fresh CA polls that he had scheduled for today. Dr Kedar Narsingh KC said civil society’s protest was not against or for any particular party but against totalitarianism. nnnn NEPAL DOCTOR REMOVES 1,400 CATARACTS IN INDONESIA Kathmandu, 23 Nov.: They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight,AP reports from ap. Padang Sidempuan. Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by surgeon Dr Sanduk Ruit from Nepal. During eight days, more than 1,400 cataracts were removed. The patients camped out, sleeping side-by-side on military cots, eating donated food while fire trucks supplied them with water for showers and toilets. Many who had given up hope of ever seeing again left smiling after their bandages were removed. “I’ve been blind for three years, and it’s really bad,” said Arlita Tobing, 65, whose sight was restored after the surgery. “I worked on someone’s farm, but I couldn’t work anymore.” Indonesia has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world, making it a target country for Dr Ruit who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps while training doctors to perform the simple, stitch-free procedure he pioneered. He often visits hard-to-reach remote areas where health care is scarce and patients are poor. He believes that by teaching doctors how to perform his method of cataract removal, the rate of blindness can be reduced worldwide. Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness globally, affecting about 20 million people who mostly live in poor countries, according to the World Health Organisation. “We get only one life, and that life is very short. I am blessed by God to have this opportunity,” said Dr Ruit, who runs the Tilganga Eye Centre in Kathmandu. “The most important of that is training, taking the idea to other people.” During the recent camps, Dr Ruit trained six doctors from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. nnnn