ICYMI: Here are our top stories from Tuesday, December 17
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (December 17, 2019).File photo of Nepali migrant workers at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. The Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee alone has received 388 Nepali missing persons complaints between 2013 and 2019. Kabin Adhikari/TKP
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (December 17, 2019).
As ruling party Standing Committee meeting continues, top leadership is roundly criticised
The second day of the ruling Nepal Communist Party’s Standing Committee meeting saw a barrage of criticism against the party leadership, despite Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s acceptance of failures on the leadership’s part.
Most leaders took issue with the party’s failure to hold regular meetings of the central committee and the Standing Committee. The ongoing Standing Committee meeting is being held after a year.
Scores of Nepali migrant workers go missing every year in foreign lands
In an industry already plagued by deaths and exploitation, hundreds of Nepali migrant workers go missing every year in foreign lands. The Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee alone has received 388 Nepali missing persons complaints between 2013 and 2019. From them, about 200 of them have been located.
While some choose to voluntarily cut off contact with their families back home, others disappear under more mysterious circumstances, leading to speculation among family back home regarding whether they are alive or dead. Whatever the reason, the sudden disappearance of a loved one can enact a psychological and emotional toll upon families back home, who not only struggle to cope with the loss but also to meet basic needs in the absence of their primary provider.
Government tables bill allowing intelligence agencies to intercept personal conversation
Despite criticism over attempts to shrink civic space and media and individual freedom, the KP Sharma Oli administration has drafted a bill allowing intelligence agencies to surveil citizens, raising concerns among rights defenders and civil society members.
The Nepal Special Service Bill, registered at the National Assembly, which has been distributed to members of Parliament for study, authorises intelligence departments to intercept “the conversation of the suspects”.
The bill will be tabled in the winter session of the federal parliament that is set to commence from Friday.
Antenatal care visits to be doubled to prevent maternal death, stillbirths
After all its efforts failed to reduce ongoing maternal as well as child mortality rates, the Family Welfare Division under the Department of Health Services is preparing a guideline to increase the number of antenatal and postnatal care visits.
The guideline is expected to be enforced from next year, as it awaits endorsement from the Health Secretary and budget planning from the Ministry of Health and Population.
Officials at the division hope that the decision will help bring down maternal as well as child death rates.
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