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From the Kathmandu Press: Thursday, February 21, 2019

Major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Wednesday have given priority to a host of issues from political, sociocultural and economic spheres. The corruption case involving Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, Raj Narayan Pathak, is still creasing some buzz on the front pages of popular broadsheets. In addition, the nomination of Samim Miya Ansari for the position of Muslim Commission chair has turned controversial and the newspapers have covered it significantly.

Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the cover pages of national broadsheets:

Important

Ansari unlikely to get PHSC approval

File: Samim Miya Ansari

The Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee is unlikely to endorse the nomination of Samim Miya Ansari to lead the Muslim Commission as most members of the Committee held him ineligible to chair the constitutional body, according to newspaper reports.

During the PHSC meeting yesterday, the panel’s chair Laxman Lal Karna has questioned the role of Constitutional Council in nominating the officials, Republica reports.

Meanwhile, the Parliament Secretariat dispatched separate letters to the Council and the Election Commission after he was found to be having double citizenship certificates and to have contested the House of Representatives elections in 2017 as a Nepal Communist Party candidate, according to The Himalayan Times.

Kantipur reports that many of the previous recommendations by the Council had also landed in controversies.

Pathak received bribes in sweet boxes

File: Raj Narayan Pathak

Republica lead story reports that Raj Narayan Pathak, who has recently resigned from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, after a video about him taking bribe leaked, received the kickback amount of Rs 7.8 million in sweet boxes. He had mobilised his younger brother Shubh Narayan for the act, according to the report.

Meanwhile, a brief report in Annapurna Post adds that the Commission has launched an investigation on suspicions that Pathak amassed his property illegally.

TU assistant dean held on sexual harassment charge

File image: Tribhuvan University Central Office, Kirtipur

Kantipur and The Himalayan Times report that Bauba Lal Sah, assistant dean of the Faculty of Education at the Tribhuvan University has been arrested on the charge of sexually harassing a teenage girl.

Kantipur said the official harassed the girl on the way to the TU Office of the Controller of Examinations from the TU central office yesterday.

Meanwhile, the irate students had smeared soot on his face before police took him under control, according to The Himalayan Times.

Cabinet reshuffle likely before investment summit

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is thinking of reshuffling his Cabinet, removing some ministers and changing portfolios of others, The Kathmandu Post reports in a three column story.

The reshuffle will be done in one or two phases and it will be over by the investment summit scheduled to be held at the end of March as it would send a positive message to the donors, investors and development partners, the report informs quoting unnamed NCP leaders.

Meanwhile, Abhiyan reports that the Investment Board is planning to collect direct foreign investment for 25 projects through the summit. The Board has identified industries. tourism, agriculture, hydropower and infrastructures as priority investment areas.

Ignored

Controversial IT bill tabled in Parliament

Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gokul Banskota, speaks at a function in Kathmandu, on Tuesday, February 5, 2019.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Banskota has tabled the Bill on Information Technology in the House of Representatives meeting yesterday for a discussion, reports Gorkhapatra in a snippet.

Meanwhile, experts have commented that the new bill could kill innovation as it will add more red tape for internet-based companies, The Kathmandu Post reports in its lead story.

PR lawmakers accuse govt of discrimination

File: Nepal’s Parliament building

Almost all newspapers have reported that Nepali Congress lawmaker Uma Regmi tore a manual on port barrel funds during the House of Representatives meeting on Wednesday. The Himalayan Times lead story explains the reason behind the incident—the lawmaker accused the government of institutionalising the discrimination against lawmakers elected through the proportional representation system through the manual.

Australian college deregistration puts many Nepali students in limbo

Uncertainly looms over the future of hundreds of Nepali students enrolled in a technical institution in Australia as the country’s vocational and training sector regulator deregistered the college after it failed to abide by existing rules, The Kathmandu Post reports.

Around 90 per cent of the students at Australia Institute of Business and Technology are from Nepal, according to the report.

Naya Patrika has also reported the issue on the front page.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party Nepali Congress has demanded that the government take immediate initiatives to rescue the students, Nepal Samacharpatra reports in a snippet.

Interesting

Lawmaker demands ban on marijuana

A traditional pipe of marijuana as seen in Pashupatinath area on Tuesday, February 13, 2018.

A lawmaker of the ruling Nepal Communist Party has demanded that the government remove the ban imposed on cultivation, trade and consumption of marijuana.

Speaking at the House of Representatives meeting on Wednesday, Birodh Khatiwada said the government could earn a lot as many developed countries including the United States, Canada and Thailand have been selling marijuana legally, Abhiyan reports in a brief story.

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