WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 97 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 37.6 C 10.9 C Wednesday, May 26, 2021 | 12-02-2078 Nepalgunj Jumla Supreme Court summons editors over news reports. Not everyone is amused Experts say court’s rebuttal of news suggesting a meeting between prime minister and chief justice is uncalled for and demanding proof from editors wrong. TIKA R PRADHAN KATHMANDU, MAY 25 When the hearing on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s first House dissolu- tion of December 20 was underway in the Supreme Court, reports surfaced in a section of online media that Justices Hari Krishna Karki and Sapana Pradhan Malla met the prime minister in the afternoon of January 10. Reports suggested that Justices Dipak Kumar Karki and Mira Khadka POST FILE PHOTO met with Oli in the evening for an Analysts say the top court should prove its hour the next day. fairness not by words but by deed. The case was being heard by the Constitutional Bench led by Justice said that the Constitution of Nepal Cholendra Shumsher Rana. doesn’t allow the KP Sharma Oli gov- The Supreme Court on January 15 ernment to dissolve the House of issued a statement, denying the justic- Representatives. es’ meeting with the prime minister In Nepal, people have always put and saying the news reports were “fic- immense faith in the judiciary, but titious” and “misleading” and they Oli’s House dissolution had thrown were far from the truth. the rumour mill into an overdrive. POST PHOTO: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA Warning that such news could Talks were rife that Oli had managed Police douse the flames of an effigy representing President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli that the Nepali Congress-affiliated Nepal Student Union members set afire at adversely affect the integrity of the to influence the court, something if Shanker Dev Campus at Putalisadak in Kathmandu on Tuesday to protest the dissolution the House of Representatives and announcement of snap polls. Police dispersed the students who were judiciary and public trust in the courts, true would dismantle the principle of protesting Friday night’s move which has been challenged at the Supreme Court. the top court said dissemination of the separation of powers. such news was “unfortunate”. It urged Amid such speculations, the all not to be misled by such reports. Supreme Court’s reaction to the news The online portals subsequently reports was seen as a valid move, as admitted that their sources had mis- the administration could have felt it led them and they removed the news. necessary to dispel rumours. The Supreme Court then was under The Supreme Court on February 23 A watershed in country’s communist tremendous pressure, as the entire overturned Oli’s House dissolution country was watching. Experts on and restored the House. constitutional affairs had called Oli’s But on Friday, Oli once again dis- House dissolution an out and out solved it. His move has been chal- movement as ruling UML nears split unconstitutional move. Four former lenged in the Supreme Court again. chief justices in a joint statement had >> Continued on page 2 The Madhav Nepal faction of the CPN-UML, currently the largest communist party in the country, decides to part ways with Oli, charging the chair with shenanigans. more leaders. An hours-long meeting on Sunday evening between the lead- ers of Oli and Nepal factions hit a cul- de-sac. Now Nepal is preparing to register a party of his own. “Chances of reconciliation are slim now,” said CP Mainali, a senior com- munist leader and contemporary of Nepal and Oli, who is not active in party politics these days. Along with Nepal, another senior leader Jhala Nath Khanal too is set to break ranks with Oli. On Tuesday, the Nepal faction declared a war on Oli, making an appeal to all to join the campaign to end the latter’s ‘totalitar- ianism and authoritarianism’. A split in the UML, many say, will mean a massive setback for the com- FILE PHOTO: RSS munist movement, and this could KP Sharma Oli led the expulsion of Madhav Kumar Nepal, who steered the party for 15 years. mark a watershed moment in Nepal’s communist history. ANIL GIRI from the UML, on Monday gave their Insiders and analysts blame Oli for KATHMANDU, MAY 25 signatures to a court petition initiated pushing the party towards its split. by the Nepali Congress and the Ever since Oli rose to the leadership The die has been cast. Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist position in the party—he was elected Madhav Kumar Nepal, a senior com- Centre) against Oli’s Friday move of party chair in 2014 through the ninth munist leader and former prime minis- dissolving the House. On Friday after- general convention—he had started to ter, has made his move, and the CPN- noon, the Nepal faction had backed demonstrate signs of running the UML is set to split. The stage has been Congress President Sher Bahadur party with an iron fist. Insiders say set for an official break-up between Deuba for prime ministerial post. Oli would show little regard for senior Nepal and KP Sharma Oli, the current An irate Oli has already expelled leaders like Nepal and Khanal, both of party chair and prime minister. Nepal and 10 other leaders from the whom led the UML party before him. Nepal, along with 22 other leaders party and sought action against 12 >> Continued on page 2 Uncertainty reigns over education sector with no signs of the pandemic ending soon Nationwide grade 10 examinations had been scheduled to begin on Thursday but authorities don’t even know about the new assessment modality. BINOD GHIMIRE academic session by two months the government does not want to give KATHMANDU, MAY 25 and postponed the grade 10 examina- the sole authority on students’ evalua- tions, usually held in March, to the tion to respective schools arguing that Had the second wave of the Covid-19 end of May. they had inflated students’ grades last pandemic not hit the country, the But with the second wave hitting year. The number of students getting Secondary Education Examinations the country, the government decided GPA 4 was several times higher than would have started from Thursday. to postpone the SEE. Now it has no in previous years. While hardly 106 In order to compensate for the idea when and if the examinations students had secured GPA 4 in 2019, time lost to the pandemic because of will be held and if not with what kind the number increased to a whopping lockdowns last year, the government of assessment students will be graded. 9,319 last year after schools evaluated in February had extended the ongoing “The ministry is concerned about their students’ performance. finding a suitable modality to Experts question what other way is conduct tests and wrap up the possible than to trust the teachers academic session without a fur- about their students. ther day,” said Hari Lamsal, a “The government should trust joint-secretary at the Ministry of teachers for assessment as they know Education, Science and their students best,” said Bidyanath Technology, at an interaction on Koirala, an education expert who is a Tuesday. professor at the Tribhuvan University. “However, no decision has “As, generally speaking, examination been taken on the matter yet.” questions are prepared by the teach- Some 517,000 students have ers and they mark the answers, the registered for the Secondary government should leave it up to them Education Examinations this to evaluate their students.” year. Unlike the previous year, >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Illegal fishing on the rise Uncertainty reigns over education sector with no signs ... >> Continued from page 1 ally held in April but last year in-per- demic to be over and then hold the despite knowing that the pandemic Authorities have not offered any son examinations were held in late final examinations to wrap up the would not be over anytime soon. in Chitwan park rivers other option besides expressing their November when the daily number of academic session. Teachers have demanded the govern- reluctance for internal evaluations coronavirus cases was around 1,600 “The ongoing academic session has ment allocate adequate funds to RAMESH KUMAR PAUDEL Raut of Thori in Parsa district went to even as there is no possibility of hold- mark. already crossed 14 months. We provide schools with internet CHITWAN, MAY 25 the park forests to collect wild mush- ing in-person examinations anytime The delay in grade 12 tests led to the shouldn’t wait any longer,” said connections. rooms on May 13. He was killed in a soon without signs of the devastating postponement of MBBS entrance Kumar Ghimire, general secretary of Thapa, the chairperson of the Fishing in Narayani, Rapti and other wild elephant attack. second wave abating. examinations for students wishing to the Private and Boarding Schools’ teachers’ federation, said the upcom- streams in the Chitwan National Park According to Prakash Dhungana, On Tuesday Nepal reported 8,387 be doctors. They are yet to be held. Organisation, Nepal. “The ing national budget should be focused has been prohibited this season in the chairman of the buffer zone con- new infections and 169 Covid-19 relat- Normally they are held in October or government should come up with a on easing teaching-learning activities light of the second wave of the Covid- sumer management committee of ed fatalities.