All major Nepali and English newspapers published from Kathmandu on Thursday have given the topmost attention to contemporary political issues including the first meeting of Provincial Assembly in Province 3 that is going to be held today, a two-day goodwill visit of Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj beginning today, and competition between various leaders to secure chief ministerial positions in seven provinces.
The claim of senior advocate Surendra Bhandari that Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli issued a death threat against him has also received significant attention on the front page of various newspapers today. Likewise, a teen missing for nearly one week has been found living and many newspapers have prioritised the incident.
Important
Province 3’s first Assembly meeting today
Nepal for the first time in its political history will see the first meeting of a provincial legislative body on Thursday as the Provincial Assembly in Province 3 holding the first meeting in the provincial capital Hetaunda today.
Provincial legislature is a new practice in Nepal and seven assemblies have been formed as a result of last year’s elections. Of them, Province 3 is holding the meeting before others.
Kantipur anchor story for the day says all preparations have been over for the meeting whereas all provincial lawmakers have reached Hetaunda. Officials and available lawmakers rehearsed the meeting twice yesterday, according to the report.
Dor Mani Poudel, as the senior-most member of the 110-member Assembly, will conduct the meeting on the first day and it will continue until the elections of the speaker and the deputy speaker, according to The Kathmandu Post.
Meanwhile, Gorkhapatra says preparations are underway in other provinces too for Provincial Assembly meetings. Chiefs of respective provinces have called the first meetings for next week in provinces 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Swaraj to arrive in Kathmandu today
Indian Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, is arriving in Kathmandu today on a two-day official visit, reports Gorkhapatra quoting a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Ministry has informed that Swaraj will pay courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and hold meetings with various political leaders on issues of mutual interests, the report says.
Naya Patrika says the visit will have a political mission to establish a friendship with the left alliance, which is preparing to lead the government. Annapurna Post comments that the visit will provide India an opportunity to revive the lost trust between two countries.
Quoting a source at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, The Himalayan Times reports that Swaraj will land at the Tribhuvan International Airport at 3:00 pm and she will directly head to Soaltee Hotel, where Nepal’s prime minister-in-waiting KP Sharma Oli will host a dinner in her honour. She will hold a meeting with leaders of Madhesh-centric parties of the dinner.
On Friday, the guest will have a breakfast with CPN-Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. She will call on President Bhandari and PM Deuba on the same day, according to the report.
Missing teen found in semi-conscious state after six days
John Tamang, a 17-year-old schoolboy from Thasikhel of Lalitpur, has been found alive on Wednesday, reports Kantipur. He had gone missing last Thursday when he was on a hike to Phulchoki of a district along with his schoolmates and principal.
A team deployed from Rescue 3 South Asia found him in a semi-conscious state in a jungle of the district at around 4:30 pm yesterday, according to the report.
Janata Post says the family and kin of the victim had already lost hopes for the missing teen’s survival.
Ignored
PM to quit after National Assembly polls
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba says his government’s assignment will be done after the completion of National Assembly elections scheduled for next week; therefore he will leave the government after that, according to Gorkhapatra lead story.
Addressing a function organised to mark the 33rd anniversary of Nepal Television in Kathmandy yesterday, Deuba said power handover could not have been possible even after the conclusion of House of Representatives elections as the government was assigned to hold Upper House polls as well.
Meanwhile, Deuba said free press and democracy complement each other and hence democracy cannot survive without free press.
14 persons announced martyrs twice
Nagarik says 14 persons who were recently announced martyrs by the government were already declared martyrs by then Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government around seven years ago.
The report informs that Deuba government declared 266 martyrs in its eight-month stay.
Staff adjustment will take one more year
Whereas around 500 government staff have already been deployed in all provinces as per the new federal structure, the government will take one more year to completely adjust all civil servants in local, provincial and federal governments, reports The Himalayan Times in its anchor story for the day.
The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has drafted the Civil Servants Adjustment Bill and it has a provision for the formation of Organisational and Management Survey Committee to recommend the modality for the adjustment process, according to the report.
Interesting
Bill to regulate provincial finances ready
Karobar says the government has prepared a draft of the Provincial Financial Procedure Bill by proposing that provincial government present annual budget statement in mid-June, around a month before the commencement of new fiscal year. The constitution has it that the federal government presents its budget statement in May last week.
