Major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on continue to highlight stories about the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant in Kanchanpur district of far-western Nepal. Most of the newspapers have narrated the progress reported from the fresh investigation. Nepal is hosting the fourth BIMSTEC summit on Thursday and Friday later this week, and reports about preparations for the grand meeting have also been a part of the front page coverage. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee has issued a notice seeking complaints from members of the public against Supreme Court Justice Om Prakash Mishra, who has been recommended for the top judicial position; and it has also made front page headlines.
Few other sociocultural, political and financial issues have been featured on the front page of major newspapers today.
Important
Parliamentary hearing process begins for CJ appointment
Gorkhapatra, Rajdhani and Nepal Samacharpatra report that the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee has given a period of 10 days for members of the public to file complaints against Mishra as it will conduct a hearing with the Chief Justice nominee after that.
The Constitutional Council had forwarded Mishra’s name for the position last week after the parliamentary panel rejected the name of Deepak Raj Joshee for the position on August 3.
Rajdhani informs that complaints can be registered about his performance, personal and academic details among others.
The complaints can be registered at the Federal Parliament Secretariat, or sent via email. Likewise, the District Administration Offices will also receive the complaints and forward them to the Secretariat, Gorkhapatra reports.
Probe blames pilot for US-Bangla crash
An ‘exclusive’ long report in The Kathmandu Post informs that an investigation conducted by Nepali professionals has concluded that the pilot of the US-Bangla plane that crashed at the Tribhuvan International Airport in March appears to have lied to the control tower during the landing procedure; and was smoking continuously inside the cockpit during the one hour flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu.
Captain Abid Sultan had tremendous personal mental stress and anxiety and a series of erroneous decisions on his part led to the crash that killed 51 persons, according to the report.
The report adds that the pilot had told the copilot once during the flight that he did not care about safe flight or whatever, and he made abusive statements toward a female colleague.
Ignored
Madhav Kumar Nepal not happy with district leadership selection
Senior leader of the Nepal Communist Party, former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, and leaders close to him have objected to the proposed names to lead district committees of the new party claiming they were selected unilaterally, Naya Patrika reports. A meeting of the camp held in Kathmandu yesterday has also warned of forming parallel committees if the names were not corrected, the report adds.
‘Disqualified’ combatants demand govt assistance
The Himalayan Times in its lead story reports that former disqualified child combatants have demanded that the government provide them with financial or other support. The combatants are frustrated that years after being disqualified by the United Nations Mission in Nepal, hence want the government to provide vocation training, enough financial assistance to support their self help schemes and scholarship to their children.
Narayanhiti Museum to get extension
A four column story in Nepal Samacharpatra reports that a master plan has been prepared to extend the Narayanhiti Museum. The master plan proposes using an 80-room building of the palace premises to exhibit unique cultural aspects of each of 77 districts, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the committee formed to prepare the plan has also requested the government to delineate the museum’s boundary.
Govt undecided about BIMSTEC retreat venue
The government has just two days to prepare for the fourth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, but it not yet decided about where it can take the dignitaries for a retreat, reports The Himalayan Times reports.
Earlier, it had reported that the government cancelled the plan of hosting the retreat at Gokarna Forest Resort after Thai Prime Minister objected to the plan.
Interesting
Budhigandaki project to be handed over to China again
The government is preparing to hand over 1,200 megawatt Budhigandaki Hydropower Project to China again, reports Abhiyan in its anchor story.
Quoting an anonymous source at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, the report claims Minister Barsha Man Pun has already decided to hand over the project to a Chinese company. The source, however, did not reveal the company’s name.
