Broadsheet dailies (both in Nepali and English) published in Kathmandu on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, have given prominence to the government’s decision to recommend 21 envoys to head Nepali missions abroad.

Important

Govt names envoys for 21 missions abroad

Almost all broadsheet dailies have made the appointment of 21 envoys to Nepal’s missions abroad as their lead story for the day.  They have stressed the fact that ambassadorial positions were allotted to members of the ruling alliance based on the number of ministerial berths each party has. 

Republica reports that of the 13 political appointees, six were proposed by the CPN-UML, four by UCPN (Maoist) and three by Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N). “The government is yet to recommend an envoy for Oman, which is to be the share (quota) of the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D).

Nagarik, Annapurna Post, Nepal Samacharpatra, The Himalayan Times, Gorkhapatra and Rajdhani have also given prominent space to the news. In its box story adjacent to the main story on the nomination of the envoys, The Himalayan Times says Prime Minister KP Oli’s ‘prison mate’ is among those named by the government.  It says, “Narad Bhardwaj, who was in jail with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in the 1970s, is among the 21 persons nominated to serve as Nepal’s ambassadors in several countries.”

Nepal Samacharpatra, in its box story inside the main story says the principal opposition Nepali Congress is not happy with the appointments. The report quotes Nepali Congress senior leader Ramchandra Paudel as saying that the nominations were made without consulting his party.

Preparations for budget in full swing

The government is giving finishing touches to this year’s budget, Gorkhapatra reports in its second prominent story of the day. The report quotes Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel as saying that the budget’s focus will be on implementing the constitution and expediting strategically important mega projects.

Ignored 

Children selling berries to pay for school 

Republica‘s anchor for the day is on how children in remote parts of Nepal’s far-west are selling berries to pay their school fees. The report says, “Children from over a dozen VDCs can be seen selling berries at Khalanga Bazar. Some of them say they are helping out their parents with some extra income, while other say they are doing it for pocket money. According to the report, they earn around Rs 400 daily and use the money to pay school fees, buy books and stationary items and school uniform.

Children still being offered to temples

Gorkhapatra’s anchor for the day talks about how under the ‘dueki’ tradition, people in far-west Nepal are still offering children to local temples. It says that locals are still offering children to seven temples in Baitadi district. Once offered to the temple, the child has to serve the temple’s pujari and is not allowed to marry.

300 million ltrs of oil ‘stolen’ in a year

Naya Patrika in its main story for the day says Nepal’s state-owned oli monopoly Nepal Oil Corporation does not know what happened to 7.2 million litres of oil that was loaded from the Indian side, but never made it to Nepal’s depots. The report says that petroleum worth over Rs 2.72 billion was unaccounted for during the last year. It says that Nepali depots never receive all the oli that is loaded on to trucks in India. While transporters say the losses are natural (due to factors like temperature and leakage), there is enough ground to be sceptical, the report adds.

Interesting  

Demand for credit on the rise

Annapurna Post in its box story above the fold says that the rise in the interest rate at which banks are buying 91-day T-bills from NRB indicates that demand for credit in the market is slowly growing. The report quotes NRB’s Research Department chief Nara Bahadur Thapa as saying that the figures indicate that the problem of excess liquidity in the market is heading towards a resolution. According to the report, the interest rate, which was hovering around 0.1 per cent in February has now shot up to 1.34 per cent.

Food expense accounts for 56.9 per cent of consumption

Abhiyan’s main story for the day says for every Rs 100 that a Nepali spends on consumption, more than Rs 56.9 goes for food. Citing a recent report by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the paper says for Nepalis in rural areas the figure stands at a whopping Rs 62 per cent while that for urban areas at Rs 46.7.