National
ICYMI: Here are our top stories from Sunday, September 22
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (September 22, 2019).Post Report
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (September 22, 2019).
Manufacturing slack, low FDI inflow likely to crimp Nepal’s economic growth
At a time when the global economy is showing clear signs of slowing down, Nepal would be struggling to meet its gross domestic product growth rate target in the current fiscal year and thereon if the government cannot retain the investors, experts say.
Buoyed by three successive years of high GDP growth, the government has set an ambitious economic growth target of 8.5 percent for the current fiscal year. In addition, it has targeted an average growth rate of 9.6 percent for the next five years.
Nepali communities that do not cremate say they have no space in Kathmandu to bury their dead
The Kirat community, which also includes Rais and Limbus, along with Muslims and Christians, bury their dead. But with land prices skyrocketing in the Capital, there are fewer spaces where these communities can bury their loved ones.
In Kathmandu, the Shleshmantak forest near Pashupati once was a free-for-all graveyard, in which many communities buried their dead. But in 1998 the government announced a ban on all burials in the UNESCO heritage site. Although the prohibition was lifted with specific conditions—that no concrete be used for gravestones, among others—it was reinstated in 2011, putting a permanent halt to burials in the Pashupati area.
MBBS students protest in Maitighar after colleges refuse to pay heed to their concerns
With no steps from the government towards addressing the concerns of medical students protesting in different parts of the country, Dr Govinda KC, a senior orthopaedic surgeon who has been fighting against malpractices in the medical education sector, on Saturday took to the streets together with the students to put pressure on the government.
The MBBS students from Chitwan Medical College in Bharatpur and Gandaki Medical College, Pokhara have been staging protests for more than two weeks demanding that colleges refund the amount that they have charged from students on top of the fee determined by the government
Leaders, including from the ruling party, criticise government for trivialising national awards
On the occasion of Constitution Day, the government on Friday announced various awards for 634 individuals from different walks of life for “their significant contributions to the nation”.
But announcements quickly ran into controversy, with many saying most of the awardees were close to the ruling party and that such awards are nothing but a continuation of what used to happen during the Panchayat era when the kings awarded their sycophants.
Over 30 hospitals across the country halt cesarean delivery services
Over 30 government hospitals, including several district hospitals, over the country have halted cesarean deliveries since the beginning of this fiscal year, according to the Family Welfare Division under the Department of Health Services.
Officials at the Division blamed the civil servant adjustment process, which has transferred many doctors to provincial and central-level hospitals, for the halt in C-section delivery services in several hospitals.