Here are some of the stories from The Kathmandu Post (January 13, 2020)

Ruling party’s indecision over Speaker puts a halt to the House business

The federal parliament is being held hostage to the internal dynamics of the ruling Nepal Communist Party. Although some have pointed to the refusal of Deputy Speaker Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe to resign as the obstacle, party leaders point to an internal failure to reach consensus on the new Speaker, four months after Krishna Bahadur Mahara resigned over rape allegations.

Dozens of meetings between Prime Minister and party Co-chair KP Sharma Oli and Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal in the last three months have yielded no results. Oli has continued to lobby for his UML member Subas Nembang and Dahal for his Maoist comrade Agni Sapkota. Party insiders said that Dahal could even back Pampha Bhusal for Speaker if gender is to be an issue.

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Most homeless people suffer from mental health problems, but there’s little help for them

In 2018, Richa, who asked that she only be identified by her first name for fear of stigmatisation, was rescued from the streets of Jawalakhel by Koshish, an organisation that works with mentally ill homeless people. After being trafficked to India as a child by her step-father, Richa had been rescued, gotten an education and had grown up to work as a tour guide, travelling back and forth between Nepal and India. But a mishap with the law involving drugs had landed her in prison for nine years. In prison, she had developed various forms of mental illnesses and after being released, with nowhere to go and no family to turn to, she had ended up on the streets.

“People called me pagal and baula and left me on my own,” said the 38-year-old. “I would spend nights outside the police station in Jawalakhel and would wander around the streets of Kathmandu during the day.”

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Central Bureau of Statistics to include third gender option in upcoming census

Reversing the previous decision, the Central Bureau of Statistics has decided to incorporate ‘third gender’ option in its census questionnaire. After consulting the LGBTI (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) community, the bureau has decided to count the number of third gender besides male and female. This, the bureau believes, would help offer the exact number of LGBTIs in the country.

“We have decided to include the questionnaire referring to LGBTI. Now, the questionnaire will include male, female and others to identify the sexes in a household,” said Dhundiraj Lamichhane, director at the bureau.

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Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe wants to be the next Speaker and she’s not backing down

Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe is tired. After Krishna Bahadur Mahara resigned as the House Speaker last October, following rape allegations by a female employee at the Parliament Secretariat, Tumbahangphe has been drawn into a vortex of political machinations. Her own party, the Nepal Communist Party, has asked her to resign, in an attempt to use the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker in horsetrading.

But Tumbahangphe has remained firm. She believes that as Deputy Speaker she has a rightful claim to Speaker and that she should not have to resign just because of Mahara.

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Child marriage, child labour still remain major challenges in Rolpa

The local government has been facing challenges in combating minors’ issues such as child marriage, child labour and school dropouts in several federal units of Rolpa district.

Since the election of the local representatives in 2017, the local level had made efforts from running awareness campaigns to introducing mid-day meals in government schools. But despite these efforts, there has not been much improvement in eradicating practices such as child marriage and child labour, and in retaining children at school.

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