Canadian aid worker Peter Daglish being sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted in paedophilia charges has been featured in a few newspapers along with news of the CIAA charging three people of corruption in the TU gold medal scam. Parliamentary panel endorsing the nomination of four ambassadors despite some not meeting the criteria set by the government has also been featured in a few newspapers.
Here is a summary of important, ignored and interesting stories published on front pages of Kathmandu broadsheet dailies, both Nepali and English, on Tuesday.
Important
TU gold medal scam: Officials and students charged with corruption
Rajdhani and Republica report that the CIAA has filed a corruption case against three persons including a “master’s degree gold medallist of economics” Surendra Prasad Koirala and Tribhuvan University officials on the charge of mark sheet forgery.
An investigation carried out by the anti-graft body found that Koirala had paid a bribe of Rs 150,000 to Ram Bahadur Karmacharya, an official at the confidential department under the Office of the Controller of Examinations, to add 3 to 50 marks in 15 subjects of three different degree programs — economics, rural development, and sociology. As a result, Koirala managed to secure a gold medal in economics.
Canadian gets nine years
The Kathmandu Post and Republica report that the District Court, Kavrepalanchowk on Monday slapped nine years imprisonment on a former senior United Nations official Peter Dalglish for sexually assaulting children in Nepal.
The court ruled that the former UN official had sexually assaulted two children during his stay in the district. The children, according to court officials, were raped while he was working in the district as aid worker after the 2015 earthquakes.
A bench of judge Arjun Prasad Adhikari slapped a nine-year jail term on Daglish and ordered him to pay Rs 500,000 compensation to each of the victims.
Ignored
Local and provincial governments have to now seek permission from centre before talking to INGOS
Republica reports that the government has made it mandatory for the office bearers and other officials of provincial and local governments to receive permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) prior to holding meetings with the representatives of foreign governments, diplomatic missions, and INGOs.
A new set of directives on the work procedure to be followed by province and local level governments while establishing contacts with foreign governments, missions, representatives and international organizations has also stated any such foreign institutions or representatives seeking meetings with province and local level officials must channel their communication through the MoFA.
Sexual harassment case filed against TU professor
The Himalayan Times reports that Tribhuvan University has, for the first time, filed a police complaint accusing one of its teachers of sexually harassing a female student pursuing a master’s degree. Jagadish Murti Koirala, who teaches economics, was found repeatedly calling a female student at the Department of Education, sending her lewd text messages and asking her to meet him despite several warnings to stop doing so. The student reached out to the university administration after the teacher gave her failing grades in internal examination.
Socialism replaces communism in NCP political document
Nagarik reports the political document prepared by the NCP doesn’t have the word communism in it. The ruling party is planning to replace the word communism with socialism according to sources. According to the document, the party will be moving forward with the principle of socialism.
Interesting
NC to form committees before starting work on general convention
Rajdhani reports that Nepali Congress has begun the process of forming provincial and local committees. The opposition party has started the work as it wasn’t to form the committees before it begins work on its 14th general convention. As of now, the state of local and provincial committees of NC is in tatters. Senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel recently had asked party President Sher Bahadur Deuba to host an election for local and provincial committees before hosting the general convention.
Parliamentary panel endorses ambassadors despite some not meeting criteria
Gorkhapatra and The Kathmandu Post report that the Hearing Committee of Parliament on Monday endorsed the recommendation of all four ambassador nominees. Last month, the Cabinet had recommended Mahesh Dahal as ambassador to Australia, Narad Bhardwaj Wagle to Qatar, Dr Banshidhar Mishra to Bangladesh, and Dawa Futi Sherpa to Spain. The recommendations immediately attracted criticism, as the government’s nominations contradicted the ambassador selection criteria set last year by Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali. With the endorsement, the doors are now open for the government to appoint the four ambassadors to their respective foreign missions.
Govt rapidly spending to finish recurrent expenditure
Nagarik reports that various government offices are rushing to spend the recurrent expenditure before the current fiscal year ends on July 16. The total recurrent expenditure spent per day before the start of Ashad which is the last month of the fiscal year was Rs 1.8 billion. However, since then, spending has significantly increased. Since the start of Ashad (June 16) Rs 2.8 billion has been spent on an average. The government on July 7 spent Rs 6 billion and in the past seven days has spent over Rs 22 billion. The money is being used for foreign trips, fuel, water and repairs.
