Priorities of Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Thursday are varied from politics to economics. The front pages of newspapers are filled with reports about the upcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal, and meetings and misunderstandings between ruling coalition partners CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre from the political sphere. Economic issues have also been highlighted as the pre-budget discussions have begun in Parliament on Wednesday.
Few other social issues have also made it to the front page today.
Important
Govt spells out priorities of budget announcement
Minister for Finance Yubaraj Khatiwada has identified priorities of the government for the budget planning for next fiscal year 2018/19 as the government is preparing to announce the policy and programme next week and the budget in the last week of this month, according to newspaper reports.
The Himalayan Times lead story for the day says Khatiwada told the House of Representatives that the controversial Constitution Development Programme and other uneconomical small scale programmes would discontinue from the next fiscal year as he says he is more prudent in budget allocation.
Meanwhile, Khatiwada says the government will not allocate budget for small scale projects and the allocation would be decided on the basis o results and effectiveness only, according to Karobar lead story. Likewise, foreign aid will be used to finance large infrastructure projects, according to Khatiwada as quoted in The Kathmandu Post.
Republica says the budget announcement will be aligned with the joint election manifesto of ruling parties CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre.
Dahal not happy with UML’s highhandedness
CPN-Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed his dissatisfaction with the CPN-UML Chairman and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, accusing him of highhandedness in the formulation of fiscal plans and policies as the two leaders held a meeting yesterday, according to Republica.
Meanwhile, Kantipur also reports that Dahal is not happy with the way Oli has been dealing with him of late. He was expecting the Prime Minister to invite him to a discussion about budget preparations as a leader of the ruling coalition, but Oli extended invitation to him as a former prime minister only. Therefore, though Dahal attended the meeting, he did not express any view about the agenda serious, according to the report.
On the other hand, the talks for unification between two parties have also not moved ahead smoothly though it was earlier reported that the two leaders already sorted out key differences, Rajdhani reports, the leaders seem to have been moving back and forth.
High security arrangements for Modi
Nagarik lead story for the day says the government will provide a high-level security, known as ‘z’ to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he will visit Nepal Friday and Saturday. The government has decided to adopt best possible security arrangements to the guest after identifying five key security challenges including anti-Indian sentiments here after the border blockade, IS activities, Bhutanee refugee right activists, pro-Greater Nepal people and religious extremists.
Likewise, security preparations have been over in Janakpurdham, where Modi will visit before coming to Kathmandu, the same newspapers publishes another report in a highlighted two-column box.
Naya Patrika says 66 Indian security personnel are coming to Nepal to provide security to Modi. Whereas 41 have already landed in Nepal, 25 will accompany Modi tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the government has clarified that felicitations that Modi will receive in Janakpur and Kathmandu are not civic felicitations, but just felicitations from respective municipalities, according to Rajdhani. Owing to the criticism from various walks of life as reflected on many social media posts, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali clarified during the Parliament meeting yesterday that respective local governments will offer facilitation to their guest, and the federal government is not doing anything life felicitation or honour.
Ignored
Don’t ignore objectives of just society: CJ
Acting Chief Justice Deepak Raj Joshee says that political gains made in recent years will be in danger if the elected representatives ignore the objectives of a society while focusing on development and prosperity.
Disseminating a message on the occasion of Law Day on Wednesday, he said that development and prosperity could not be alternative to a just society, and political stability did not mean the ideals of independent judiciary be compromised, according to The Himalayan Times.
Contamination high in Kathmandu drinking water
The Health Ministry has found most sources of drinking water in the Kathmandu Valley contaminated. The Ministry found that 70 per cent of the water was contaminated after examining water samples collected from various sources including tap water, bottled mineral water and water jar from Kathamdnu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur, reports Naya Patrika.
According to Director General of Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, Sanjeev Karna, water sold in jars is the most contaminated one. It is so because they refill the jars without even cleaning the empty jar.
Christianity promotion in Surkhet jail
Few Christians from Anugraha Church in Birendranagar Munucipality-1 of Surkhet visit prisons in the name of providing food and use the centre for promoting Christianity, a report published in Republica says. When the jail inmates fall ill, the jail authorities call pastors instead of taking them to a hospital.
The jail authorities also allow pastors from various churches in Kathmandu and Pokhara to organise skill training programmes, construct infrastructure, set up libraries, and also reach out to the inmates’ families to teach Christianity and convert religion. However, the locals do not want them to return empty handed as the Christianity followers have built so many infrastructures and have been providing them the facilities that were supposed to be provided by the Government of Nepal, according to report.
Interesting
Task force in pipeline to resolve post-syndicate transport issues
The Ministry of Physical Infrastructures and Transport has started the process to form a task committee as per the agreement reached with the agitating transport entrepreneurs and started working on its different aspects, reports The Kathmandu Post.
The proposed seven-member task force will have MoPIT office bearers, Director General of Department of Transport and Management, DIG from Traffic Police, two independent experts and a legal expert.
