Some of the main stories from today's The Kathmandu Post.

Ruling party flip-flops after two factions spar over constitution amendment

The Nepal Communist Party’s formation of a three-member task force to amend the constitution to allow a National Assembly member to become prime minister made headlines across the country on Sunday and Monday. But party members say that no such panel has been formed and that the news was selectively leaked to the media by a certain faction within the ruling party.

Two opposing factions belonging to party Chairs KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal are divided over the very existence of the task force, once again illustrating the long-running rivalry inside the ruling party between the two chairs. While the Oli camp says that no task force has been formed, the Dahal camp says that the panel was formed under an agreement to keep it under wraps.

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Debt-ridden Nepal Airlines to sell a 25 percent stake to other state-owned enterprises

The Nepal Airlines board has approved the Tourism Ministry’s plan to divest a 25 percent stake in the ailing national flag carrier to other state-owned enterprises to raise capital, but many, including board members themselves, do not believe that the plan is going to work.

“We have decided to divest a 25 percent stake in Nepal Airlines as this will allow state-owned firms like the Employees’ Provident Fund, Citizen Investment Trust, Nepal Oil Corporation and others entities to invest in the carrier,” said Tourism Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, who is also the chairperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation.

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Government removes penalties for killing wild boar, raising concern among conservationists

The government’s decision to enlist wild boar as a ‘pest animal’ and allow its capture and killing could result in uncontrolled culling of the animal, fear wildlife conservationists.

The recent change to the existing National Park and Wildlife Conservation Rules (1974) allows communities to capture and even kill wild boars if the animals enter their agricultural farms and damage crops.

But wildlife conservationists have warned that the new provisions could lead to the rampant killings of wild boars, which are prized for their meat. There are also chances that the decision could be misinterpreted as encouragement to kill the animal, they said.

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Supreme Court paves way for tax authority to procure excise duty stickers

The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for tax officials to resuscitate plans to buy excise duty stickers after it scrapped a petition filed against the procurement.

The process to procure the excise stickers that need to be pasted on liquor and tobacco products had to be put on hold after a writ petition demanded that domestic printers also be allowed to participate in the bidding.

“After the writ was scrapped, I think we can continue the procurement process we had started,” said Thaneshwor Gautam, deputy director-general at the Inland Revenue Department, which has been reeling under a shortage of stickers. “We will first see what the order says about the procurement and take appropriate measures.”

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