Major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published in Kathmandu on Sunday have given priority to a host of issues from political, sociocultural and economic spheres.
The rescue of Nepali girls being trafficked to the Gulf from India has received considerable attention along with the NOC’s decision to hike fuel prices have also received attention. The NAC receiving permission from the CAAN to fly to Japan has also been reported
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the front pages of national broadsheets:
Important
PM to face lawmakers’ questions
The Himalayan Times reports that Prime Minister KP Oli will face tough questions on various issues in the House of Representatives on Sunday. Oli is expected to receive questions on matters ranging from the Venezuela crises to how the government has handled the hunger strike of Dr Govinda KC.
The HoR has received 86 questions, for the session with the PM. Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal lawmaker Sarita Giri is seeking the PM’s response to the digital action room the PMO wants to set up.
According to the Parliament Secretariat, the Prime Minister and other ministers should answer questions fielded by MPs. According to the HoR regulations, the speaker-led Business Advisory Committee should approve questions in advance.
Nepali girls rescued
Kantipur, Nagarik and The Kathmandu Post report that at least 130 Nepali girls, who were being trafficked into Myanmar, have been rescued from various parts of Manipur, a northeastern state of India, in the last two days in a massive bust of a human trafficking network.
During the rescue mission, which started on Friday morning, a team of police from Tengnoupal, a hill town between Imphal, the capital of Manipur, and Myanmar rescued 40 Nepali girls who were trying to enter Myanmar via Moreh, which falls along the India-Myanmar border.
The rescue mission was launched after Maiti Nepal, informed an NGO based in Shillong that 70 girls trafficked from Nepal were on their way to Myanmar via the Moreh-Manipur international border.
NOC hikes fuel prices
Nagarik and The Himalayan Times report that the Nepal Oil Corporation has hiked the price of petrol, diesel, and kerosene by Rs 2 effective from Saturday midnight. With this increment, petrol is priced at Rs 110 per litre while diesel and kerosene cost Rs 97 per litre.
According to the state-owned enterprise, it made the adjustment based on revised rates received from the Indian Oil Corporation on Saturday. After adjustment, the NOC is set to post Rs 1.016 billion as fortnight profit, informed officials.
Ignored
Dr KC to continue protest
The Himalayan Times reports that senior orthopedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC, who ended his fast-unto-death on Friday has vowed to continue his peaceful protest. KC has promised that he will continue to fight against the medical mafia in the form of street protest, mass awareness, lobbying, persuasion, and advocacy. KC hopes that the government will come to terms and amend the medical education bill. Along with Nepal Medical Association and civil servants society, opposition party Nepali Congress also say that it will be supporting KC.
General Secretary using a lot of perks
Kantipur reports that the General Secretary of the Federal Parliament Manohar Prasad Bhattarai is taking more perks than the law allows him to. Having resigned from the position of Officer of Special Class he is reportedly still taking pension amount even after being appointed General Secretary of the Federal Parliament. Even though he is allowed one car and driver, according to the Federal Parliament Secretariat, he has taken give cars and three drivers. He has been taking both monthly salary and pension. Until June, Bhattarai was also taking 80% encouragement allowance.
Interesting
As dirty cash flow review nears, Nepal scrambles to make and amend 50 laws
The Kathmandu Post reports that as the evaluation by the Asia Pacific Group nears, Nepal is planning to make and amend 50 laws. The regional anti-money laundering watchdog during the 2020 evaluation will review Nepal’s compliance with international standards on Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Financing of Terrorism through peer review. Nepal’s anti-money laundering efforts so far have been well received, but much needs to be done, officials say in an indication that the country is not in the ‘safe zone’ yet.
A government report, prepared by stakeholders including the law ministry, finance ministry, Department of Money Laundering Investigation, and the Financial Information Unit, says Nepal still needs to make as many as 50 laws compatible with the global standards on Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Financing of Terrorism. Nepal has so far avoided being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force, a global anti-money laundering body. In 2014, Nepal managed to fulfill all of the 15 commitments it had made to the task force, just in time to avoid the blacklist.
TJ bodies preparing interim reports as term ends near
Republica reports that officials at the transitional justice bodies are compiling the progress they have achieved so far in settling conflict-era cases, in preparation for submitting interim reports to the government. This comes a week before expiry of the extended tenures of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP).
The extended terms of the two crucial TJ bodies are expiring on Saturday without completion of their given tasks. Both the commissions are finalising their interim reports and compiling the progress achieved in four years. The commissions are finalising their respective reports for submission to the president before their terms expire.
CAAN gives NAC permission to fly to Japan
Arthik Abhiyan reports that Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has received Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to fly to Japan.
NAC received the AOC on Friday to operate flights on the Kathmandu-Osaka sector with the Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft. The airline received permission from CAAN as any airline has to receive permission from its own civil aviation authority to fly to a new sector.
The corporation hopes to fly to Japan by February end or the beginning of March and is pacing up the process to acquire permission from Japanese authority as it will take around 1 month to prepare for flight after receiving the permission.
Without receiving permission from Japan, the airline will not be able to work on promotion and ticketing. The airline is also planning to fly to China around a month after commencing flight to Japan.
