Major Nepali and English newspapers published from Kathmandu on Thursday have prioritised different issues and ideas. The decision of Narayangadh-Muglin Road Project to open the road round the clock after the completion of blacktopping has received top attention whereas the official registration of Nepal Communist Party has also been a key news story. Many newspapers have covered Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s statement that big fish involved in gold smuggling case would be arrested on the front page.
Important
NCP registered at Election Commission
After 20 days of formal announcement of their unification, the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has finally been registered by the Election Commission, according to newspaper reports.
Gorkhapatra reports that the new party formed after the merger of then CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre has been the 145th political party of the country. However, owing to merger and dissolution of some parties, the Commission has listed the party in the 125th number.
Meanwhile, Republica, The Himalayan Times and The Kathmandu Post have raised their concerns over the legal validation to the party though it has not met one of the criteria required for the recognition: inclusion of 33 per cent women in the central committee of the party. However, the Commission officials claim that the registration will not violate the law as the party has promised to meet the requirement after its first general convention, reports Republica.
Ignored
Lack of regulations leaves constitutional positions vacant
As parties failed to finalise regulations for the House of Representatives and the National Assembly, many constitutional bodies have not got full shape, Rajdhani reports in three-column anchor story.
The Supreme Court, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority are currently headed by acting chiefs as the appointment process has not started owing to the absence of parliamentary hearing procedures, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Republica claims that the regulations are likely to be endorsed on Friday as the ruling Nepal Communist Party has become flexible on its previous stance about the suspension of lawmakers accused of criminal offences.
Pesticide use rampant in vegetable
A three-column story in Nepal Samacharpatra reports that the use of pesticide in vegetable cultivation is found ever growing in Nepal.
According to the Plant Protection Directorate under the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives, almost all vegetables and fruits traded at Kalimati market are found to have been produced with pesticides.
Nepal being easy lab for foreign drug producers
The lead story in Naya Patrika reports that foreign drug companies have been using Nepali hospitals and patients as laboratories to test effectiveness of their products including vaccines and medicines. Citing data maintained by Nepal Health Research Council, the report informs that more than 500 organisations got their approval to conduct research on Nepalis in 2017 whereas the number of such institutions to receive approval in the first four months of this year was 176.
Coalition culture unhealthy for foreign policy: Experts
Annapurna Post reports in a two-column story that the culture of forming coalition governments that the parties practised in the past decade has been proved unhealthy for the country’s foreign affairs as claimed by experts. In past 12 years, prime ministers and foreign affairs ministers represented different parties at most of the times and they prioritised their party policies over national interests while dealing with other governments, rendering the country into a weak position, according to the report.
Police accuse Saptari DAO of distributing fake citizenship certificates
An investigation carried out by police has found that officials of the Saptari District Administration Office were also involved in two notorious cases of fake citizenship that have surfaced since December last year, according to Republica.
The report filed from the district headquarters Rajbiraj says two citizenship cards with the same number were found earlier and now it has been found that they were not recorded at the DAO.
Donors spend Rs 25 billion annually through nongovernment channels
Some donor countries which have been providing regular financial assistance to Nepal have been found using other nongovernmental channels too so as to push projects and programmes of their interests to Nepali people, according to Nagarik.
The report says donors including the United Kingdom, the United States and India spend around Rs 25 billion every year through INGOs. On the other hand, the government has been receiving complaints about haphazard activities of such organisations, according to the report.
Interesting
‘Nepal’s royal crown’ being exhibited in China
A crown with the title ‘Nepal’s Royal Crown’ is currently exhibited during a cultural expo in Beijing of China . The crown looks like the royal crown used by Nepal’s former monarchs; however, whom the crown belonged to and how it reached Beijing are not confirmed yet, according to the anchor story in Kantipur.
The report mentions that the artifact is named ‘Nepal’s Royal Crown’, but it is being exhibited under ‘gems and jewels of India’ category.
