Major English and Nepali broadsheet newspapers published from Kathmandu on Monday have prioritised political issues over others. As the Election Commission on the final stage of preparations for the third phase of local level elections in Province 2 scheduled for September 18, it has already implemented the code of conduct for parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for November and December. Major stories of the newspapers revolve around these elections.
Important
Almost half of voting stations ‘too sensitive’ in Province 2
Whereas the Election Commission has said it has already completed preparations for September 18 polls and the staff are being deputed to voting stations very soon, Nepal Police has said almost half of the stations are ‘too sensitive’ from security perspective. There are total 2,166 voting stations in eight districts of Province 2, and 1,003 are sensitive, according to police.
The national police organisation has categorised the voting stations as too sensitive, sensitive and normal, according to Naya Patrika. It has identified Saptari district as the most sensitive district from the security perspective. However, Dhanusha district has the highest number of too sensitive voting stations.
Meanwhile, four political groups including those led by Jwala, Jaya Krishna Goit, CK Raut and Netra Bikram Chand Biplav have been listed as likely security threats though they have not carried out any anti-poll activity recently, according to the story.
Election Commission seeks clarification from government over secretaries’ foreign trip
The Election Commission on Sunday wrote to the government seeking a clarification on reports of foreign visits involving 10 secretaries and 14 joint secretaries.
Gorkhapatra says the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has been asked to furnish the constitutional body with the clarification within next two days. The Commission has already decided to bar government officials from foreign visits as a part of the election code of conduct, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the Commission has also drawn the attention of Nepali Congress lawmaker Shekhar Koirala for violating the code of conduct by wearing caps and t-shirts bearing the NC election symbol during the election campaigning, according to The Himalayan Times. Earlier, the Commission had sought a clarification from CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal for the same charge.
Ignored
Embattled Sajha Prakashan chief quits
Sajha Prakashan’s Chairman and General Manager Dolindra Prasad Sharma has submitted resignation after being dragged into controversies for embezzling the government-run organisation’s fund, reports Republica.
It has been reported that four members of the organisation’s board including Sharma have submitted the resignation to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education Gopal Man Shrestha. Shrestha, however, has suspiciously delayed his decision over the resignation. He has been claiming that he has not received the resignation letters.
Other three persons to have submitted resignation are Dinanath Sharma, Krishna Hari Baral and Pradeep Nepal. Nepal and Dinanath Sharma are former education ministers whereas Baral is a noted poet and lyricist.
Pension burden doubled in five years
The pension amount to be paid to retired government staff has increased by 100 per cent in the last five years, The Himalayan Times lead story reports.
The government has estimated that it will need to spend Rs 45 billion to pay pension to retired staff in the current fiscal. The government had spent only Rs 22 billion in fiscal year 2013/14.
The report informs that the fresh estimate is 3.52 of the total budget allocated for the current fiscal which stands at Rs 1,278.99 billion.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has submitted a draft bill to the Cabinet to introduce a contributory pension scheme, the report says, the new scheme will help the government reduce the pension burden.
“Pension is turning out to be a challenging issue for the government,” the report quotes MoF Revenue Secretary Shishir Kumar Dhungana, “This programme will come into effect nearly 20 years after it was endorsed by the Parliament.”
Interesting
11 companies receive permit to operate smart petrol pumps
Nepal Oil Corporation says it has issued permits to 11 companies to run ‘smart’ petrol pumps in various parts of the country. The smart pumps will have various modern facilities.
Whereas it had received total 95 applications upon two calls, 11 petrol pumps have been approved to run the ‘smart’ business, according to the anchor story in Abhiyan. None of them is in Kathmandu. Two of them will be run by Nepali Army.
Meanwhile, the Corporation has commented that it found businesses’ low interest in the operation of smart pumps as NOC spokesperson Birendra Goit says the number of applications is much lower than the Corporation had expected.
