Nepalis celebrated the New Year on Saturday as the Bikram Samvat 2075 has begun. On the occasion, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli reached the popular Rara Lake in remote Karnali Province to inaugurate a tourism festival. During the function, the Prime Minister also addressed the nation, sharing plans of his government for national development. Most of major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu have given the top priority to the PM’s address on their front page today.
Generally, international news stories do not get the front page space in Kathmandu newspapers. However, some newspapers today have published on their front page reports about the new strike against Syria by the United States with the support from the United Kingdom and France.
Important
PM’s Rara address makes tall promises
Newspaper reports inform that the Prime Minister’s New Year message is full of tall promises as he claimed the country would get a facelift in next five years. Gorkhapatra quotes the Prime Minister to say that the country now has an unprecedented opportunity for development and prosperity.
Oli had spelled out his government’s plan for next five year, according to The Himalayan Times.
The main opposition, Nepali Congress, however, comments that the PM’s address is full of emotional statements, but it lacks concrete plan of action, reports Annapurna Post.
Karobar quotes representatives of the private sector to argue that the government should prioritise implementation of developments over making announcements of ambitious plans and programmes.
Meanwhile, a 65-year-old man died while attending the function in which the Prime Minister was addressing, according to Republica daily.
Ignored
EPG holds ‘serious discussion’ on 1950 treaty
The anchor story in government-run Gorkhapatra claims that the eighth meeting of Eminent Persons’ Group on Nepal-India Relations (EPG-NIR) held a serious discussion about revising the controversial 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty. The meeting was held in New Delhi of India on Friday.
Meanwhile, the meeting also prepared a draft report to review existing bilateral treaties. Members representing Nepal and India have prepared different reports and they have exchanged them for studying now, according to the report.
No discussion on left unification in past nine days
Preparations for the proposed unification between CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre have apparently lost momentum now as the two parties have not held serious talks over contentious issues in past 10 days, reports Rajdhani in its two-column story today.
Though leaders of the two parties state in public that their parties will unify on April 22, they have not made preparations for it, comments the report.
Shashanka Koirala tries to rise as next Congress leader
Nepali Congress General Secretary Shashanka Koirala has intensified works to bring all disgruntled groups of his party under one umbrella so that he can be more confident about taking over the party rein from the next general convention, reports Republica, adding pressure has been mounting on the party President Sher Bahadur Deuba to hand over the leadership to a new leader taking responsibility of the party’s lost in recent elections.
Meanwhile, some youth leaders in the party who had earlier raised voice for an early general convention have withdrawn their demand as Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba provided an opportunity to discuss the party’s humiliating poll performance in its recent Central Working Committee meeting, according to Rajdhani.
Staff prepare to move apex court demanding voluntary retirement
The lead story in Nepal Samacharpatra says government staff unions have warned of filing a case against the government and Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Lalbabu Pandit for blocking the voluntary retirement plan.
A bill, which is currently waiting for the presidential enactment for implementation, has proposed that staff can quit under certain conditions and they receive multiple benefits. However, the new Minister has made it clear that the staff will not be allowed to go for the retirement as the county currently needs a bigger workforce than ever.
Banking offences on the rise
Abhiyan lead story for the day says the number of banking offices and the amount of money such cases misappropriate are on the rise. In the first eight and half months of current fiscal year (till March end), the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police investigated into eight such cases involving 41 suspects and Rs 216 million was misappropriated in those cases whereas the amount was less than that in the entire period of last fiscal year the report informs.
Interesting
PM takes guardianship of Mugu girl
Like in the past years, the government launched a school enrolment campaign in its efforts to ensure every child’s access to education. This year, however, the plan has been more interesting as it now requires leaders and officials to shoulder the responsibility of paying for the education of a child from a disadvantaged family.
In this context, the Prime Minister took the responsibility of taking care of a six-year-old girl in Karmarong Rural Municipalty-8 of Mugu district, according to Gorkhapatra.
