HELLO NEPAL

The Kathmandu Post 22 September 2017 LLGA FINALLY ENDORSED The Legislative Parliament has finally endorsed Local Level Governance Act (LLGA) on Tuesday. This endorsement has paved the way for the full fledged operation of the elected local bodies (“House endorses Local Level Governance Act” Sept. 20, Page 2). It will come into effect once the President authorises it but this act should have come into effect at the onset of local level elections so that the elected local representatives in the Provinces 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 could have implemented some development programmes rather than carrying out only the administrative works. This bill, registered in the Parliament on May 12, has been pending due to differences among parties over a number of provisions. The Act has opened the door for two or more municipalities or rural municipalities to merge, as long as the majority of the councils from the respective local units is reached. They can be merged if they deem it neces

The Himalayan Times 21 September 2017 Encouraging decision It seems to me that the government’s decision to make the doctors accountable and lawfully punish if found guilty of negligence during the course of treatment may not be palatable to all the doctors whose professional expertise might be questioned due to poor quality of medical education (“Govt for stern action against negligent doctors” Nov. 19, Page 1). Many doctors were found possessing fake certificates as found out a few months ago by the Criminal Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and even were sent to jail. We do not know now what happened to these quack doctors. Did they return to their duties and started their practices? Were they relieved from their jobs? Are these doctors behind the unwanted incidents that are happening in the private hospitals? This has been an urgent issue to be researched by the research journalists and bring out the findings. It’s good to see that the people have been more vocal these da

The Kathmandu Post 17 September 2017 POLITICAL OPTIMISM Nepal will fully enter into a federal structure once remaining local polls and upcoming federal and provincial elections are concluded. Third phase local polls in Province 2 are scheduled to take place on September 18 and voting for provincial and federal legislatures will be held on November 26 and December 7. Completion of these elections will also ensure the implementation of the new constitution which will guide the future political course of the Republic of Nepal (“Fallacy of federal facade” Sept 13, Page 6). In the first two local level elections, the UML has become the leading party. However, it is yet to be seen whether the UML will be able to lead in the upcoming elections. Also, its unyielding stance against the constitution will be tested during the local level elections. Likewise, RJPN’s political strength will be measured among the Madhesi people. If the RJPN fails to garner sufficient votes, it will n

The Himalayan Times 14 September 2017 Corruption scandals I don’t feel comfortable to write time and again about corruption that has been plaguing the country. However, I cannot remain mum seeing the responsible political leaders and concerned officials keeping their mouths shut on the ongoing NOC land scam. The subcommittee formed by the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce, Industry and Consumer Welfare Relations (PCCICWR) had submitted its report saying that there were massive irregularities while purchasing land plots by NOC for the purpose of developing fuel storage facility in various places. This report has even mentioned the levels and positions of high level government officials, NOC officials and several other people involved in the irregularities “House panel fails to moot action against offenders in NOC land scam” (THT, Sept. 12, Page 1). It was surprising to know that PCCICWR failed to make any decisions and recommend to the government any action to be taken a

The Kathmandu Post 8 September 2017 CAMPAIGN AGAINST CORRUPTION It seems that sometimes telepathy works. It happened to me when I read the encouraging news about how media society has finally realized its role in effectively making its readers and the general public aware about rampant corruption (“Media Society launches campaign against corruption” Sept.7, Page 3). If the plague of corruption is not controlled in time, the state will greatly suffer. The Nepal Media Society (NMC) deserves appreciation for its commitment to launch a campaign against massive corruption. It is a known fact that corruption has turned into a ‘long-term disease’ in the country and is proving demoralizing to the general public. It cannot be ignored that some of the media houses were and are independently and actively playing a part in bringing out corruption related news. However, their individual efforts have not yet proven effective in controlling corruption and punishing culprits. State le

The Himalayan Times 7 September 2017 Get help calling 103 It was encouraging to know that traffic police in Kathmandu have started going after cabbies who cheat or overcharge passengers for one reason or another. It’s not uncommon to hear from friends and relatives that they were cheated or overcharged by metered cabbies while travelling from here to there and so on. So, I am not the exception. People who are really in need are compelled to use them. Otherwise, most of the common people these days in Kathmandu have started using public transportation, which is easily available. So far, Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) had taken actions against 100 cabbies in the past three days. This should have been even earlier “More than 100 cabbies booked in three days” (THT, Sept. 6, Page 2). It said that assorted teams have been deployed in busy areas to monitor taxis for violating traffic rules like operating without the mandatory seal in fare-meter, tampering with and u

The Kathmandu Post 1 September 2017 CORRUPTION FREE NEPAL? The realisation that the tendency of discouraging honest and sincere people has increased in different sections of the society is not surprising. This fact was stated by former chief justice Sushila Karki during a book launching ceremony in Kathmandu on Tuesday. She revealed that judges who succeed in wooing ‘power broker’ has better future prospect. How shameful for a country, where one cannot work honestly, serve the nation and remain corruption-free, Karki stated (“Promotion of corruption in court disturbing” Aug. 30, Page 2).  She further expressed that people who chose to stay mum in corruption related issues are to be blamed for the promotion of corruption in the country. Nepal was ranked one of the most corrupt countries among in South Asian in the recently published Transparency International report. The role of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has been crucial in discouragin