Various issues from political, sociocultural and economic spheres have been featured on the front pages on Thursday. Some of them are the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee’s endorsement of Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya for the Chief Election Commissioner, the United Nations’ letter to the Nepal government about peace process and the death of senior journalist Pushkar Lal Shrestha.
Some newspapers have published followup reports on the Lalita Niwas land scam, the pending tax collection of Ncell buyout deal and arrest of a Pokhara-based journalist for publishing a news online.
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the cover pages of national broadsheets:
Important
Thapaliya unopposed for CEC
The Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee endorsed Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya for the vacant position of Chief Election Commissioner unanimously, according to newspaper reports. After a hearing session with him, the panel comprising lawmakers of both houses of the federal legislative decided to send to him to lead the Election Commission.
Some lawmakers, however, had questioned his political loyalty to the ruling Nepal Communist Party and sought his clarifications, according to the reports.
Tootle told to pay Rs 33.9 million tax
Kantipur and The Himalayan Times report in brief stories that the Inland Revenue Office in Lalitpur has directed the ride sharing mobile application Tootle to pay Rs 33.9 million tax for its transactions from fiscal year 2016/17 till date.
The company needs to pay value-added tax worth Rs 17.5 million and income tax worth Rs 16.4 million.
Meanwhile, the government has told another similar company, Pathao, to pay Rs 2.5 million in taxes, according to The Himalayan Times.
Who are involved in Lalita Niwas land scam?
Some major business houses of the country have been found involved in the Lalita Niwas land scam, according to Nagarik and Republica. Bhatbhateni Group, Goyal Group, Sharda Group, Chachan Group and Kediya Group have purchased and owned the government land, according to a list published in Republica.
The newspaper claims nearly 100 individuals own 114 ropanis of the land.
Rajdhani reports in its lead story that some officials of Guthi Sansthan have also been found involved in the scam. An investigation committee has recommended that the government suspend them for further probe.
Ignored
Religious institutions render a Gorkha village childless
The lead story in Annapurna Post filed from Namrung village of Gorkha district informs that agents of Buddhist monasteries and Christian churches take children from villages of Chumanubri Rural Municipality to their institutions, depriving their right to parental care.
The agents keep their eyes on the growing up children and approach their parents to take them away, the report informs, adding a few schools of the village have shut down, consequently.
Govt trying to limit NHRC’s role
The government has made efforts to limit the rights and responsibilities of National Human Rights Commission as it has registered a new bill about the constitutional human rights watchdog, Kantipur reports.
On the other hand, the Commission has expressed its concerns over provisions of the bill and sent a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister demanding that the government rethink about the bill.
Only 7,000 pharmacists serving the nation
A four column report in Rajdhani informs that the number of qualified pharmacists in the country is below 7,000 though there are registered 28,000 pharmacies.
It means three fourths of the pharmacies are running without any pharmacist. Laws have it that pharmacist or pharmacy assistants should be present whenever a pharmacy sells medicines.
Ncell dues to make up for around half of revenue shortfall
The Kathmandu Post reports in a three column story that the government will recover almost half of the revenue target shortfall if it gets what Ncell has to pay as capital gains tax for the Ncell buyout deal.
The government has recently told the telecommunication company to pay Rs 39 billion tax within seven days following an order from the Supreme Court. The company, however, has not responded to the deadline, according to officials.
Interesting
13,000 Kathmanduites hold licence to possess arms
Naya Patrika reports in a brief story that around 13,000 persons of Kathmandu district have acquired licence to possess arms. However, the government does not have any record about how many of them are renewing their licence and possessing the arms.
For past 10 years, the Ministry of Home Affairs is trying to update the records, but in vain.
