Nepal Communist Party’s reported preparations to call back its lawmaker from Kathmandu-7, Rambir Manandhar, in order to create a space for the party’s senior leader Bamdev Gautam have been the talk of the town for past few days. The party, however, is yet to make any official statement about the decision to call back Manandhar and field Gautam for a byelection. Major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Thursday have given the top priority to shockwaves created by the announcement of Manandhar himself that he was going to resign.
Meanwhile, Dashain, the 15-day festival being celebrated across Nepal, has begun and newspapers have given considerable space about various dimensions of the country’s greatest festival.
Few other political, sociocultural and economic issues have been featured on the front pages of broadsheet dailies today.
Important
Will Gautam reconsider his plan?
While Rajdhani, Kantipur, Annapurna Post and The Kathmandu Post have reported that there are voices of dissatisfaction within the Nepal Communist Party about the decision to call back Manandhar to let Gautam get elected the lawmaker, The Himalayan Times claims Gautam himself is also confused about contesting the elections.
The report claims that Gautam told his aides that the plan could be risky for his image. Gautam, however, could not be reached for comments, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the party’s Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said no official decision was made about the issue, reports Nepal Samacharpatra.
Naya Patrika, on the other hand, reports that the government needs to spend Rs 100 million if it decides to conduct the byelection in the constituency.
PM’s office says Nepal will settle borders issues with India in four years
The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has said it has planned to settle all border disputes with India within next four years, according to the lead story of Republica.
Responding to lawmakers’ questions over the government’s plans for recovering encroached Nepali land, the Office has said mapping of disputed areas, repairing and reconstructing damaged border pillars will be over in next four years, according to the report.
Ignored
Report on private schools’ fees lost
Gorkhapatra reports in its anchor story that a report prepared on the fee structures of expensive private schools of the country has been lost, and it has obstructed the government from implementing its standard few structures.
Without specifically mentioning any agency, the newspaper says the report was hidden by some groups who had vested interests against the government plan.
No caste discrimination in Nuwakot village
The caste discrimination, which exists in most of Nepali societies, is more apparent in religious and cultural functioning. However, in a small village in Nuwakot district near Kathmandu, members of high caste Brahmin and ‘untouchable’ Dalit communities grow jamara (barley saplings) for the Dashain festival at the same place, Kantipur reports in a three columnbox story with a photograph.
Stakeholders flay govt for prioritising state media
According to the lead story in The Himalayan Times, experts and stakeholders have objected to the government decision to ‘prioritise’ state media outselfs while selling advertisements, claiming this decision is likely to deal a financial blow to the private sector media houses.
An organisation of private sector media operators, Nepal Media Society, also protested the decision, the newspapers reports in the box inside the main article.
Nepal buys Rs 700 m mansion for US-based ambassador
The Kathmandu Post reports in its lead story that the Nepal government has bought a mansion worth Rs 700 million for the residence of Nepali Ambassador to the United States.
“The cost, which does not include the additional three per cent commission to the middleman, totals the entire rent Nepal pays for all its missions abroad annually, including the embassy buildings, and residences of the embassy staff and the ambassadors,” reads the report.
Interesting
Rice production may grow by 12 per cent this year
The government has predicted that the rice production will grow by 12 per cent in the country thanks to sufficient monsoon rains, Rajdhani reports in its anchor story.
Spokesperson at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Tej Bahadur Subedi, says the prediction can be achieved if there is not any natural disaster in next two months.
