The delay of Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee in deciding whether to endorse or reject the name of Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee for the vacant position of Chief Justice has been the most discussed issue on the front pages of major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Monday. Some newspapers have informed that Joshee’s nomination for the top judicial job has become uncertain as many members of the Committee do not want to see him as the Chief Justice.
On the other hand, officials of the Tribhuvan University have issued a statement against a recent agreement signed between the government and medical education reform activist Dr Govinda KC as it has promised to take action against some of them. A couple of newspapers have covered the issue on the front pages.
Few other sociocultural, political and financial issues have also been featured on the cover pages.
Important
Parliamentary committee to decide Joshee’s fate today
Following two postponements, the Parliamentary Hearing Committee has scheduled its next meeting for Monday afternoon and it is expected to make a decision about whether to endorse, reject or further probe Deepak Raj Joshee’s nomination for the Chief Justice, according to Naya Patrika lead story.
Gorkhapatra says members of the Committee have consulted top political leaders including Prime Minister Oli as they found some errors in Joshee’s certificates. Likewise, most of the members are not satisfied with Joshee’s dealing with their questions during the hearing last week.
Kantipur says members of the Committee representing the ruling Nepal Communist Party are waiting for a directive from the party on whether to endorse or reject his name. Naya Patrika explains that two parties in the government—including the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal—have two-thirds majority in the Committee, the number of votes required to reject his name.
TU officials defend themselves against possible actions
Kantipur and Republica report that officials of the Tribhuvan University on Sundnay issued a public statement threatening they will not abide by a recent agreement signed between the government and medical education reform activist Dr Govinda KC.
As the government has agreed with Dr KC to take action against university officials for their involvement in various anomalies in the medical education sector as recommended by a probe commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, the University has opposed possible actions, according to the reports.
However, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has been studying the report of the Medical Education Probe Commission to chart the possible course of action against 43 officials, reports Republica.
Ignored
Nepal renews visit invitation to Xi Jinping
The government-run Gorkhapatra reports that Nepal has once again extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Nepal at his convenient time. As Vice Minister of International Department of the Communist Party of China, Wang Yajun, called on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Kathmandu yesterday, Oli told the guest that he was desperate to welcome Xi in Nepal, stressing such high level visits are essential for strengthening the ties between two countries..
113 Nepal-India border pillars ‘lost’
Naya Patrika informs that as many as 113 border pillars on Nepal-India border land have been found lost recently. Earlier, there were 552 such pillars in the no-man’s land bordering Banke and Bardiya districts of Nepal. But now, 13 pillars of Banke and 100 of Bardiya have gone lost, according to the report.
OPMCM launches probe against Forest Ministry officials
The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has launched an investigation into recent foreign visits made by 59 officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives as their visits breached the government’s good governance policy, according to a three-column story of Rajdhani.
Officials of the Ministry including Secretary Yubak Dhoj GC have claimed that the visit did not breach any rule.
Govt fails to make public tiger census report
The Kathmandu Post anchor story reports that the government of Nepal has failed to make public a report from recent tiger census as scheduled for it feared an outcry from stakeholders and public about the decrease in the number of wild cat.
The report was expected on the occasion of World Tiger Day yesterday, but the release was cancelled at the last hour, reportedly because the number of tigers in Chitwan National Park has significantly decreased in past one year.
Interesting
Nepal’s royal crown will be exhibited soon
The lead story in Nepal Samacharpatra informs that the Narayanhiti Palace Museum is preparing to exhibit the royal crown too. Though the museum was opened few years ago, the crown of the king has not been made public till date.
The report informs that the museum is planning to install a new electronic security system before letting members of the public see the crown. It has been expected that the crown will be exhibited within next four months.
