Various newspapers published from the Kathmandu Valley have given importance to various political, sociocultural and business stories. The address of Prime Minister to the House of Representatives and the controversial statement made by the Province 2 Chief Minister during a civic facilitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been given importance.
Various other economic and sociocultural stories also grabbed significant attention in the major broadsheets today.
Important
PM says Modi visit has taken Indo-Nepal relation to new level
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the visit of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi has laid a new foundation for the Nepal-India relations. The visit of Modi as a ‘pilgrim’ has taken the relation between both the countries to new height, according to Gorkhapatra.
Briefing the lawmakers about Modi’s visit in Parliament on Sunday, Prime minister KP Oli said that no steps were taken that was against the nation’s will. He further assured that he had made no agreements that would undermine the dignity of the country, reports Republica.
Likewise, the Prime minister also assured that the Raxaul-Kathmandu train will operate in next five year with India bearing all the cost for the construction, adds the lead story published in Annapurna Post.
Province 2 Chief Minister’s controversial statement displeases PM
The speech made by Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut at a civic felicitation programme to welcome Indian Prime minister Modi has sparked controversy for criticising the Constitution of Nepal as discriminatory.
“The struggle against the discriminatory constitution and provincial rights continues”, the Chief Minister had said while addressing the programme, reports Republica.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has expressed his dissatisfaction over the controversial statement made by the chief Minister. “During the visit, many statements made were against the national will and diplomatic etiquette,” Oli said, reports Kantipur.
PM’s China visit likely in June
As Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced that he would visit China soon during his address to the House of Representatives meeting on Sunday, officials in both the countries have informally begun preparations. Quoting Oli’s chief political advisor, Bishnu Rimal, the anchor story in The Kathmandu Post says Oli is likely to go to Beijing in June, after the annual budget announcement. The government announces the budget in the last week of May.
The report claims that the exact date for the visit will be announced soon and it is likely to be timed around the 18th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, scheduled for June 9 and 10.
During the visit, the two countries will sign a Transit Transport Protocol, according to the report.
Ignored
Chinese aircraft continue to bleed NAC dry
Two aircraft purchased from China have become proved white elephants for the Nepal Airlines Corporation as the loss incurred by them is increasing over years, according to a story in Karobar.
The loss amounted to Rs 338 million in the last fiscal year whereas it is likely to cross the one billion rupee mark this year, the report says, adding the national flag carrier, however, has purchased four similar aircraft this year too.
Nepali Army fires junior staffer over pork controversy
Naya Patrika claims that Nepali Army has fired one of its junior staff after he allegedly refused to consume food prepared in utensils used to prepare pork foods. Mohammad Jabir Khan has claimed that eating pork is very disrespectful to his religion, Islam; therefore he refused to take it.
Earlier, he had submitted his resignation ‘to save his faith’, which the national military organisation had rejected. But, after five months, he was told that his resignation was approved and he could quit the job.
Meanwhile, he has filed a complaint at the Army Headquarters and National Human Rights Commission.
Lawmakers won’t be given development funds from next fiscal
The Himalayan Times says the government is in the mood to discontinue the release of funds through lawmakers for infrastructure development projects though lawmakers of major political parties including CPN-UML, Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre have piled pressure to continue them.
The Constituency Development Programme and the Constituency Infrastructure Special Prorgramme will come to an end, according to the report.
Interesting
NEA ends load shedding at industries too
Many newspapers have published on their front page that regular power outage, popularly known as load shedding, have officially ended in Nepal as the Nepal Electricity Authority has said it will capable of supplying uninterrupted power to industries and factories too.
Earlier, power outage for domestic customers had ended one and half years ago, but industries were still facing the problem for three to four hours every day.
Gorkhapatra says there will not be load shedding at any place connected with the central transmission line except on occasions of technical glitches.
Meanwhile, the central transmission line will receive 1,000 megawatt more power this year, according to Kantipur.
