Major English and Nepali dailies published from Kathmandu on Wednesday have covered a variety of issues in the front page. Politics has dominated the press. Nevertheless, there are a number of stories on corruption and financial irregularities.
Supreme Court’s order to keep suspended Inland Revenue Department chief Chudamani Sharma in a judicial custody, Nepal Oil Corporation’s decision to decrease the price of liquefied petroleum gas, Dr Govinda KC’s fast-unto-death and the strike announced by TU Teaching Hospital’s resident doctors in his support, Parliament’s Public Account’s Committee’s meeting on solar tender of Nepal Electricity Authority have also been prioritised.
Important
Bharatpur repolling on Friday
Election officials in Chitwan district have announced to redo voting in ward 19 of Bharatpur Metropolitan City on coming Friday and imposed a ban on electioneering from Wednesday morning.
The city had held local level elections on May 14 and vote counting was underway while some Maoist cadres reportedly torn 90 ballot papers in May last week. The vote counting had been halted since then.
The issue was taken to the Supreme Court, which had ordered to redo voting at the earliest.
An all-party meeting held in Chitwan yesterday unanimously made the decision to hold the polls Friday, reports a front page story in Republica.
Meanwhile, ballot papers of the ward from May 14 polls have been burned in consent of all political parties yesterday itself. There are 3,797 voters in the ward. Of them, total 2,897 had cast votes on May 14, reports The Himalayan Times.
Puri expedites parleys as Deuba’s India visit date fixed
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will embark on his first official foreign visit to India after being elected to the post of Prime Minister on August 23, says the lead story in The Kathmandu Post.
Foreign ministries of both the countries are expediting discussions to finalise itinerary, agenda and the size of delegation, the report says, adding the Prime Minister will focus on implementation of past pacts signed with India during his earlier visits as the PM in 1996, 2002 and 2004. The report quotes two senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that the Prime Minister has told them that there must be some concrete outcome from the visit.
Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Manjeev Singh Puri, on Tuesday held a meeting with top leaders of agitating Madhesh-centric party, Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, and sought their opinions about the visit, according to the lead story in Nepal Samacharpatra. In response, the leaders had told Puri that they were not concerned about the visit. They rather sought Indian support in putting the constitution amendment bill to vote in Parliament and ensuring its endorsement.
According to a Republica report, the envoy and the leaders had talked about upcoming elections and Puri told the leaders to contest polls.
Ignored
Unaddressed complaints galore at TRC
Thousands of complaints are gathering dust at Truth and Reconciliation Commission, one of two transitional justice mechanisms formed to resolve issues from the decade-long conflict era, says the anchor story in Rajdhani.
The TRC collected total 58,052 complaints in its first two years, but has begun investigation into only around 7,000 of them. TRC Chairman Surya Kiran Gurung says the Commission will prepare a plan of action for investigation of remaining complaints only after assessing the progress in probe of first 7,000 complaints.
The TRC was formed in February 2015 with a mandate of two years. Its tenure was extended by one year in February 2017 so the Commission has only around six months to deal with the cases. “We have been moving our tasks ahead in a planned fashion,” Gurung claims.
EC mulls using EVM for provincial, federal polls
The Election Commission wants to use electronic voting machines for upcoming elections of Provincial Assembly and federal House of Representatives, report Nepal Samacharpatra and Rajdhani.
The Commission, however, is waiting for a nod of major political parties to use the machines. The constitutional body on Tuesday held a discussion with lawmakers of various parties on how feasible it is to use the EVMs. During the discussion, the Commission argued that the use of EVMs would make the entire voting process easy, fast and rigging-free whereas the results could also be announced on time, says EC Secretary Maheshwor Neupane.
The Commission, however, is yet to plan from where and when it can buy the EVMs and how much cost it involves, according to Nepal Samacharpatra.
Interesting
Gyanendra Shah to take grandkids to Thailand for excursion
Nepal’s former King Gyanendra Shah is going on a Thailand trip with his family today, says the anchor story in Nepal Samacharpatra.
The visit is meant to provide an entertaining break to his two granddaughters and a grandsom, a source close to the Nirmal Niwas says. He will be accompanied by wife Komal, daughter-in-law Himani and Himani’s children, Hridayendra, Purnika and Kirtika. Gyanendra’s only son and former crown prince, Paras, however, will not be a part of the team.
The former royals are scheduled to board a Thai Airways flight from the Tribhuvan International Airport at 1:30 pm today.
Before returning home after around two weeks, Shah will try to do some medical check-ups in Bangkok, the source says. He had undergone a coronary angioplasty in Kathmandu around two weeks ago.
