ICYMI: Here are our top stories from Wednesday, July 24
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (July 24, 2019).Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa during a press meet on Tuesday. Elite Joshi/TKP
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (July 24, 2019).
Finance Ministry wants to cut down on Nepal’s embassies abroad. Foreign Ministry disagrees.
Last year, in a bid to cut down on expenses and streamline work, Finance Minister Yubraj Khatiwada announced a review of all of Nepal’s embassies abroad. Subsequently, in November, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali announced the formation of a task force to evaluate all embassies and their scope of work and gave the team three months to submit its report.
But nine months since, the task force, led by former ambassador Rudra Nepal, has held just three meetings, with no clear timeline on when the report will be formulated, according to a member of the task force. The primary reason for the delay appears to be differences between the Finance and Foreign ministries.
People are furious after Home Minister says Nirmala Pant’s rape and murder isn’t a “new phenomenon”
Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s flippant remarks about rape, specifically the Nirmala Pant case, has sparked outrage among Nepalis, many of whom went online to criticise him and the government for their frivolous and apathetic attitude towards violence against women.
Students having lower grades in any number of subjects can take supplementary exams
Following a poor show of the examinees in the recent Secondary Education Examination, the government has decided to allow the students who got a ‘C’ or lower grades in any number of subjects to take the supplementary examinations to improve their grades.
India pledged to build around 300 quake-damaged health posts. Till date, it has not finished even one.
The Indian government had committed to providing grant assistance to reconstruct 157 health facilities and soft loan through Export-Import Bank to build 130 to 140 other health facilities.
An agreement was signed between the two governments in which the Indian side had agreed to provide a grant of $50 million to reconstruct health facilities, according to Raju Neupane, deputy director at the Central Project Implementation Unit under the National Reconstruction Authority, the government agency that is overseeing the entire reconstruction.
“Apart from the signing of the agreement, no further progress has been made in the last three and a half years,” Neupane told the Post. “The Indian side has not even appointed a consultant yet.”
Delay in replacing bridge has disrupted movement in Manang
On June 23, a bailey bridge over Myardi river that connected Manang to Lamjung, was swept away by floods, disconnecting Manang from other districts in the province.
Ten days after the incident, a team headed by the Chief Minister of Province 4 Prithvi Subba Gurung visited the site for observation. Provincial Minister of Physical Infrastructure Ram Sharan Basnet said a new bailey bridge would be constructed over the river within 20 days.
Tuesday marked the deadline of the minister’s word. But the site is as it is; the bridge’s set up process has not even started.
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