Here are some of the stories from The Kathmandu Post (January 26, 2020).

Agni Sapkota becomes new Speaker amid concerns by rights defenders, conflict victims and global rights watchdogs

Agni Sapkota, a standing committee member of the ruling Nepal Communist Party, was elected Speaker unopposed on Sunday.

During Sunday’s meeting of the House of Representatives, deputy parliamentary party leader of the Nepal Communist Party Subash Chandra Nembang had tabled a proposal for Sapkota’s election as Speaker, the lone candidate for the post, and ruling party Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung, Rastriya Janata Party Chief Whip Laxman Lal Karna and ruling party lawmaker Onsari Gharti had seconded the proposal.

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Who will save Nepalis awaiting execution in foreign lands?

Umesh Yadav was working on a water pipeline in Saudi Arabia in 2006 when Mohammad Latif Wasir, a Pakistani colleague, asked him for a torch. Yadav says that as he passed the torch, Wasir fell off a ladder and injured his nose. An angry Wasir then started to pummel Yadav, who retaliated by hitting him back with whatever he could find—a small scaffolding pipe.

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Teachers demand that private schools be converted into trusts

An association of private school teachers has demanded that all private schools convert themselves into trusts, as envisioned by the High-level National Education Commission.

A report by the commission, submitted to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in mid-January last year, had recommended that the government convert all private schools into trusts from companies over the next 10 years.

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Speeding drivers causing road accidents in Mahendranagar

On Thursday evening, Ramita Bhatta, a woman of Baitai, was killed by a tipper truck in a busy road at Mahendranagar. The situation along the East-West Highway remained tense after Bhatta died on the spot. A large group of irate locals pelted stones towards the tipper truck.

According to eyewitness Urmila Bhat, a local of Gobariya, the truck was cruising at a high speed when the accident occurred. Police are yet to declare the cause of the accident.

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Schools in Rupandehi local unit are not ready for mandatory English teaching

Farhan Ansari is a second-grader at Sirjana Basic School in Omsatiya Rural Municipality. The school incorporated English medium teaching a year ago. But Ansari cannot speak English, bar a few words.

“He can’t read his English textbooks and is getting weaker at studies by the day,” said Mohammed Ansari, Farhan’s father.

Bhojpuri is the mother tongue of a majority of students in the basic school. The students were just learning Nepali after they got enrolled in the school. But with the incorporation of regular English medium teaching, students have found themselves trapped in between three languages.

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