NC President criticising Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara labeling him has gutless has been featured in some newspapers along with the news of tax authorities not changing the tax liability of ride-sharing apps tootle and pathao.
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the front pages of national broadsheets:
Important
Deuba criticises speaker
Rajdhani reports that Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday criticised the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) of being the ‘most weakest, cowardly and gutless’ Speaker in the country’s parliamentary history.
Referring to Prime Minister K P Oli’s what he said ‘use of derogatory language’ in his address at the parliamentary session on Tuesday, NC President Deuba ridiculed Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara of acting cowardly before the Prime Minister.
Nepali migrant workers deprived of minimum wage
The Himalayan Times reports that due to the government’s short-sightedness while signing bilateral labour agreements with several countries, Nepali migrant workers are being deprived of a basic minimum wage and other benefits in destination countries.
Only in Japan and Malaysia do Nepali migrant workers get the same minimum basic salary that is fixed by the respective governments for their workers. However, majority of Nepali migrants are stationed in the Gulf countries.
Nepali migrants are getting monthly 1,100 dirhams in the UAE, 1,200 riyals in Qatar, 80 dinars in Kuwait, 100 rials in Oman and 100 dinars in Bahrain, including food, which has been fixed by the Nepali government. However, citizens of those nations receive much higher minimum wages.
Govt land transferred to private party
Republica reports that Bhaktapur District Court has ordered the authorities to transfer 131 ropani of government land to the family of Diwakar Rana.
A bench of Judge Shri Prakash Upreti gave the ruling on March 5, 2019, overturning the decision of the land revenue office to take the land under government control. Court officials informed that the ruling will come into effect once the court releases its full text. The then land revenue office chief Kamal Prasad Timalsina on May 23, 2017 took the decision on the basis of records and other evidence.
Ignored
Tax authorities make no changes to tax liability of tootle and pathao
The Kathmandu Post reports that tax authorities have determined final tax liabilities for Tootle and Pathao, two ride-sharing companies, without making any changes in the liabilities in the initial tax assessments. Tootle hence stands to pay Rs34 million and Pathao should pay Rs 3 million to the government. As per the Income Tax Act and VAT Act, the two companies now have 30 days to seek an administrative review on tax liabilities by filing an application at the Inland Revenue Department.
Media Council bill tabled in the house
The Kathmandu Post reports that the government, on Wednesday, presented the Media Council bill to Parliament, bypassing a critical consultation phase with stakeholders and the public.
Drafting of the Media Council bill, which aims to replace the existing Press Council Act, started last year, but information rights activists said that the government has attempted to prevent them from accessing the bill and its contents.
Rojnath Pandey, spokesperson for the Secretariat of the Federal Parliament, confirmed that the bill had been brought on Wednesday and would be tabled on Thursday. Lawmakers will then have 72 hours to register amendments, but information rights activists say that this limited window is not adequate for lawmakers to go through the bill and propose substantive amendments.
Insec asks govt to amend NHRC act
Republica reports that the Informal Sector Service Center (Insec) has urged the government to revise the Bill to Amend the NHRC Act 2012 saying the bill forwarded to the House of Representatives for amendment process undermines established universal human rights principles including the Paris Principles.
Issuing a press statement, the NGO working in the human rights sector said a provision in the bill that gives discretionary power to the attorney general to decide on whether to file cases of human rights violations is the most objectionable part of the bill. Stating that democracy can be strengthened only if the human rights commission is autonomous and independent, Insec said a powerful human rights commission will safeguard the rights of not only the commoners but political parties also.
Interesting
200,000 citizenships handed via jus soli
Annapurna Post reports that nearly 200,000 citizenship certificates have been handed via jus soli. According to a circular issued by the Home Ministry, most of the citizenship issued by decent has been handed over in the Terai region. Most citizenship have been handed in Jhapa followed by Morang and Sunsari.
Nepal Elected As CND Member Under UN Economic And Social Council
Kantipur reports that Nepal has been elected as a member of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), one of the functional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the central drug policy-making body within the United Nations system, from the Asia-Pacific region for the term 2020-2023 in an election held at the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday. This is for the first time Nepal is elected to the Commission.
Together with Nepal, 33 countries from different regions have been elected. Nepal obtained 44 out of 54 valid votes of the 54 members of the ECOSOC. Bahrain, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkmenistan were also elected to the Commission representing the Asia-Pacific region.
Nepal’s trade deficit nearly Rs 1 trillion
Karobar reports that Nepal’s trade deficit swelled to nearly Rs1 trillion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year due to increased imports of petroleum products, ready-made garments, aircraft spare parts and electrical goods.
Nepal Rastra Bank’s report shows that imports jumped over 23 per cent to Rs 991 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, up from 22 percent in the same period during the last fiscal year. Imports from India, China and other countries increased 22.0 percent, 37.8 percent and 20.8 percent respectively.
