Unity bank accounts virtually empty , LinkToNepal

Unity bank accounts virtually empty

KATHMANDU, May 19: Initial investigations into Unity´s saga of fraud have revealed that Unity Life International (ULI) has virtually no money in the formal banking system, and this has raised fears that most of the funds it collected might have been siphoned out of the country.The company, which was engaged in illicit network marketing and raked in billions of rupees from 650,000 people to whom it sold dubious social security schemes, had savings accounts at numerous commercial banks. Butinvestigations showed that almost none of them had significant savings amounts.

“We are yet to dig out its accounts in cooperatives, but considering the massive withdrawals the company made in recent weeks, we fear the money might have been taken out of the country,” a highly-placed source told.

The investigations further showed that Unity had initially deposited Rs 800 million in Fina World Savings and Credit Cooperatives in fixed deposit. But interestingly, it had withdrawn the money, converting the account into current deposit. Currently, the cooperative has some Rs 75 million in Unity´s account, which the government has already frozen.

More surprise followed when investigators studied the company´s financial statement. “Contrary to the company´s statement that it has collected well over Rs 6 billion in cash from the local market, the total balance sheet of the company stood at a mere Rs 200 million,” said the source.

The statement neither cites the volume of assets nor liabilities. “It is very crude and does not comply with standard auditing norms,” said the source. Considering all this, the investigators have decided to drag in Unity´s auditor for further investigations.

Unity´s records that have been studied so far also showed that the company´s clients number 364,000. Company brass had been claiming that Unity has 400,000 Nepali clients and an additional 250,000 clients overseas.

“Surprisingly, the documents also showed that the company has not issued receipts to 250,000 out of the 364,000 clients it claims to have,” said the source.

Given this situation, officials concerned opined that the government can instantly charge the company with forgery and illegal mobilization of deposits.

However, because of the widespread nature of its businesses and unscrupulous operations, they have opined that the government should form a special investigation to dig out more facts for dealing with the Unity case.

Two Unity promoters remanded, others sought

Bhim Gurung and Netra Rajbanshi, the promoters of Unity Life International, were remanded by Lalitpur District Court on a fraud charge, Tuesday.

According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Bikram Thapa, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Lalitpur, the court granted an initial remand for four days following registration of a fraud case as per the ´Muluki Ain´. Gurung, the financial director, and Rajbanshi, travel director, were arrested in a raid at Unity´s head office at Jawalakhel, Lalitpur on Monday.

"This is part of the prosecution from our side and in course of investigations many other charges could be developed and lodged by other bodies of the state," said SP Thapa.

Meanwhile, police said it has geared up the hunt for other absconding promoters of thecompany. "We have kept their residences under surveillance and also raided four potential locations today alone," said SP Ramesh Kharel, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu. "We believe they are still in the capital and could not have escaped."

Six absconding promoters were known to have left their homes after the governmentdecided to hold and interrogate them, police said. "We are focused on searching guest houses where our intelligence says they have been hiding," said a police officer involved in the investigations.

Unity bank accounts virtually empty , LinkToNepal

Unity bank accounts virtually empty , LinkToNepal

Stopping in New York, on a Nine-Year Pedal , LinkToNepal

Stopping in New York, on a Nine-Year Pedal , LinkToNepal

Even among the Nepalese –- who always seem to be attempting strenuous feats to promote world peace — a 33-year-old former teacher named Lok Bandhu Karki stands out.

Mr. Karki traveled the 53 districts of Nepal by bike for the noble mission, but then decided to extend his trip. He left Nepal on Dec. 7, 2004, and has visited 79 countries so far, traveling a distance of 90,000 miles, he estimates.

“I am riding bicycle to promote the world peace and universal brotherhood, sir,” Mr. Karki said on Thursday while wheeling his mountain bike along Second Avenue at 44th Street, near the Nepal Mission, where he is staying in New York for the next few days.

He has amassed quite a few stories. And they sound almost like scenes from cartoons.

First, the attacks — by a herd of elephants in Laos, gorillas in Uganda, robbers in Thailand and an angry mob in the Sudan (they were enraged that he was flying the flag of a dissident political faction). He said he has had 17 digital cameras and nine cellphones lost or stolen.

