Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (September 15, 2019).

Ruling party’s indecision delays finalisation of the bill to amend Citizenship Act

The parliamentary State Affairs Committee’s plan to finalise the bill to amend Citizenship Act, 2006 has hit a snag due to the indecision of the ruling Nepal Communist Party.

After holding 140 meetings to decide on the contentious issues of the bill, including the provision of naturalised citizenship, the committee on Saturday decided to seek help from the leadership of various parties.

Committee Chairperson Shashi Shrestha had called a meeting on Saturday to finalise the draft through a vote if there was no consensus. The committee, which has been discussing the bill for over a year, wanted to present it before Parliament for endorsement at the earliest. Chances of the bill getting endorsed by the ongoing session of Parliament, which will be prorogued next week, are slim.

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New government rule on bank account catches migrant workers unaware

Last week, when Narayan Bahadur Thapa, a returnee migrant worker from Palpa, reached the Foreign Employment Office at Tahachal, Kathmandu, he was denied the labour permit. Officials asked him to present the papers that showed he had his personal bank account. He had none. He said he had no idea about any such rule that required him to have a bank account.

Thapa is among the majority of Nepali migrant workers who are confused about the latest rule that requires them to produce bank details for obtaining a work permit to work abroad.

The new rule came into force early this month, but not many migrant workers know about this because of the authorities’ failure to disseminate information about the provision. A majority of the workers visiting the office for the work permits are clueless.

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Country’s northern and western places received ‘below normal’ rainfall this monsoon

A majority of the country’s northern and western parts received relatively less rainfall in the last three months of the ongoing monsoon season.

The rainfall data released by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology shows rainfall recorded this year, in most parts of the Karnali and Sudurpashchim provinces in the period of June to August, was 70 percent below normal rainfall levels, indicating a weaker monsoon in those parts of the country.

Normal rainfall of any place for any particular month is calculated as the average of the total rainfall received during a given month between 1981 and 2010.

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Police data suggests rise in abduction cases over the years

In the last five years, the country has witnessed a rise in the number of kidnapping cases, according to Nepal Police data.

The last fiscal year 2018-19 alone saw 104 cases, the highest in the last five years. According to police statistics, kidnapping/abduction cases rose 35.1 percent in the last fiscal year, compared to the previous fiscal year.

Officials say what is even more alarming is that not all kidnappings were perpetrated by professional criminals.

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