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From the Kathmandu Press: Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Major Nepali and English newspapers published from Kathmandu on Tuesday have prioritised issues related to election security as popular Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa was targeted in a blast in Chapali, Budhanilakantha of Kathmandu yesterday. The silence period for the second phase of elections scheduled for Thursday has begun and it has also received considerable attention on the front pages today.

Important

Kathmandu Valley also vulnerable to security threats

Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa speaks with media at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, after he was injured in a blast, on Monday, December 4, 2017.

According to Annapurna Post, incidents of blast are on the rise in Kathmandu Valley of late as three such incidents were reported in Kathmandu on Monday. Police have suspected that Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’-led CPN was behind these attacks.

Following the attack on Thapa, Kantipur in its lead story for the day has identified seven reasons behind weak security in Kathmandu Valley and other places of the country in the run-up to elections. They include: I) weak intelligence agency; II) lack of coordination among security bodies; III) deployment of many security personnel in the first phase; IV) ineffective checking; v) prevalence of explosives in Kathmandu Valley; VI) hiring of criminals for blasts; and VII) lack of clear opinion about Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’-led Maoist party.

Meanwhile, The Kathmandu Post says lack of a designated home minister is affecting poll security. Quoting officials and observers, the report says the busy schedule of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is also looking after the Ministry of Home Affairs, is also affecting security arrangements. Earlier on October 17, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had removed Maoist minister Janardan Sharma from the portfolio and kept it with himself.

Nagarik says small arms are also a big threat to poll security in districts neighbouring with India.

New government by January end

File image: The Parliament building of Nepal

The government-run Gorkhapatra says the new government will be formed by January end at the latest as the constitution says the government should be formed within 35 days of the announcement of final results of House of Representatives elections. The final phase of polls will be held on Thursday and the Election Commission is preparing to count votes immediately after that. The Commission hopes that the final results would be announced by the end of the third week of December, the report says.

Meanwhile, the Commission is preparing to counts votes for House of Representatives and provincial assemblies under the first-past-the-post and the proportional representation systems simultaneously in all districts, reports Rajdhani in its lead story. The Commission has directed poll officials to form at least three groups to count the votes, according to the report.

Ignored

New programmes to decentralise education

File image

The government is launching new programmes to decentralise public education system of the country in line with the new federal setup, the lead story in Karobar reports, adding Rs 1 billion in being spent in such programmes.

The Ministry of Education is launching 21 new programmes besides around two dozen programmes which it was implementing for last few years.

Poll expenses out of the ambit of banks

Political party cadres take out a rally as their candidates file nominations for upcoming federal and provincial parliamentary elections on October 22, 2017.

Abhiyan lead story says expenses related to elections are out of the ambit of banking system as the amount of released loan and deposits has not increased despite a surge in financial activities in the run-up to polls.

Nepal Bankers Association says the amount of loan released by banks has been increased by Rs 30 billion in past one month and a large portion of it is not used for electioneering, but for long-term projects.

Fake banknotes circulated in Parbat market in poll run-up

Fake banknotes smugglers have begun taking advantage of people’s attention to elections as the voting day is approaching closer in Parbat district of western Nepal, reports Karobar in its lead story.

Few notes in the bundle of notes of Rs 100,000 denomination, which was brought by a client at the Gandaki Development Bank, in the district headquarters was found to be fake, the report says, adding similar incidents were reported from neighbouring Baglung and Myagdi districts few days ago.

Interesting

Nepal to generate 4,400 megawatt power in next four years

Nepal is likely to generate 4,400 megawatt power within next four years, reports Naya Patrika in its lead story. The country currently is generating 972 megawatt power. The Nepal Electricity Authority says the demand for power is1,260 megawatt in the winter.

The country is importing 311 megawatt power from India, and the Authority hopes it will stop within next few years.

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