Broadsheet dailies (both in Nepali and English) published in Kathmandu on Thursday, April 21, 2016, have given prominence to various stories of their own choosing as there wasn’t any major political development the previous day.

Important

Federal Alliance to brief diplomats on demands

The Himalayan Times’ lead story for the day is on the decision of Federal Alliance (an alliance of parties taking up the cause of the Madhesh and the indigenous people) to brief representatives of diplomatic missions based in the capital on the alliance’s 22-point common concept paper issued on April 17. The report quotes a Sadbhawana Party leader as saying, ” We hope to build momentum for Kathmandu-centric protest programme in three weeks.”

Annapurna Post in its lead story with a double-decker screaming headline says the alliance is divided over how the agitation should be conducted. The report says that Forum Nepal’s president Upendra Yadav wants to lead the agitation, but other Madheshi parties want TMLP’s Mahanta Thakur to take charge. The report also says that the alliance is likely to announce protests after it consults Kathmandu-based European diplomats on Thursday.

Transitional receives complaints

Annapurna Post and Republica have stories on how people affected by the decade-long conflict are submitting complaints to the truth commission. Republica’s lead story for the day is about a widow who has filed a complaint at the commission 12 years after her husband was shot dead by the Maoists. Similarly, Annapurna Post has a three-column box story on how a man from Khotang walked eight hours to come to Hetauda to file a complaint about an attack on him by the Maoists 13 years ago. Nagarik’s lead story, meanwhile, is on a complaint made against UCPN-Maoist chief Prachanda. A woman from Lamjung has filed a complaint at the TRC saying that Prachanda was responsible for the murder of her husband, who was killed two days after he burnt an effigy of the Maoist leader.

Maoists want conflict-era cases settled by commissions

Rajdhani’s second story for the day (box report) is on the decision of five Maoist political parties (who were united during the insurgency) to press for the settlement of conflict-era cases through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission for the Investigation of Disappeared Persons. A meeting of the parties at UCPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda’s residence made the decision, the report says.

Baidhya, Thapa divided over unity with UCPN-Maoist

Naya Patrika‘s main story for the day says the Mohan Baidhya-led CPN-Maoist is divided over the terms of a proposed ‘merger’ with the Prachanda-led UCPN-Maoist party. The report says that while Baidhya wants ‘ideological’ differences to be settled before the unity process begins, senior leader Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal) wants to take the question of ideology to a joint national convention of both the parties.

Ignored

‘Marriage by force’ tradition is still alive in Gorkha

Nagarik’s anchor story for the day is on how forced marriages are still taking place in remote villages of Gorkha. The report says that young men still go around ‘snatching’ women from their families to make them their brides. The report also talks about the tradition in which a woman is married to two men who are brothers.

After fake docs, engineers and pilots under spotlight

Naya Patrika’s anchor for the day is on how ‘fake’ engineers and pilots are going about their profession. The report says Nepal Engineering Council has cancelled licenses issued to individuals who never passed their engineering exams. Police have also started an investigation into a report that 59 pilots have submitted fake education certificates when they received their licenses.

Nepal second in South Asia in press freedom

The Himalayan Times has a six-column anchor on a recent report by Reporters Without Borders on press freedom around the world. “Nepal ranks second among the nine South Asian countries as far as press freedom in the region is concerned,” says the newspaper.

Interesting

NT wants 7.8 million more subscribers in two years

State-owned Nepal Telecom has said it wants add 7.8 million subscribers to its network within the next two years. Abhiyan in its anchor for the days says the company wants to add 4 million GSM users, 300,000 CDMA users, 3.5 million internet subscribers, and 80,000 PST subscribers within the next two years. According to official figures, Nepal Telecom now has 140 million subscribers.