Election programmes for the third phase of local level elections in Province 2 are beginning today as the Election Commission has scheduled filing of nominations from 10 am to 5 pm today. Major English and Nepali broadsheet newspapers published from Kathmandu on Wednesday have prioritised parties’ candidate selection and preparations for nominations. In this context, attempts to form alliances and defection of political parties by dissatisfied cadres and leaders have also received significant attention.
Important
September 18 elections: Candidates to file nominations today
Candidates contesting for various positions in 136 local units in eight districts of Province 2 are filing their nominations today, says a front page story in Kantipur.
The Election Commission on Tuesday organised a press meeting in Kathmandu and announced that election programmes would begin in eight Terai districts today.
Gorkhapatra says all major parties have finalised the list of candidates.
Meanwhile, Annapurna Post says parties’ attempts to form alliances for upcoming elections have been largely failed due to different reasons. However, ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre have partnered to jointly contest the elections, the report says.
Another story in the same paper reads that various leaders of the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, a major political force of the Madhesh regions, have left the party and joined other ones expressing dissatisfaction over the candidates the RJPN selected.
There are total 2 million 664,950 voters in the Province. The Commission has established 3,578 voting centres and 2,166 voting stations, according to Rajdhani.
Six vehicles used in 88 kg gold smuggling
Nepal Police has expedited the probe into the seizure of 88 kg gold that was allegedly smuggled to Kathmandu from Tibet via Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border point. However, the investigators are largely clueless about the owner of the precious yellow metal, according to Nagarik and Annapurna Post.
Nagarik says total six vehicles had been used in the smuggling and all had a common special mark to get identified. The report claims the smuggler had set up connections with some Nepal Police officials and the mark was designed to let them know that the vehicles belonged to the particular racket. It was also expected that even if security personnel did not recognise the vehicles, they would not conduct strict checking after seeing the ‘VIP’ mark.
There were nearly three dozen security posts from Rasuwagadhi to Kathmandu, but none of them found that the vehicles were smuggling gold, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Annapurna Post says the suspected mastermind of the crime fled the Radisson Hotel of Kathmandu some hours after his gold was seized.
Ignored
Pancheshwor DPR being finalised in Delhi
The detail project report of much-hyped Pancheshwor Multipurpose Project is being finalised by a bilateral mechanism in New Delhi of India, reports Karobar daily. India is providing financial support to the ambitious water management project in far-western Nepal.
A meeting of the team of experts under the Pancheshwor Development Authority Governing Body involving officials from both Nepal and India has begun in Delhi on Tuesday. The Nepali side has been led by Madhu Sudan Adhikari, Secretary at the Water and Energy Commission whereas the Indian side is led by Narendra Kumar, the Chief of Indian Central Water Commission.
The Nepali delegation has 16 members whereas there are 11 from India according to the report.
Earlier last month, during the visit of Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to New Delhi, Nepal and India had agreed to complete the project report within one month.
Migrant workers form company to invest in Nepal hydro projects
Nepali migrant workers in United Arab Emirates have launched an organised bid to promote hydroelectricity projects in Nepal with the establishment of a company, Abhiyan‘s lead story for the day reports.
The Overseas Nepalese Investment Company Limited has been established with the capital of Rs 100 million, the report says, adding the company will first invest in Super Ankhukhola Hydropower Project in northern Dhading.
The new company’s Managing Director Lilanath Kandel says they decided to promote hydropower as independence in energy is a must for the national development.
The Dhading-based hydro project is expected to produce 25.4 megawatt power and costs Rs 4.44 billion.
Interesting
50 per cent waiver in sentence if accused confesses to crime and supports probe
The new Criminal Code recently endorsed by Parliament has a provision that if anyone accused of a crime confesses his/her involvement in the case and becomes ready to assist investigators for the prove, the person will get a waiver of up to 50 per cent in the sentence, according to the anchor story in The Himalayan Times.
The law will come into effect after the President approves the bill. However, the Parliament Secretariat is yet to send the bill to the President’s Office for enactment.
The report comments that the bill incorporates provision of plea bargain — a theory widely used in the American criminal justice system — as a general rule for the first time in Nepal’s criminal justice system.
