Major broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Wednesday, English and Nepali alike, have prioritised the protest launched by stock investors against the government decision to introduce the capital gains tax on their transactions. Other contemporary political issues and environmental issues raised on the occasion of World Environment Day have also been prioritised.
Many newspapers have carried out the Reuters’ story that Nepali Gurkhas will be mobilised to provide security to the meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on their front pages.
Important
Investors close share market against govt decision
Investors on Tuesday closed down Nepal’s share market protesting the government decision to impose capital gains tax on the difference of market price and base price of bonus and rights shares and almost all newspapers have covered the issue on their front pages today.
Nagarik says the investors gheraoed Nepal Stock Exchange as well as offices of brokers in the protest yesterday. Kantipur adds that police have been mobilised at these places so as to avoid any untoward incident over the issue.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has formed a panel to study in the issue and submit the report to government, according to Abhiyan and Rajdhani.
Meanwhile, the market is likely to remain shut today as well as the possibility of agreement between two sides is less likely today, according to Karobar.
Donors’ investment in training to lawmakers
Kantipur and Naya Patrika report on their front pages that the Federal Parliament Secretariat is organising a two-day training to members of Parliament on Wednesday and Thursday. The training programme is being organised with the financial assistance of United Nations Development Programme and it has created a controversy as criticisms against the lawmakers’ dependence on foreign donors for their ‘capacity building’ have mounted because the donations might influence them, the reports explain.
RJPN divided over joining govt
The lead story in Republica reports that the Madhesh-centric Rastriya Janata Party Nepal is under the pressure to make a clear decision about whether it wants to join the coalition government led by Nepal Communist Party’s KP Sharma Oli after another regional force Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal came on board. However, the RJPN is undecided over the issue as its top leaders are apparently divided, the report informs adding, whereas the party’s de facto Chair Mahantha Thakur argues against joining the government, its presidium members Rajendra Mahato and Sharad Singh Bhandari want to be a part of it.
Ignored
Pokhara Airport ‘unfit’ for international flights
While the government has already begun construction works to elevate the standard of Pokhara Airport to the status of regional level, a committee formed by the government itself has found that the airport is not fit for international flights, claims Karobar.
A 21-member team formed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has already handed over the report to Minister Rabindra Adhikari, the newspaper informs.
Private pharmacies barred from govt hospital premises
The Supreme Court has ordered all government hospitals in the country to remove medicine shops run by private investors from their premises and establish their own so as provide an all-accessible service to the public, according to Gorkhapatra anchor story.
Responding to a writ filed by advocate Bishnu Prasad Timalsina, a division bench of justices Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and Tej Bahadur KC had handed down the order in September-October last year. The full text of the verdict, however, has come out just recently, and it clarifies the order, the report claims.
Budget disappoints foreign investors
The lead story in The Himalayan Times claims that the new budget announcement by Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada has apparently disappointed foreign investors willing or planning to invest in Nepal as it has not constructed any infrastructure requirement for the investment.
Though Khatiwada claimed that Nepal would be established as an investment destination, the country still lacks financial resources to meet investment needs and few measures have been taken so far to achieve the ambitious goal, according to the report.
Nepali Congress to run ‘shadow govt’ at all levels
The main opposition party Nepali Congress is planning to form ‘shadow governments’ from the central to local level in a bid to make the government more responsible towards people and strengthen the parliamentary system, reports Rajdhani.
Such governments would be formed after the party’s mahasamiti meeting and thematic experts would be mobilised to raise the party’s concerns, according to the party’s spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma.
Interesting
36 new industry sectors included in VAT range
Karobar anchor story for the day says as many as 36 new industry sectors have come under the range of value added tax as announced by Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada in the budget statement for next fiscal year. The report informs that 12 industries operated across the country and 24 other sectors in metropolitan cities and sub-metropolitan cities now will have to pay additional VAT.
All metropolitan cities to have sufficient public toilets in next two months
The government has unveiled an ambitious plan on the occasion of World Environment Day on Tuesday, according to which all major junctions of all six metropolitan cities of Kathmandu will boast public toilets within next two months, according to a four-column box story in Rajdhani.
Stakeholders, however, have suspected the government’s capacity to implement the plan.
Gaddi Baithak reconstruction at final phase
The reconstruction of Gaddi Baithak, a historically and culturally significant monument in the Basantapur Durbar Square, is almost over now after three years of works following the devastation caused by the magnitude-7.6 earthquake on April 25, 2012, Gorkhapatra reports on its front page with a photograph.
The United States government had extended a financial support to the reconstruction project.
