Most major Nepali and English broadsheet newspapers published from Kathmandu on Thursday have given the top priority to the decision of Nepali Congress to launch a stern protest against various decisions of the government as the party obstructed the National Assembly meeting and staged a demonstration at Maitighar Mandala yesterday. However, the KP Sharma Oli-led government on the very day decided to scrap some decisions about political appointments made by then Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government.
The health condition of medical education reform activist, Dr Govinda KC, has also received significant attention by the newspaper editors as he has been admitted to the emergency unit of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, where he is staging an indefinite hunger strike.
Few other political, sociocultural and economic issues have also been featured on the front pages of newspapers today.
Important
Dr KC admitted to emergency unit
On the fifth day of his fast-unto-death, the sexagenarian activist has been taken to the emergency unit of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences of Jumla in Karnali Province as his condition deteriorated, according to newspaper reports. Earlier, police had barred him from staging the hunger strike at the Academy premises and he had staged the protest at a local covered hall.
Nagarik says the local administration had tried to block him from entering the hospital yesterday as well, but his supporters forcefully took him inside as his life was at risk. He had collapsed during the strike yesterday afternoon, according to Annapurna Post.
Cabinet sacks Deuba’s political appointees
Gorkhapatra, Naya Patrika and The Himalayan Times report that the government has decided to scrap all political appointments made by previous Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government after August 30, 2017 when the code of conduct for elections of House of Representatives and National Assembly came into effect.
It means bosses appointed by the Deuba government at various authorities, corporations, companies, councils, boards and other entities under various ministries will lose jobs, Naya Patrika explains quoting Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Banskota.
Ignored
NCP tries to play with Medical Education Bill for vested interests of leaders
Republica lead story accuses the ruling Nepal Communist Party for trying to manipulate provisions of the proposed Medical Education Bill as some of its leaders have investments in new medical colleges of the country. “The replacement bill for the National Medical Education Ordinance has been altered only to serve the business interests of leaders of the party,” the report reads.
Only half local govts announce budget on time
Laws on local government operation say that all local governments must announce their annual budget by the 10th day of the month of Asar, which was June 24 this year. However, only less than half of local governments have announced their budget for the next fiscal year so far, according to Kantipur.
There are 753 local governments in the country, but 387 of them missed the deadline, the report informs.
No study so far on ship operation
Naya Patrika lead story says the government has not yet conducted any study on possibility of operating ship though Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been repeatedly saying that he would operate water transport in the country. Officials are not clear about which ministry or department is responsible for the project, the report says. However, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ravi Sainju says the Ministry is planning to buy a ship.
Floods, landslides kill 26 so far this season
The Ministry of Home Affairs says total 26 persons have lost their lives to floods and landslides in the country in this monsoon season so far. Addressing the Parliament meeting yesterday, Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa informed lawmakers that the government is prepared to combat such disasters in the future, according to Gorkhapatra.
Lack of integrated master plan blamed for messy road
The lead story in Abhiyan blames lack of integrated planning among stakeholders for the sorry state of roads in Kathmandu Valley. There are two road division offices, Kathmandu Valley Road Expansion Project, sewage management units, local governments among others working on the road and lack of coordination among them has resulted in the mess, claims the report.
Meanwhile, infrastructure expert Kishore Thapa says repairing roads before the onset of monsoon improves the road conditions to some extent, according to the report.
Interesting
Number of staff fixed for all levels
The government has fixed the number of staff required for central, provincial and local governments, according to Annapurna Post lead story. The report says that 45,000 staff are required at the federal level, 16,000 at provincial level and 57,000 at local level. Currently, there are 86,000, 17,000 and 103,000 staff regularly.
Earlier, the government had formed a committee under the leadership of Secretary Shankar Prasad Koirala to recommend a human resource management model for three tiers of governments.
