Government Attorneys boycott their session in court

The Nepal Government attorneys are boycotting their court session protesting against the recent appointment of high court judges by judicial council from Sunday.

Government attorneys and trade unions at  the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) have decided not to participate in court proceedings including hearings.

The controversy started when the appointment was claimed to be highly political and un-justifiable in may ways. On January 13 the Judicial Council lead by CJ Sushila Karki  appointed 80 judges at the high courts with 37 from district judges, 27 from Nepal Bar Association and 16 from joint secretaries and secretaries. The controversy started when the news broke out that the appoint was done at the middle of the night with only 3 members involving the appointment process
The Judicial Council currently has 5 members which is chaired by Chief Justice Sushila Karki.

Chief Justice Sushila Karki has been drawing controversy as her term period is ending, one after the other she has been putting question mark on the issues of management and administration of Justice system in Nepal.

The lawyer fraternity has been blaming the process to be very political and unjustifiable as the people who have been appointed are not reasonably qualified in terms of experience and quality. They are demanding a fair appointment process with no politics.

     

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No 4G for Ncell Axiata Group

The controversy of capital gains tax (CGT) of Ncell during its takeover has been a long lasting headache for the Nepal government. With view of that  the lawmakers of Nepal have decided not to  allow 4G services to Ncell in Nepal. It has been confirmed that till  it clears the outstanding capital gains tax (CGT) to the Nepal Government, 4G services will be withheld for Ncell Axiata Group.

Axiata Group acquired Ncell last December 2015 from TeliaSonera and Reynolds for US$1.365 billion . The takeover  drew immense criticism as Ncell did not pay CGT as required by the law which is expected to be NRs 23 billion. The deal effectively secures Axiata an 80 percent equity interest and full control over Ncell.

The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) rolled out  4G  plan for Ncell in the last week of October last year. The Nepal Telecom (NT) has already started its soft launch of  4G service in Nepal after obtaining the licence from NTA.

Axiata Group is  one of the largest Asian telecommunication companies, Axiata today operates in ten countries, servicing approximately 290 million subscribers. With a diverse portfolio in mobile network operations, communications infrastructure services and digital services, the Group pieces together the best in connectivity, technology and people in its vision of Advancing Asia.

Axiata has controlling stakes in market leading mobile operators in South East Asia and South Asia. Axiata Group of companies operate under the brand name of ‘Celcom’ in Malaysia, ‘XL’ in Indonesia, ‘Dialog’ in Sri Lanka, ‘Robi’ in Bangladesh, ‘Smart’ in Cambodia and 'Ncell' in Nepal. Further to this, the Group also holds strategic interests in ‘Idea’ in India and ‘M1’ in Singapore.

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Nepal Government charges Service fee with public

It has been an issues since a long time that Nepal Government owned Nepal Electricity Authority has been charging service fee with the normal public on the monthly electricity bill. It has been clearly stated in its working manual that no service fee should be charged as it is a government own organization. But despite the rules and regulations the board of director of the NEA have endorsed the service fee from years.

Most of us do not know this as the bill is very complicated with all the numbers and text but it is there draining public money. 

The Government of Nepal has been ignoring the fact that NEA has been illegally taking money from public in the name of the Service fee

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