On and on with numbers: 23 days sleeping in the desert, and 27 nights in the forest. The man keeps a meticulous journal, not only of the misery, but also of the high points, including meeting Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Kofi Annan in Ghana.

Mr. Karki is on his fourth passport – “filled with customs stamps, sir.” – and he is on his fifth bicycle. Two were sent back to Nepal for public display, one was stolen in the Congo, and one broke down in Nicaragua.

On his current bike, he has several bags on the bike rack and three flags: the Nepalese flag, one with a peace dove and a third for the country he is visiting. He entered the United States, from Mexico, two months ago, after a jaunt through South and Central America, he said. There is also a handlebar plaque: “World Peace Tour 2004-2013 — Nepal.”

Mr. Karki rattles off the countries he has visited on his fingers, like a child’s playground chant — China, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore. Mr. Karki says that once he visits roughly 150, by 2013, he will call it quits.

He says he has pedaled the whole trip, except for 13 flights and 20 boat trips. The longest flight was from Senegal to Sao Paolo, Brazil, and the shortest ferry trip was from Jordan to Egypt.

He fortifies himself with vaccines and multivitamins, and he carries water purification tablets and antimalaria drugs. He rides 6 to 13 hours a day, he said, and when in the countryside, sleeps in his tent. In villages and cities, he stays with friendly people, incheap hotels or in housing provided through the Red Cross or diplomatic officials.

Mr. Karki says he has been featured in hundreds of newspaper articles and television and radio spots, and he began pulling out a huge sheaf of newspaper articles stuffed into a backpack — The Kathmandu Post, The Ghanaian Times and others.

One of 14 children growing up in Taplejung District, in Western Nepal, Mr. Karki said he lived “seven hours by walking to the city of Taplejung.”

So far, he said, the trip has cost him $55,000, which includes his life savings of $14,000, and the remainder raised mostly from aid groups, local governments he visits and Nepalese and Indian groups he meets along the way.

He says he has no bank account or credit card or Web site; he must be handed themoney in cash.

“I want you to write this, sir,” he said. “Nepalese in other country have been very generous, but in this country, they do not give.”

Surprising bluntness from Mr. Karki. “I’m sorry, but I need money to continue,” he said.

After this weekend, it is on to Boston and then Canada, and then down to the Caribbean and a flight to England.

By 2013, he figures he will have a book in him. After writing it, he said, he hopes to open a foster home.

“By then, sir, I hope we have the world peace,” he said, and began riding the wrong way on Second Avenue, bound for Central Park.

Barbara Mori and her son to hit the big screen soon!! , LinkToNepal

Barbara Mori and her son to hit the big screen soon!! , LinkToNepal

Barbara Mori and her son to hit the big screen soon!!

Barbara Mori’s 12-year-old son Sergio will soon hit the big screen in a Mexican film, with his mommy. The movie is being produced by Barbara’s production house.

more click on link

Nepali attempts to climb 7 highest peaks , LinkToNepal

Nepali attempts to climb 7 highest peaks , LinkToNepal

KATHMANDU, May 15 -- Junita Limbu, a famous Nepali female climber, isstarting her effort to climb the seven highest peaks of the seven continents from Saturday.

Addressing a press conference here, Limbu said she is starting her expedition she has named "Seven Summits" by scaling The Mt. Elbrus in Russia first. more visit http://linktonepal.com

Nepal To Benefit From 'Feed The Future Initiative' , LinkToNepal

Nepal To Benefit From 'Feed The Future Initiative' , LinkToNepal

The U.S. Embassy said that Nepal has been selected as one of 20 focus countries for President Obama's $3.5 Billion Feed the Future initiative.

Feed the Future is a comprehensive country-owned and agriculture-led approach that aims to significantly and sustainably reduce hunger and poverty in the developingworld.

more click on link

Rastrabadi Gorkha Seva Dal Proposal to UCPN Maoists in Nepal , LinkToNepal

Rastrabadi Gorkha Seva Dal Proposal to UCPN Maoists in Nepal , LinkToNepal

We at RGSD have welcomed the calling off of the political confrontations in Nepal. The Basantapur Peace Rally held last Friday; has been a historic victory for the Nepalipeople. The Gorkhali, Nepali people have once again sighed in relief and thanked the Gods and Goddesses for bringing .. more click on link

Nepal Everest clean-up , LinkToNepal

Nepal Everest clean-up , LinkToNepal

After Deepika, it’s Asin now with Ranbir , LinkToNepal

After Deepika, it’s Asin now with Ranbir , LinkToNepal

An Account of the General Strike in Nepal , LinkToNepal

An Account of the General Strike in Nepal , LinkToNepal

UN extends Nepal mission , LinkToNepal

UN extends Nepal mission , LinkToNepal

Quake Kills 51 in Eastern Turkey

Hot News

Quake Kills 51 in Eastern Turkey

ISTANBUL — At least 51 people died when an earthquake of 6.0 magnitude struck early Monday in eastern Turkey, officials in the region said.

