All major Nepali and English newspapers published from Kathmandu on Thursday have given the topmost attention to the progress marked in reconstruction of quake-hit buildings and structures as the country marks the third anniversary of magnitude-7.6 earthquake today. They have also published pictures from past and present to show the slow progress. Therefore, the number of stories on other issues that made to the front page today is very low.
The reported involvement of Nepali soldiers working in South Sudan as UN peacekeepers in child sexual abuse has also been covered by The Kathmandu Post and The Himalayan Times in the front page today.
Important
Slow pace mars reconstruction process
Lead stories in Annapurna Post and The Himalayan Times publish stories filed from Sindhupalchok, one of the worst hit districts during the earthquake. Republica has carried a story from Barpak of Gorkha, the epicenter of the quake. Kantipur has published an eight-page supplement to cover the issue.
Kantipur, The Kathmandu Post, Nagarik, Republica, Gorkhapatra, Karobar, Abhiyan and Rajdhani have published stories evaluating pace and progress of post-earthquake reconstruction in the entire country in overall.
Meanwhile, the National Reconstruction Authority, the government body formed to facilitate and supervise the reconstruction efforts, says bureaucratic hassles have become the most significant obstacle to the speedy recovery process. But, the Authority still says it will complete building all private houses within next one year, according to The Kathmandu Post.
Congress leaders raise voice for early convention
Some youth leaders of the Nepali Congress party on Tuesday have tabled a joint proposal at the party’s Central Working Committee meeting demanding that the party hold its national general convention early to handover the leadership to the new generation, according to newspaper reports.
Gagan Thapa, Chandra Bhandari, Dhanaraj Gurung, Guru Raj Ghimire, Pradeep Paudel, Jeevan Pariyar and Ram Krishna Yadav demanded that the date for convention be declared after the proposed Mahasamiti meeting amend its charter, Kantipur says.
Meanwhile, leaders loyal to Party President Sher Bahadur Deuba have hinted that Deuba might just choose to ignore the appeal as he still holds a comfortable majority in decision-making bodies as Bal Krishna Khand has been quoted in the report.
Naya Patrika says that the plan was brought to reconstruct the Congress party.
Ignored
NPC appointment violates new rule
The Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday appointed Pushpa Kandel as the Vice-Chairperson of National Planning Commission. Along with him, the meeting also appointed six other members to the apex planning body.
The decision, however, is against a recent rule the same KP Sharma Oli-led government introduced for the formation of the Commission, reports Karobar in the front page. The new rule had a provision for appointment of four members only whereas six people were appointed yesterday, according to the report.
Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary are ex-officio members of the Commission, according to the report.
Interesting
Polyandry getting extinct in Humla village
Few years ago, women of Burause village in Simkot Rural Municipality-4 of Humla district would have more than one husbands as they would follow the tradition of polyandry. However, with the exposure into other societies, the tradition is becoming a part of the fiction now, reports Gorkhapatra in its anchor story for the day.
Young women these days choose to find boyfriends and marry with them as in many other societies, the report adds.
