Nepal

Kathmandu, June 17

President and parliamentary party leader of the main opposition Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba has directed his party lawmakers to play active role in the Parliament.

Amid criticism that the NC was not playing an active role as the main opposition in the Federal Parliament — House of Representatives and the National Assembly — Deuba, recently, called NC lawmakers from both houses and asked them to play dynamic role as lawmakers in both the houses as well as in the committees.

The NC has 63 lawmakers in the HoR and 13 lawmakers in the NA. There are altogether 16 panels, 10 from the HoR and four from the NA. The remaining two panels are joint committees.

Deubadirective came after the NC formed a shadow government with coordinators and co-coordinators for each of the 21 ministries. &After the party presidentdirection we have started our own attendance system in the parliamentary party office,& said Bahadur Singh Lama, a shadow minister of Communications and Information Technology.

He also said Deuba had directed lawmakers to look carefully the bills the government had registered and presented in the Parliament.

&The government has come up with one disputed bill after another. Most of the bills are against the spirit of the constitution and federalism. For example, the Media Council Bill curtails the right to expression and press freedom. So, we need to be careful,& Lama said of Deubastatement.

NC has expressed concerns about the National Security Council Bill, Guthi (Trust) Bill, Media Council Bill, Information and Technology Bill, Federal Civil Servants Bill, National Citizenship Bill, National Human Rights Commission Bill and Bill to Speed up Construction and Development of National Pride Projects.

According to a lawmaker from the NC, those lawmakers, who do not play active role in both the houses and committees, will not be allowed time and space to speak at full house meetings. &So, the lawmakers should be regular in the House,& Lama added.

Deuba also asked former lawmakers such as Ramesh Lekhak, Ram Hari Khatiwada and others to come regularly to the parliamentary party office and help other lawmakers with the partyagenda. &Former lawmakers& duty is not only to meet lawmakers but also tell them about the agenda and suggest raising issues in the houses,& the lawmakers said, adding that they could also make suggestions on drafting bills.

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Kathmandu, June 17

Monsoon usually enters the country by June 10, but even seven days after its normal time of arrival, the Meteorological Forecasting Division has said that it is ‘very likely that the onset of monsoon will not begin for a few more days in the country&.

Monsoon in Nepal is caused by the easterly wind that comes from the Bay of Bengal and enters the country from the southeastern border. But, according to the MFD sufficient amount of wind has not been recorded till now, as the direction in which the wind is moving in the country is west to east and not the other way around.

Ganga Nagarkoti, meteorologist at the MFD said &All we are receiving is the westerly wind, which means the pre-monsoon season is continuing in the country.&

Kathmandu valley, along with western Nepal, today witnessed black clouds in the sky, and people speculated that monsoon was starting. Heavy rainfall was also recorded in western cities such as Pokhara and isolated rainfall was recorded in a few locations of Kathmandu.

However, many meteorologists that THT talked to said it was a ‘pre-monsoon phenomenon.& Pre-monsoon is caused by the westerly wind that enters the country through western region.

Another sign of rainy season in the capital is development of monsoon trough in the lower Himalayan range. &We have not recorded any such trough in our system, which means we will still have to wait a few more days for the rainy season to start in the country,& Nagarkoti said. After the monsoon trough is seen below the Himalayan range, it slowly moves towards the southern flat lands and eventually moves out from Nepal normally by September 23, ending the monsoon.

Delayed monsoon has increased the temperature. Kathmandu recorded one of the highest temperatures of 33.5 degrees Celsius a few days ago while, temperature above 40 degrees Celsius at various places in the Tarai belt from the eastern to the western side of the country is being recorded on a daily basis for the past few days.

The rise in temperature can have adverse impact on the agricultural sector as the time for paddy cultivation, the major agro-product of the country is being delayed.

Yubak Dhoj GC, agriculture secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, said, &If the monsoon is delayed by four to six more days, paddy production can decrease by five to seven per cent overall this year.

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Kathmandu, June 17

A total of 121 individuals, on behalf of local level government employees, today filed a writ in the Supreme Court seeking an interim order to halt the job advertisement placed by the Public Service Commission.

The PSC recently announced vacancies for more than 9,000 local level positions. The decision has drawn opposition from several quarters, with activists saying the move violates the provision of inclusion enshrined in the constitution.

Todaywrit, the fourth of its kind, comes at a time when the government is defending its decision to hire employees for local levels. In the writ, petitioners have stated that the advertisement violated the Local Government Operation Act 2017. They have stated that the advertisement did not even follow the SCpast verdict to incorporate limited quota in internal competition.

The writ states that the advertisement has ignored temporary employees and those hired on contract basis, who have been serving for a long time. Parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee has also ordered the PSC to halt the recruitment process as the advertisement does not honour the principle of inclusion.

Stakeholders say the PSC has not allocated seats for all the clusters that qualify for reservation in government jobs as per the provisions of Article 42 of the constitution. Article 42 of the constitution stipulates: socially backward women, Dalits, indigenous people, indigenous nationalities, Madhesi, Tharu, minorities, persons with disabilities, marginalised communities, Muslims, backward classes, gender and sexual minorities, youths, farmers, labourers, the oppressed or citizens of backward regions and indigent Khas Arya shall have the right to participate in state bodies on the basis of inclusive principle.

In its advertisement, the PSC has allocated some seats for some clusters, but not for all the clusters.

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KATHMANDU: A woman was reportedly found hanging inside the premises of Samata Hospital in Bouddha, Tuesday morning. The incident has gathered many locals in the area as situation in the hospital became tense.

The deceased has been identified as Bimala Tamang (26) of Ramechhap district. Relatives of the deceased are presently protesting in the hospital.

It has been learnt that Tamang was a maintenance staff at the hospital and protestors are alleging that there could be some foul play in her death.

Investigation into the case will be launched soon, according to police.

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