MBBS exam racket lid blown off
KATHMANDU, RSS. A police probe has revealed that racketeers fleeced Rs. 3 million from three aspirants of the MBBS entrance examination of the Maharajgunj-based Institute of Medicine’s MBBS, promising them sure-fire success.
After a tip-off on question paper leakage and sale, police rounded up 16 individuals believed to be part of the racket, from a Maitidevi-based house. Instead of question papers, the police recovered two loaded pistols and nine bullets from the drawer of Dr. Prabhat Kumar Kuswaha, who had rented the house from Kishor Kumar Tandon. Dr. Kuswaha runs an MBBS entrance coaching centre.
Police said that Dr. Kuswaha was the brain behind the leakage of MBBS entrance question papers for the last two years. While the students told the police that one of the scamsters, Prajwal KC, had taken Rs. 3 million—Rs. 2 million each from two students and Rs. 1 million from a third—promising to help them get through the entrance examination, the motive behind the possession of loaded arms has not been ascertained. Deputy Superintendent of Police Lalmani Acharya said, “Police could not find any question papers as they reached there before the racketeers could get their hands on the question papers.”
Three of the racketeers, including Dr. Kuswaha and Prajwal KC, managed to evade arrest. Sources said that Dr. Kuswaha and Prajwal were the ringleaders who handed over question papers to prospective medical students for up to Rs 2 million per person. “A manhunt is on for them,” said DSP Acharya. “We suspect that at least four educational institutes are part of the racket.” A senior government official District Education Officer of Bara, Kedar Tiwari, and his wife were among those arrested from the residence of main accused Dr. Kuswaha on Saturday: The two were released after interrogation. Police haven’t said why they were there.
Meanwhile, police released all the arrestees, except four Indians. DSP Acharya said that those released were found to be innocent. “Some of them are under surveillance,” said Acharya. The four Indians—Ashutosh Yadav, 30, Ashish Shrivastava, 27, Abhisekh Singh, 28, and Pradeep Shukla, 24—have been charged with supplying arms and ammunition to Dr. Kusuwaha. The four told the media they had been framed.
22 parties for new date for new govt
KATHMANDU, OCT 03 -A meeting of 22 political parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) on Sunday said that the parties should set a deadline for forming a new government citing that the country is on the brink of financial crisis for lack of a budget.
The meeting was convened by Prime Minister Nepal to discuss the ways to tackle the impending financial crisis owing to the untimely announcement of the budget.
The parties supporting the outgoing UML-led coalition stressed that the caretaker government should be granted the political authority to bring in a full-fledged budget if the deadline to form a new government failed. The parties have given their nod to the caretaker government to make the necessary arrangements to bring the budget anytime. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal will soon hold dialogue with the UCPN (Maoist) and the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum to forge consensus on bringing the budget.
The Ministry of Finance has been warning of dire consequences if the budget is not approved by the second week of November. In Sunday’s meeting, UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal underlined the need for national consensus to bring the complete budget by taking all the parties, including Maoists, into confidence. He added that the outgoing coalition government should be given the license to bring the budget if there is no consensus on the formation of a new government.
NC leader Ram Sharan Mahat said that the NC would not object if an all-party understanding is forged to pass the full budget. Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal proposed presenting the budget sometime between Oct. 24-27, reasoning that sufficient time would be required to discuss the budget in the Parliament.
Rastriya Janashakti Party Co-chairman Prakash Chandra Lohani said the national economy shouldn’t be held hostage due to the prolonged political stalemate.
The nation is on the verge of an unprecedented crisis, with no sign of compromise among the parties. He added that there
was delay in bringing a full-fledged budget due to lack of competent authority following the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. RSS
