Newspapers published in Kathmandu on Thursday have published reports related to a variety of social, political economic issues. The commencement of Parliament’s winter session has received considerable attention along with the resignation of Digambar Jha, the chairman of Nepal Telecom Authority. Here’s a summary of important, ignored and interesting reports that made it to the front pages on Thursday:
Important
Congress to use winter session to attack government
Republica, The Kathmandu Post, The Himalayan Times, Nepal Samacharpatra and Annapurna Post, on their front pages, report on the commencement of the winter session of Parliament. On the first day, Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba took criticised the government arning ruling party leaders to prepare for a stormy session.
He accused the government of protecting those responsible for the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant. Deuba also criticised the government for failing to maintain law and order. NCP chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal claimed that the government has clocked dozens of achievements in nine months including the promulgation of fundamental rights-related laws and the signing of a railway development agreement with China.
Rastriya Janta Party leader Rajendra Mahato and Naya Shakti Party leader Baburam Bhattarai also criticised the work the government has been doing for the past nine months.
NTA chair Jha resigns
Kantipur and Republica report that the government has forced NTA chairman Digambar Jha to resign. Minister for Information and Communication, Gokul Baskota asked Jha to step down after his party leadership pressed him to oust Jha. As many as 43 central members of NCP had prepared a memorandum and submitted it to Chairmen KP Oli and Prachanda earlier this week demanding Jha’s dismissal. Jha was criticised for not taking any initiative to press NCell to pay taxes during its ownership transfer deal. Questions were also raised about irregularities in 4G technology licensing and optical fibre expansion.
Rawal free after 24 days
The Himalayan Time reports Pradip Rawal, 18, who was declared the prime suspect in the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant was released on Wednesday.
Rawal, who hails from Bhimdutta Municipality, was arrested under the Public Offences Act and was quizzed by the Central Investigation Bureau. He was arrested on December 3 in a restaurant in Sundhara. Rawal accuses the police of mental and physical torture and mentioned that he was threatened by the police to accept the crime.
Nuns missing from Bamjan’s ashram
Kantipur reports that three nuns have been missing from the ashram of Ram Bahadur Bamjam also known as ‘Little Buddha’. The story comes after the families of the nuns filed a complaint with the police saying they had gone missing.
The women, who became nuns in 2011 and 2012 respectively, have been reported missing for over five years. Police and family members have been looking for the two but haven’t come close to finding them.
Dr KC to prepone strike
Republica reports that medical education reforms activist Dr Govinda KC has told the government he will prepone his hunger strike if his demands are not met. Dr KC says he will resort to a hunger strike if the government fails to present the medical education bill in Parliament at the earliest. Dr KC has accused education minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel of working in favour of ‘Mafia elements’.
Army asks more money for fast track
Nagarik and Republica report that the army is seeking an incentive of Rs 680m for its staff deployed to build the Kathmandu-Terai expressway. The army’s demand, which has been submitted to the Ministry of Finance, is to pay Rs 400 per day to each of its 500 personnel involved in risky construction work. Similarly, the security agency has proposed that the government provide Rs 150 as lunch allowance for another 1,334 security personnel deployed at the project site to provide security.
Interesting
Robots produce concrete blocks
Arthik Abhiyan reports that Asian Concrete Pvt. Ltd. is using robots to produce concrete. Located in Bhairawa-Parasi Industrial corridor, the facility came with a price tag of Rs 2 billion. Machinery, including the robots, to produce the concrete blocks come from Germany. Even though most of the production work will be done by robots, the company has hired 150 personnel to oversee them. Board member Manish Rungta says that at a time when construction work in the country is at its peak, this will help in providing better products to the consumers.
