The Attorney General’s advice to the CIAA that it can investigate into corruption allegations against former Commissioner Raj Narayan Pathak has been reported by all newspapers published in Kathmandu on Tuesday. News of an eleven-year-old girl’s rape and murder in Dhanusa has also received attention.
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories from the front pages of national broadsheets:
Important
AG says Pathak can be investigated
Nagarik, Rajdhani, Annapurna Post, Kantipur, The Himalayan Time, The Kathmandu Post, Nepal Samacharpatra and Republica report that the Office of the Attorney General has said that the CIAA has the right to investigate into corruption allegations against former commissioner Raj Narayan Pathak even though he was not impeached by Parliament. The CIAA sought the attorney general’s opinion on Monday morning amid confusion over constitutional provisions related to the prosecution of a former commissioner of a constitutional body.
The Attorney General’s Office is learnt to have told the CIAA that neither the constitution nor the CIAA Act bars the anti-graft-body from initiating a probe into allegations against Pathak.
11-year-old burnt after being gang-raped
Nagarik and The Himalayan Times report that an 11-year-old girl, Dittiya Rasaili of Hariharpur, Dhanusa who was found dead on Thursday, was gang-raped before being burnt alive. An autopsy revealed that Rasaili was gang-raped before she was burnt. She did not speak, according to police.
SC to give its verdict on Ncell CGT case
The Himalayan Times reports that the Supreme Court has said it will release the full text of its verdict on capital gains tax of over Rs 61 billion applicable on the Ncell buyout deal soon. The full text will pave way for the Large Taxpayer’s Office to formally initiate the process of collecting CGT from Ncell, the largest private sector telecom company in Nepal and its parent company Axiata. On February 5, a full bench of the SC ordered the government to collect CGT from Ncell and Axiata.
Ignored
NCP top guns to consult task for before merger
Republica reports that top leaders of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) have agreed to take a final push for the merger between party committees in consultation with the members of the party unification taskforce as three days of internal deliberations to resume the stalled work ended inconclusively. The then CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center), which merged in May last year, have not been able to conclude merger of the districts and local committees, especially due to wrangling among various factions.
NCP spokesman Narayankaji Shrestha said that top leaders will be taking feedback from the taskforce members during a meeting scheduled for February 21. On December 3, NCP had set up an eight-member taskforce with Ram Bahadur Thapa as coordinator to take forward the merger of lower organizations. But the taskforce had allowed a month’s deadline to pass without any progress.
Rescued Nepalis being brought back to Nepal
Annapurna Post reports that Nepali citizens who were being trafficked to Iraq via India and Myanmar are being brought back to Nepal. Nepali organisation Maiti Nepal along with the help of Indian organisations rescued 147 women and 32 men on Sunday. Maiti Nepal officials say that this was the first time that such large number of Nepalis who were being trafficked were rescued. Indian security forces have arrested nine men and one woman involved in human trafficking.
Interesting
Government not to interfere on interest rates
Naya Patrika reports that the government has said it will not interfere with the interest rates determined by banks. Businessmen had asked the government to regulate interest rates, saying that it was too high and they were finding it hard to do business. However, Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the government wouldn’t interfere and that it was the duty of the central bank to make sure both businessmen and bankers were treated fairly.
Shipping office doesn’t have employees
Nepal Samacharpatra reports that Nepal Shipping office, which was inaugurated by Prime Miniter KP Sharma Oli last week, doesn’t have employees. The government has appointed one engineering registrar who has been asked to hire a total of 16 employees for the Shipping Office based in Ekantakuna. The Ministry of Transportation and Physical Infrastructure has been facing a shortage of staff for a while. As of now, the chief of the Ring Road Project has been made chief of the Shipping Office.
Local and Provincial governments lack staff
Nepal Samacharpatra reports that the local and provincial level governnments don’t have employees. Out of the 7,341 employees adjusted through the Civil Servant Adjustment scheme, 5,691 were adjusted to the centre. This means that there is a shortage of staffers at the local and provincial level. Most of the employees, who participated in the scheme, have opted to be adjusted to the central government.
The Ministry of General Administration and Federal Affairs has said that it will try to take the employee’s choice into consideration but will adjust some to local and provincial level after the central’s seats fill up. Over 70,000 civil servants have opted for the adjustment.
