Major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Sunday have given the priority to contemporary political issues over others. The boycott of the Secretariat meeting of ruling Nepal Communist Party by four key leaders has received significant coverage on the front pages of the broadsheets. Likewise, the first meeting of Interprovincial Council that is beginning in Kathmandu today has also been featured. Meanwhile, The Kathmandu Post and The Himalayan Times have also published reports about the misunderstanding between federal and provincial governments over budget spending and handling of key projects.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokharel’s claim that the government has already nabbed the culprit behind the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant and Nepal’s participation in the 68th Miss World have also been covered on the front pages today.
Important
Why did four leaders skip NCP top body meeting?
Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, Bamdev Gautam and Narayan Kaji Shrestha boycotted left the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar, where the meeting of NCP Secretariat was scheduled to convene, claiming the meeting could not begin even after 30 minutes of the schedule, Naya Patrika says.
The leaders have also expressed dissatisfaction over the holding of the meeting at Baluwatar, not the party office, Shrestha had told Nepal Samacharpatra.
Meanwhile, remaining five members of the Secretariat called the Standing Committee meeting for coming Saturday, reports Republica.
Some dissident leaders of the party have been demanding for regular meetings of all party bodies.
Interprovincial Council meeting today
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will head the meeting to be attended by chief ministers of all the provinces, reports The Kathmandu Post. Meanwhile, the chief ministers have already prepared their agenda for the meeting, and are likely to demand more power ‘in a true spirit of federalism’, according to the report.
Ignored
Five-year-old girl raped in Rupandehi
Rajdhani reports in a snippet that a five-year-old girl was raped by a gang in Devdaha of Rupandehi district on Friday night. Police say five locals raped the Dalit girl while there was no one at her home.
The law enforcers arrested four persons to investigate into the case.
SWC accused of promoting Christianity
The government agency to regulate activities of national and international nongovernment organisations, Social Welfare Council, has approved an INGO project has mentioned it will promote Christianity, Karobar claims in a two column story.
The project of a British charity, Tearfund, says it will work to protect the existence of Christians and unify them; and the SWC has allowed it to spend Rs 52.37 million on the mission, the report claims.
Deuba, Dahal don’t care about House panel meetings
Since the last parliamentary elections last year, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Nepal Communist Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal have never gone to any meeting of the parliamentary committees they belong to, Nepal Samacharpatra reports in its lead story.
Deuba is a member of the Development and Technology Committee and Dahal of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee in the House of Representatives.
Lucky Sherpa likely to be sacked
Owing to an allegation that she was involved in human trafficking activities, the government is preparing to sack Nepal’s Ambassador to Australia, Lucky Sherpa, reports The Himalayan Times.
Two chairmen of the ruling Nepal Communist Party, KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, have already decided to sack her, the report says, adding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned her to Kathmandu for a probe.
Interesting
Govt introducing new internal security law
The lead story in Rajdhani reports that the federal government has drafted a new law to ensure internal security of the state. The Ministry of Home Affairs has sent the draft of Internal Security and Order Bill to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, according to the report.
Once the Ministry of Law provides its feedback, it will be sent to the Cabinet for endorsement.
