ICYMI: Here are our top stories from Thursday, July 25
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (July 25, 2019).Hundreds of storm-displaced families in Bara and Parsa districts are still living in temporary shelters. Elite Joshi/TKP
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (July 25, 2019).
Everything you should know about the Nirmala Pant rape and murder case
The rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant of Kanchanpur on July 26 last year became a flashpoint for Nepalis from across the country as the grisly rape and murder encapsulated just how unsafe Nepal is for women. The ensuing police investigation only furthered the outrage, with numerous gross incompetencies on the part of the police in what many saw as attempts to cover up for the perpetrators.
Nation-wide protests followed, with activists and the public demanding that the government and the investigating agencies ensure that the perpetrators be found and held to account. Around a dozen different investigative teams were formed, including two high-level teams under Home Ministry joint-secretary Hari Prasad Mainali and Additional Inspector General Dhiru Basnyat, but a year later, the case remains unsolved.
The government spent Rs230 million on buildings for squatters. Nobody moved in.
From a distance, the buildings look grand, similar in style to the dozens of housing colonies that have sprung up across the Valley in the past decade. On closer inspection, signs of abandonment come into view: fading paint, mouldy ceilings, and hastily plastered cracks on the walls. There’s no electricity, no running water and no occupants.
Nearly five years after completion, the housing complex in Ichangu Narayan, built to house squatter families, remains vacant, except for the ground floor where a ward office and temporary police unit have taken up residence.
Monsoon arrived over a month ago, but windstorm victims still waiting for houses
Tahir Miya and his family of seven became homeless after the deadly windstorm swept across various villages in Bara and Parsa districts in April.
The windstorm, which was later called the first ever tornado recorded in the country, had killed 28 people and rendered hundreds of families homeless. Miya lost his home and was forced to move into a tent provided by the local government.
The government had announced that the victims would get new homes before the onset of monsoon, but that did not happen.
Health Ministry continues to defend new abortion law even as gynecologists express strong reservations
Health experts as well as gynecologists have expressed serious reservations over the new abortion law which extends abortion period for special cases to 28 weeks.
In a meeting called by Health Secretary Dr Pushpa Chaudhary at the Ministry of Health and Population on Tuesday, they said that the law was wrong and should be amended.
They insisted that the government amend the law to limit the legal pregnancy termination period to 22 weeks.
Nepal Rastra Bank rolls out Monetary Policy 2019-20
Nepal Rastra Bank on Wednesday unveiled the Monetary Policy 2019-20 which analysts and the private sector say contain few policy measures to address the liquidity problem in the banking sector and stabilise interest rate fluctuations.
According to them, the central bank has accorded priority to promoting bank mergers and achieving the government's ambitious growth target of 8.5 percent for the fiscal year 2019-20. They doubted the central bank would be able to handle the volatility observed in interest rates.
9.89°C Kathmandu
