PM KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal rejecting that they have any feuds has been featured by most national dailies along with the news of America wanting to develop a good defence relationship with Nepal.
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the front pages of national broadsheets:
Important
What’s inside NCP?
The Kathmandu Post reports that Nepal Communist Party insiders say all is not well within the party.
As per an agreement reached between KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal in May last year, just ahead of the unification of their parties Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and the CPN-UML, the two leaders are to run the government for two-and-a-half years each. Speaking at a TV interview Dahal said he believed the agreement would be upheld, as per which Oli should be handing over the reins to him after 15 months.
However, Kantipur reports that Oli said that the agreement made between him and Dahal was a public document and that the issue had been blown up unnecessarily now, describing the turn of events as something which “shows the level of Nepali politics and its character”. He accused people of spreading lies to split the two leaders and the party.
However, multiple leaders of the ruling party said the remarks from the two leaders are telling of a growing trust deficit.
On the other hand, Annapurna Post reports that Dahal said that he had no objections if Oli wanted to stay Prime Minister for the whole five year period. He added the party wouldn’t split due to such small reasons. Dahal further said that the two party chairs were on the same page regarding where to take the party forward.
PM attending hotel inauguration causes debate
Republica reports that PM KP Sharma Oli attending an inauguration ceremony of a hotel in Pokhara has sparked debate regarding how top leadership can suffer a dent in stature if they bend to undue political influence or are ill-advised. Oli came for the inauguration of the Swiss International Hotel Sarowar, which has flouted building standards set by Pokhara Metropolis, however, he did not inaugurate it.
PM Oli had reached Pokhara on Saturday with three programs in his itinerary: the hotel inauguration, a programme of the Nepal Scouts, and the announcement of the Rabindra Adhikari Foundation. There was already a wave of criticism from the public in the past couple of days after the itinerary was released.
US wants to develop defence relationship with Nepal
Republica reports that the United States said that the country is seeking to expand a defence relationship with Nepal, focusing on high availability/disaster recovery, peacekeeping operations, defence professionalisation, ground force capacity, and counter-terrorism.
The Indo-Pacific strategy has triggered a huge debate in Nepal after the US sought Nepal’s central role in it during the meeting of Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in December last year. The Indo-Pacific strategy is widely seen as a strategic move of the US to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Ignored
PSC’s decision scrutinised
The Himalayan Times reports that the Public Service Commission’s decision to recruit 9,161 employees for local levels as demanded by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration led to protests in the streets of Kathmandu and angered provincial governments with Province 2 government threatening to take the issue to the court.
Government job aspirants marched through the streets of Kathmandu protesting the PSC’s decision to recruit staffers for local levels. They chanted slogans against the PSC ‘for not honouring the principle of inclusion,’ in the advertisement placed in Gorkhapatra on May 29.
The PSC has not allocated seats for all the clusters that qualify for reservation in government jobs as per the provisions of Article 42 of the constitution. In its advertisement, the PSC has allocated some seats for some clusters but not for all the clusters.
Another Australian college blacklisted
The Kathmandu Post reports that Australia Institute of Business and Technology with hundreds of Nepali students has been deregistered by the country’s regulator for the vocational and training sector for failing to meet the admission compliance.
The Australian Skills Quality and Authority (ASQA), the regulatory body, which had deregistered AIBT in February, now has taken similar action against its international wing—the AIBT-International. Representatives of the Council of International Students Australia, an organisation of international students in the country, say some 200 such training institutes faced actions in the past year. However, unlike AIBT, others have very few Nepali students.
Education rights taken away from local level
Kantipur reports that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s new education policy aims to take away rights given to the local governments. According to the constitution, rights to manage basic and secondary education was allotted to the local level. However, the new policy will take the rights away from the local level and give it to the federal level. The ministry believes that doing so will help in the development of education the country.
Interesting
418 Biplav cadres arrested after ban
Rajdhani reports that police has arrested 418 leaders and cadres of Netra Bikram Chand aka Biplav since the government put a ban on its activities three months ago. The government has said that it will not pardon any Biplav cadre as it believed that Biplav’s activities were inhumane. Of the 418 arrest, 54 are in judicial custody whereas 114 are under investigation. Police have filed cases again 369 cadres out of which 220 have been released by the police. Police say they have been keeping a close eye on those who were released.
Monsoon to arrive in Nepal in two weeks
Rajdhani reports that the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology says that monsoon is likely to arrive in Nepal in two weeks’ time. The department also said that current rain falling in Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal was part of the pre-monsoon which is expected to last for a few more days.
Three die while plucking yarshagumba
Annapurna Post reports that three people have died in Dolpla while they were plucking yarshagumba. Buddhi Karki died after he fell from the ledge while Krishna BK and Ramesh Chalaune died due to acute mountain sickness.
Govt working on Birethanti-Muktinath cable car
Gorkhapatra reports that the government was looking into the possibility of starting cable car service from Birethanti in Kaski to Muktinath in Mustang. The government currently has started a detailed study of the project and asked officials to prepare a DPR. Muktinath Darshan Pvt Ltd has proposed to construct an 83.5-kilometre cable car route which it claims will be be the longest cablecar route in the world. The route will start from Birethanti and reach Muktinath via Ghorepani, Tatopani, Lete, Jomsom, and Kagbeni.