One village was largely destroyed and four others were heavily damaged, the officials said. A second quake with a 5.6 magnitude hit the same area, among scores of aftershocks.

According to Turkey’s Kandilli earthquake observatory, the epicenter of the quake, which struck three miles underground at 4:32 a.m. local time, was 61 miles from the town of Elazig.

“Our citizens lost their lives in five villages,” Muammer Erol, the town’s governor, told NTV, a private news broadcaster.

There were no people still trapped under debris by Monday night, after rescue operations that lasted for hours, Mr. Erol’s office later announced. Emergency officials put the number of injured at 34.

“The important thing is to train local construction workers on methods to build earthquake-resistant buildings without giving up locally available construction materials,” Miktad Kadioglu, professor of meteorology and head of the crisis management center at Istanbul Technical University to our reporter

Nepal's Beauty and Grace Hide Poverty

Hot News

Nepal's Beauty and Grace Hide Poverty

And while for 40 years it was safe and free for visitors and Nepalese to walk in the cities or trek to villages far beyond the roads, the Nepalese people lacked any say in their government and lived a quasi-feudal life of hardship�a side of life that many visitors failed to see. It was a life of poverty, hunger, and illness caused by lack of jobs, food, and health care.

Since 1951, a decade before the creation of USAID, the United States has provided more than $1 billion in foreign assistance to Nepal for education, farming, infrastructure, health, and government. USAID�s budget in Nepal has remained about $35 million to $45 million per year for the last few years.

A quick visit to farms, villages, and cities from the steep Himalayan Mountains to the hot Terai plains bordering India reveals a country that has made great progress but is still struggling to overcome enormous development problems.

Roads link major cities and some towns, schools have opened, and health programs are reaching most rural communities.

But Nepal remains among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with almost 60 percent of its 28 million people living on less than $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank. Less than threequarters of the people can read.

Nearly 40 percent of children under five are below normal weight. Nearly half the people are unemployed, leading many to seek jobs abroad in India, Malaysia, and the Gulf states.

Poverty is linked in part to the rugged environment. Steep mountains impede transport and use of farm machines. Monsoon rains often lead to flooding, landslides, and spoiled harvests.

A Nepalese woman and child in a village near Langtang National Park near the border with China.

Hydropower and tourism are most likely to bring cash into Nepal, but the country�s political troubles have blocked progress in many areas. A protracted conflict from 1995-2006 reduced investment and drove some factory owners to flee to India. The peace process�strongly supported by USAID (see accompanying article on peace)�ended the fighting in 2006 and led to elections that chose a Constituent Assembly. In 2008, the 240-year-old monarchy was ousted, but political stability remains elusive.

Another damper on development has been the long, landlocked borders the country shares with rival Asian giants China and India.

Geographic isolation�along with Buddhist and Hindu teachings of acceptance and nonattachment� let Nepal retain its timeless ways as the world�s only Hindu monarchy until 2006.

U.S. assistance�the focus of the articles in this special report�has already helped achieve important results. Since 1951, with U.S. assistance, life expectancy has more than doubled to 65, literacy has grown, and many diseases have been reduced.

In the 1950s, U.S. assistance eliminated malaria from much of the country, founded the College of Education, trained the first public health nurses, and created the first telephone exchange. In the 1960s, USAID backed administration reforms, set up 104 health units, added a surgery wing to Bir Hospital, helped boost air traffic from 25,000 to 210,000 flights per year, and opened an industrial park.

In the 1970s, USAID helped double primary school enrollment, built the Western Hills road to link the Terai to the hills, tripled the number of people getting health services, introduced family planning, and boosted use of fertilizer by 18 percent. In the 1980s, USAID promoted the private sector and NGOs, female literacy rose to 18 percent, some food-short areas became surplus producers, and real income rose an average 62 percent.

