fraud

MAOIST OFFICE BEARERS MEETING AGAIN THURSDAY

Kathmandu, 18 July: A meeting of office bearers, bureau chiefs and other organization chiefs of the UCPN Maoist continues Thursday ahead of Friday crucial meeting of the party plenum to discuss internal difference over appointments to party positions.

The plenum was called by Party Chairman Prachanda whose recommendations for appointments were opposed.

The party has been coducting a series of meetings to resolve differences ahead of the plenum.

Baburam Bhattarai resigned as vice-chairman while asking the party boss to

step down as well.

The party is discussing four options to settle the differences..

Bhattarai has been offered post of senior leader.

Prachanda has threatened to take differences to another meeting of a general cocnvention which met only seven months ago.

HLPM ASKS GOVT. TO HELP MARICH MAN SINGH SHRESTHA

Kathmandu, 18 July: The HLPM of four parties behind the government

Wednesday asked government to held former Prime Minister Marish

Man Singh Shrestha who is undergoing treatment for lung cacner at a New Delhi for lung cancer.

Shrestha is 72,.

His  family has appealed for assistance.

Shrestha was prime er when Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi enforced a 16-month trade embargo in 1989/90 for bringing Chinese arms for Royal Nepal Amy.

The government he headed flew in vital supplies, including POL products from abroad, to maintain vital supplies to land-locked Nepal during the embargo

India was baffled with the long resistance the government  put up to overcome the embargo..

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CAPITAL’S THURSDAY MORNING TEMPERATURE 20 DEGREES

CELSIUS

Kathmandu, 18 July:  Capital‘s  Thursday morning temperature at seven

was 20 degrees Celsius..

Mercury is expected to rise to 30 degrees Celsius on a rainy afternoon.

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CPN MAOIST REJECTS TALKS INIVITE Kathmandu, 18 July 17: The High Level Political Committee (HLPC) on Wednesday formally invited the CPN-Maoist and other dissident political parties for talks but the agitating leaders have rejected the offer, Thira L.Bhusal writes in Republica. . UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who also heads the HLPC, wrote an invitation letter and sent it to the office of CPN-Maoist on Wednesday afternoon as per the decision taken at the HLPC meeting earlier in the day. Leaders at the HLPC meeting had decided to send a letter to CPN-Maoist Chairman Mohan Baidya, who heads the 33-party alliance, requesting them to sit for talks. “We received the letter but it is not acceptable to us because they have set a condition for negotiations,” Baidya told Republica. He said that wordings “talks on the announced Constituent Assembly (CA) polls” is unacceptable to them. “However, we will take a formal decision only after our [alliance] meeting.” The UCPN (Maoist) breakaway group CPN-Maoist and other dissident political parties have been arguing that they are ready to sit for talks without any precondition while the member parties of HLPC have been maintaining that the demands for dissolution of the present election government and postponement of the November polls can´t be fulfilled. UCPN (Maoist) Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha, who was present during the HLPC meeting, denied the allegations. “There is no condition at all. The letter has certainly mentioned that the talks will be held on the issue of CA election because that is the very issue for talks,” said Shrestha. According to him, the letter undersigned by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Dahal as the HLPC coordinator has stated that “in view of special political and constitutional transitional situation, HLPC invites CPN-Maoist and other member parties of the alliance for talks with a view to making the CA polls a success.” Shrestha said it was amusing that the CPN (Maoist) construed the general language of the letter as a precondition. Also, some other member parties of the Baidya-led alliance have termed the letter of invitation unacceptable. Mani Thapa, chief of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Nepal, said the talks are unlikely as HLPC has failed to address their demands properly. “We have been consistently demanding talks without any precondition. But the letter sets a condition for us to accept the polls scheduled for November,” said Thapa. He also informed that they will hold a meeting of the alliance and reply to the HLPC soon. The Baidya-led alliance has announced to boycott polls to be conducted by the present government. The have consistently been opposing the chief justice-led government saying the formation of such a government has violated the principle of separation of powers. They have been demanding formation of a government led and participated only by political parties.
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TWO PAKISTANIS ARRESTED IN TELECOM FRAUD

	Kathmandu, 18 July: With the arrest of two Pakistani nationals on the charge of involvement in illegal telecom activity known as International Revenue Sharing Fraud (IRSF), police said this was emerging as a new telecom problem in Nepal, Kamal Pariyar writes in Republica.. According to SSP Subodh Ghimire, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Office (MPRO), IRSF is an emerging global threat that affects all operators, big and small. With this technology, the fraudster, after connecting the SIM, can provide a subscriber with international roaming status, he said. Once the SIMs are shipped to a foreign roaming destination, they will begin to generate long duration outgoing international calls, inflicting huge financial losses on service providers, he said. After receiving a complaint about possible fraud following sudden fluctuation in revenue collection, the Special Bureau of Nepal Police had begun investigations. Ncell, the telecommunications service provider, had complained to police, suspecting fraud through the use of home networks. After about two weeks of hard work, police were able to nab the two Pakistani nationals, who were operating IRSF in Nepal using different international SIM cards. About two weeks ago police arrested them for investigations and they were later proved to be involved in the fraud, using Nepal as their international gateway for the purpose, police informed. During the arrest they were found involved in calling different countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, using roaming via Ncell. The SIMs were terminated. Though the two were arrested from Kathmandu it was found that they made several calls from the Nepal-China border as well. The arrested have been identified as Mohammad Asif, 49, with passport-AC1885952 and Nabid Ur Rehaman, 43, with passport-AU 679331. “It´s a type of telecom piracy which reduces revenues collection by 18 to 20 percent," added SSP Ghimire. It is very hard to curb such crime using the same technological bases, he said adding that more experts and technology were needed. The two accused have confessed that they were involved in the illegal trade but said they were not acting alone. According to police, they were paid about US dollars 1,500 per week. Police have seized a laptop, 26 UK SIMs, 17 Spain SIMs, a Pak SIM, three Ncell SIMs, 20 mobile sets of different brands and different foreign currencies. Such fraud reportedly started on the internet and has gradually migrated into mobile and fixed line networks as a new opportunity for fraudsters. The fraudsters were able to dial as many IRSF numbers as they liked before the home network became aware of the traffic and terminated the SIM cards.
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