These are some of the best stories from The Kathmandu Post (February 28, 2020). Nepal Communist Party Co-chairs KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal at a cadre training programme in Kathmandu on Thursday. Deepak KC/TKP
As Covid-19 spreads, public health officials consider plans for a worst-case scenario
While Covid-19 coronavirus infections have significantly slowed in China, they are rapidly spreading around the globe, prompting countries to step up measures to control the spread and the UN health agency to warn that “this is no time for complacency.”
With countries like the US sounding the alarm, Nepal, with its frail health system, cannot afford to rest, as public health experts say that it is not a question of 'if'’ the virus comes to Nepal but 'when'.
Ruling party appears headed for another confrontation between Oli and Dahal
A new political storm is brewing in the ruling Nepal Communist Party, as two factions led by the two Chairs KP Sharma Oli, who is also the prime minister, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal are pitted against each other over a decision to take Vice-chair Bamdev Gautam to the National Assembly.
Hours after the party Secretariat on Wednesday decided to send Gautam to the Upper House, Oli said that he would not nominate him. As prime minister, Oli reserves the right to recommend Gautam for the Upper House as per constitutional provisions. But if Oli refuses to nominate Gautam, questions could be raised about his defiance of the Secretariat decision.
Governmental red tape holds up plan to operate Bhairahawa solely on solar power
Nepal may potentially lose out on a Rs1 billion grant as a dispute over land lease rates could spoil the plan to make Nepal’s second international airport in Bhairahawa a fully solar-powered facility.
The Asian Development Bank, which is funding the airport, has set aside Rs1 billion to install solar panels that will produce around 10 megawatts to operate the airport on solar power alone. Any surplus power will be fed into the national grid. The solar farm was planned for 52 bighas of land in Bhairahawa belonging to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Flood fear looms over villages close to vulnerable embankments in Rautahat
As many as 24 people died and around 4,000 houses were destroyed in floods and landslides in several settlements of Rautahat district in July last year. The rain-swollen Lalbakaiya and Bagmati rivers had breached their levees at 13 places and inundated more than two-thirds of the district.
In the wake of the disaster, the federal and provincial ministers and high-level officials had pledged to repair the embankments, but that pledge has not yet been fulfilled.
9.6°C Kathmandu
