All major Nepali and English newspapers published from Kathmandu on Monday have given the topmost priority to CK Raut’s supporters taking out a rally in Janakpur going against the 11-point agreement made with the government. The news of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s plan to make Raut a member of the National Assembly has also been covered in some newspapers.
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the cover pages of national broadsheets:
Important
CK Raut breaches agreement
Kantipur and Annapurna Post report that CK Raut, going against the agreement with the government, took out a rally campaigning for a free Madhesh. The sixth point in the agreement made with the government prohibits Raut from distributing reading materials and doing activities that carry messages against the constitutional provisions. However, he was welcomed in Janakpur with banners and slogans of ‘free Madhesh’ by his supporters.
Raut to be a member of National Assembly
Nagarik reports that the government has agreed to make CK Raut a member of the National Assembly. Raut who has been preaching for a free Madhesh for a long time is being made a NA member after a secret agreement with the government.
A source has said that PM KP Oli had promised Raut a NA seat if he left his movement and joined hands with the ruling party. PM Oli has also urged Raut to use his intellect for the development of the nation.
One Nepali among 157 killed in Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crash
Annapurna Post, Kantipur and The Himalayan Times report that one Nepali national was on board the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft that crashed near the town of Bishoftu killing all 149 passengers and 8 crew members, the airlines confirmed. Ekta Adhikari, a Nepali national working with World Food Programme (WFP) Ethiopia, was on board the aircraft. According to a source in Addis Ababa, Adhikari’s family has been informed about the tragic incident.
Ignored
Nepal to follow its own transitional justice model: Law minister
Republica reports that the government has said that it wants to resolve the conflict-era cases according to its own model and urged the conflict victims to come up with a common voice for the future transitional justice (TJ) process.
Without elaborating on the model, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal on Sunday said the government is preparing to resolve the insurgency-era cases based on its “own national model in which stakeholders including the conflict victims would be a part.” The “request” from the line minister comes after the conflict victims themselves are divided over the TJ process in recent days mainly on whether to reshuffle the existing TJ bodies.
Transgender woman found dead in Lazimpat
The Himalayan Times reports that Jiwan Gurung, a transgender woman, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in her rented room at Lazimpat on Sunday. Gurung, 33 according to sources was beaten up brutally on Friday at an eatery in Lazimpat. Her body has been sent to the Department of Forensic Medicine at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for postmortem.
Nepal, France sign memorandum on setting up security printing facility
The Kathmandu Post reports that Nepal and France have signed two memorandums of understanding—one of which is aimed at setting up state-of-art security printing facilities in Nepal with the French assistance.
In the absence of a dedicated security printing, the government and private firms are spending billions of rupees abroad annually. Once Nepal sets up its own security printing, items like passports, banknotes, all kinds of smart cards, question papers and stickers among others can be printed in Nepal. A detailed project report has already been prepared.
Similarly, France is also set to provide concessional financial aid and technical support to Nepal in order to materialise its plan to operate and manage the country’s own satellite in the orbital slot provided by the International Tele-communications Union. Investment for the two projects is estimated to be around Rs 50 billion.
The memorandums of understanding for both were signed during the visit of Minister for Information and Communications Gokul Baskota’s visit to France.
Interesting
South Korea to take 10,000 Nepali workers
Kantipur reports that South Korea has pledged to take around 10,000 Nepali workers in 2019, which is the most since it started employing Nepali workers since 2008. According to officials, 7,050 will be employed in the production sector and 3000 will be employed in the agricultural sector. Each worker will earn Rs 150,000 a month and will have to pay $815 to go to Korea.
Pathak hasn’t returned red passport
Nagarik reports that former CIAA commissioner Raj Narayan Pathak has not returned his diplomatic passport. Pathak resigned from his post after being caught on camera taking a bribe of Rs 7.5 million. Even though his resignation has already been accepted by the President nearly a month ago, he has still not handed in his diplomatic passport.
Biplav bringing weapons from India
Nagarik reports that Netra Bikram Chand led NCP has been bringing weapons and explosives from India in the same way the Maoists did during the insurgency period. Police spokesperson SSP Uttam Raj Subedi said that the group was easily bringing weapons thanks to an open border between India and Nepal. Subedi also added that police were in the lookout for weapons and explosives brought in by the Bipalv-led group.