In the 1990s, Nepal became a parliamentary democracy and U.S. aid helped improve government services, privatize some state-run businesses, get women to run for local and national offices, deliver Vitamin A to nearly 80 percent of districts, and handed over 123,000 hectares of forests to community forest user groups.

Protesting journalists clash with police in Nepal

Protesting journalists clash with police in Nepal

KATHMANDU

— Nepalese journalists on Wednesday clashed with police as they picketed a government building in Kathmandu to demand improved security after the murder of a newspaper publisher.
Around 100 media workers were chanting slogans and waving placards when the brief outbreak of violence took place, an AFP photographer witnessed.
The protest followed the murder of Arun Singhaniya, the owner of a regional newspaper and radio station, who was shot dead near his home in the southern Nepalese town of Janakpur on Monday. The Federation of Nepalese Journalists said it had organised rallies across the country to demand his killers be brought to justice and to call for media workers to be better protected.
"Our demand is simple -- let us write and live. We want to put pressure on the government to arrest those behind the murder of Arun Singhaniya," organiser Ujir Magar, told AFP. Singhaniya's killing came after the murder in February of another media owner, Jamim Shah, although the two are not thought to be connected.
The editors of Nepal's major newspapers on Wednesday published an open letter condemning Singhaniya's killing and criticising the government for failing to clamp down on assaults against the media.
"We demand that the government immediately make efforts to arrest the criminals and bring them to justice," they said.

I want to be a beautiful bride

Bollywood Gossips

I want to be a beautiful bride

Kareena Kapoor has great plans for her wedding, she wants a grand wedding and definitely wants to look the best on her wedding day, but right now marriage is no where on her agenda.
Talking about recent rumors about her secret Nikaah with Saif, she says, “We have been together for two-and-half years now. We are very happy. Marriage will happen, but it hasn’t happened. At some point, we are going to settle down but we don’t know when. And catch me doing anything secretly! Anything about my life has been so much in the open. Why would I break my record and go have a hush-hush wedding? I am the last unmarried Kapoor girl in the family and I want a grand wedding… I want to be a beautiful bride but right now, I am too busy being a bride on the big screen.”
When tell her that Saif is ready to get married, but is only saying no because he doesn’t want to destroy her blooming career, she says, “That’s why I love him so much more.”
So it’s time before you see Kareena transform into a beautiful bride.

Vidya Balan receives Filmfare 2010 Best Actress Award

Bollywood Gossips

Vidya Balan receives Filmfare 2010 Best Actress Award

It was a dream come true for Vidya Balan as she received her first ever Filmfare best actress award for her outstanding performance in Paa as Amitabh Bachchan’s mother.
Vidya who won the Naa-real award(SRK-Saif had given it to her for her bad dress sense) in the year 2008, on receiving the award said, “From nariyal to this Black lady, it’s been a great journey at the Filmfare. I thank Balki (director), my parents and Arundhati Nag. Also I would like to add that motherhood is a rewarding feeling, so I am greatly thankful to my son Auro who made me a mother.”
Vidya wore a beautiful orange colored Sabyasachi saree and completed the look with Rudraksh beaded necklace.
Congratulations Vidya.

Katrina and Deepika at Filmfare Awards 2010

Bollywood Gossips

Katrina and Deepika at Filmfare Awards 2010

Bollywood hotties Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone both of them rocked the stage with their sizzling performances, but before the performances both of them rocked the red carpet with their hot look.
Katrina Kaif wore a fish detailed dark brown gown and kept it simple by pairing it with beautiful earrings.
Leggy lass Deepika Padukone wore a black gown with a long slit and accessorized herself with a clutch, bracelet and earrings.

Chile Earthquake

Thousands of Chilean troops are heading to the country's devastated earthquake zone as reports emerge of desperate survivors turning to looting and arson.

President Michelle Bachelet said a total of 7,000 troops would soon be in place in areas around Concepcion, the city closest to the epicentre.
An air bridge has been set up between Santiago and Concepcion, with 100 tons of food aid due in the next few hours.
At least 723 people have been confirmed dead in the 8.8-magnitude quake. Ms Bachelet said reinforcements would join the troops already in the provinces of Bio Bio and Maule. Concepcion is spending another night under curfew, which has been extended to be in force from 2000 (2300
 GMT) until noon on Tuesday.
Reports are emerging from the city of residents clashing with police as they lay siege to shops and supermarkets in the search for food.

