Reports related to the Supreme Court (SC) paving the way for the government to collect capital gains tax (CGT) from controversial businessman Ajeya Raj Sumargi have been featured on most national dailies along with news of hundreds of people in Banke being displaced due to the construction of a causeway in India. Farmers facing problems due to lack of fertilisers has also been reported in some papers.
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the front pages of national broadsheets:
Important
SC paves way to recover CGT from Sumargi
Nagarik, Kantipur and Republica report that the Supreme Court (SC) has refused to continue a stay order issued earlier on a writ petition filed by controversial businessman Ajeya Raj Sumargi, who had sought court order against the revised amount of capital gains tax (CGT) determined by the government on the sale of 75 percent stakes of his firm, Nepal Satellite Telecom. This has paved way for the government to recover the revised CGT.
A joint bench of justices Sushma Lata Mathema and Manoj Kumar Sharma on Sunday refused to continue the stay order, which was earlier issued by Justice Bam Kumar Shrestha, on a writ petition filed by the Nepal Satellite Telecom, a telecom company owned by Sumargi.
Hundreds displaced due to Indian causeway in Banke
Nagarik, Nepal Samacharpatra and Republica report that over a hundred houses were inundated while a dozen houses were completely damaged in the bordering villages of Narainapur Rural Municipality of Banke district on Sunday as a causeway being built by India along the Nepal-India border obstructed the natural flow of rainwaters.
A large number of settlements in wards 1, 2 and 3 of Narainapur were flooded as the under-construction causeway near the no man’s land blocked the water flowing from the northern part of the villages.
Many people were displaced as around 100 houses were inundated while a dozen were destroyed by the rainwaters, according to Istiyak Ahmad Shah, the chairman of Narainapur Rural Municipality.
Ignored
Farmers facing problems as they still don’t have fertilisers
The Kathmandu Post reports that farmer who travelled all the way to Kathmandu in search of fertiliser have had to return back to their villages empty-handed. Across the country, farmers are reeling from a critical shortage of chemical fertilisers, which are generally sold under subsidised rates by the government. However, imports for this planting season have been delayed due to a variety of factors, including a delay in the Finance Ministry’s release of funds to purchase more fertilisers, according to officials from the Ministry of Agriculture.
NAC to recive Air Operator’s Certificate to start China operations
Arthik Abhiyan reports that Nepal Airlines Corporation will receive Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) within a week’s time which will allow Nepal’s national flag carrier to fly to its northern neighbour. NAC has sought permission from the Civil Aviation Administration of China to start flights to China. NAC is looking to fly to Shanghai, Bejing and Guangzhou.
Contract awarded to company bypassing procurement act
Rajdhani reports that the Survey Department by bypassing the procurement act has awarded the digital mapping contract to a company which bid Rs 200 million more than the lowest bidder. The National Procurement Act states that the state has to give the contract to the lowest bidder. The lowest bidder had bid Rs 390 million for the project but the department gave the contract to a company which bid Rs 590 million for the project.
Interesting
Rhino death rises in Nepal, one dies every eight days
The Himalayan Times reports that one endangered one-horned rhinoceros dies every eight days in Chitwan National Park, which has prompted authorities to conduct a comprehensive study on whether Nepal’s first national park is becoming densely populated with the animal.
Chitwan National Park, a World Heritage Site, reported deaths of 40 rhinos in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year from mid-July to mid-June, according to the latest data of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Deaths recorded in the national park account for almost 89 per cent of deaths of rhinos across the country. Nepal reported deaths of 45 rhinos across the country in the 11-month period, up 50 per cent from the whole of the last fiscal year when 30 one-horned rhinos had died.
Merger will be finalised as per prior agreement: Dahal
The Himalayan Times reports that Nepal Communist Party (NCP)’s Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday assured leaders of the erstwhile CPN-Maoist Centre that the NCP would move forward as per the agreement signed with the then CPN-UML during the party’s unification process in May 2018.
A day after the NCP Central Secretariat meeting concluded without any result, Dahal called his aides to his Lalitpur residence to discuss the party’s merger. During discussions, Dahal said the party would follow the agreement signed earlier.
Govt to measure happiness of its citizens
Kantipur reports that the government will be measuring the happiness of its citizens from fiscal year 2019/20. The Central Bureau of Statistics has been tasked with measuring the happiness of Nepali citizens. The government will try to use the same model used by Bhutan to measure the citizen’s happiness. In the world happiness index published a few years ago, Nepal was ranked 100.
