Good morning!
Here’s a summary of important, ignored and interesting reports from Sunday to kickstart your Monday.
Important
Tumbahamphe to resign today
After she failed to convince the Nepal Communist Party leadership to nominate her as the next speaker of the House of Representatives, the current Deputy Speaker, Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe is resigning from the position on Monday so that the ruling party can field its candidacy in the speaker’s election.
As the two chairs of the party agreed on Agni Prasad Sapkota’s name, Tumbahamphe met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday and asked why the party did not nominate her though she was a right candidate. Tumbahamphe was of the view that she was being punished for the wrong of Krishna Bahadur Mahara.
In response, Oli said the post was given to the former Maoist Centre side considering the ‘psychology of party unification and balance of power.’
Minister proposes relaxing Media Council Bill provisions
Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota has proposed relaxing provisions of the Media Council Bill which the Legislation Committee in the National Assembly is currently discussing. Speaking at a meeting of the committee in Kathmandu on Sunday, the minister said the council should not hold excessive rights and should let victims move to a court in case they are not satisfied with the news content. Likewise, he said the council should propose a smaller fee amount for mistakes committed by the media and the media houses–not the publishers, editors or reporters–should be made responsible to pay the fine.
Ignored
Gandaki CM wants provincial police to be free of political influence
Though the federal government is yet to implement the law to let provincial governments form a provincial police organisation, the Province 2 government has already implemented the act. Now, Gandaki government has also launched preparations in this regard.
The provincial government held a consultation meeting for the drafting of a provincial police bill among stakeholders in Pokhara on Sunday. During the meeting, Chief Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung said the police force should be free of any political influence. Likewise, he said it should be equipped with the necessary technology.
Three shortlisted for NTB CEO
The government has shortlisted three applicants for the position of chief executive officer of Nepal Tourism Board. A selection committee formed to recommend the new executive chief of the board shortlisted Dhananjaya Regmi, Deepak Bastakoti and Hikmat Singh Air. Sources say Regmi is most likely to win the trust of the government for the position for the next four years given his expertise in the mountainous geography and his close ties with the ruling Nepal Communist Party.
Meanwhile, the former CEO of the board, Deepak Raj Joshi, who also had applied for the position, could not make it to the shortlist. Earlier, he had reportedly rejected the government’s offer to extend the term by a few months and led himself to the open competition for another full term.
NAC executive chair quits
Executive chairman of the Nepal Airlines Corporation, Madan Kharel, submitted his resignation on Sunday. Of late, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai had raised questions over his performance.
Interesting
Govt orders relocation of 18 fuel stations in Kathmandu
The government has directed Nepal Oil Corporation and Metropolitan Traffic Police Division to remove 18 fuel stations from their current locations, claiming they obstructed smooth traffic management of the valley.
The NOC spokesperson Birendra Goit says the company recently received a letter from the Office of the Prime Minister about removing the fuel stations, but it is yet to take any initiative as top NOC officials are currently out of the valley.