CHILE QUAKE - LATEST

Official death toll rises from 300 to more than 700
Tens of thousands forced to live outdoors because of damaged homes
Troops in Concepcion arrest 160 people as they try to stop looters stealing from shops
One man shot and killed during looting disturbances
Limited services resume on Santiago metro and at international airport
Pacific-wide tsunami alert lifted
Concepcion's troubled history
Devastation in pictures
Six Britons 'missing' after quake
Net puts Kenya at centre of rescue
In pictures: Destruction and despair

The army was called in to help the police force deal with looters, some of whom filled shopping trolleys with groceries while others made off with plasma TVs and other electrical appliances.
Some 160 people were arrested for looting and breaking the curfew, police said on Monday. During the clashes, one 22-year-old man was shot and killed.
And by Monday evening tensions had flared once more, with troops deployed to the streets after a blaze began in a looted supermarket.
Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported that despite the presence of troops, a huge fire was intentionally started at a building housing the Polar department store.
The blaze caused the building to collapse, La Tercera reported. Marco Riquelme, a regional spokesman for the department store, told La Tercera the incident was a "clear example" of the "chaotic situation" survivors were enduring in Concepcion.

Hospital set to collapse

Reports are beginning to emerge of the scale of the devastation in areas south of the Chilean capital, Santiago.

AT THE SCENE

In the main square in Curico, the authorities have set up an emergency radio station. Most of Curico's residents are on the streets trying to secure government help to investigate the extent of damage to the small town, which lies about 200 miles from the epicentre.
The vast majority of its old town has been destroyed and as much as 90% of the mud and wooden buildings in the historic centre have either crumbled or have to be demolished.
The town's mayor said that one of the main problems was the hospital. The pillars have collapsed, he said, and the structure won't stay up much longer.
Meanwhile the coastal region near here has been even more badly affected. It's understood that entire villages have been destroyed either by the earthquake or by a subsequent tsunami.

A BBC team that reached the town of Curico, between Santiago and Concepcion, said 90% of the town historic centre had been damaged.
The town's Mayor, Hugo Rey Martinez, told the BBC's Will Grant the hospital building was compromised and would soon collapse.
However, food and water was being distributed and the situation was comparatively calm, our reporters said.
In coastal towns and villages hit by giant waves after the earthquake, the scale of destruction is becoming clear.
More than 300 bodies were reportedly found in the fishing village of Constitucion alone. The mayor of Constitucion said the town's seafront and centre had been "completely destroyed". In the port of Talcahuano, more than 20 boats were swept ashore and dumped in the streets by the waves.

Plane crash

Relief efforts are beginning to get under way, with the United Nations pledging to send aid quickly to the earthquake zone.

Detailed map of quake

Many of Concepcion's 500,000 inhabitants are short of food and have seen their water and electricity supplies cut off.
UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said Chile had requested field hospitals with surgery facilities, mobile bridges, communications equipment, kitchens, and disaster assessment and co-ordination teams. However, the domestic aid effort suffered a setback when a small plane carrying six people near Concepcion, killing all those on board.
The small Chilean plane, which was carrying an aid and assessment team to Concepcion, crashed close to the nearby town of Tome on Monday afternoon, local media reported.
About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.
The epicentre of the quake was 115km (70 miles) north-east of Concepcion and 325km (200 miles) south-west of the capital Santiago.
With each aftershock - and there were more than 90 over the next few hours - we felt everything was going to start again Ricardo Leon Concepcion
Survivor tells of chaos in Chile
About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged. Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.
One US risk assessor, Eqecat, has put the cost of repairing the damage at between $15bn and $30bn (£9.8bn - £19.6bn) or 10-20% of the country's gross domestic product.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would visit Santiago on Tuesday and meet Ms Bachelet and Mr Pinera, officials said.
The European Union has pledged 3m euros ($4m; £2.7m) in emergency aid for Chile. Japan said it was providing an emergency grant of $3m, as well as sending tents, generators, water cleaners and other emergency gear, while China has pledged $1m.

Chile Earthquake

Chile Earthquake