WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 29 | 12 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 34.4 C 2.5 C Friday, March 19, 2021 | 06-12-2077 Nepalgunj Jumla Vaccines from Bahrain, which are under probe, are Chinese, officials say Nepal’s drug regulator says it is consulting with foreign and health ministries, as the issue is not just technical but also concerns bilateral ties and diplomacy. ARJUN POUDEL Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV but not to KATHMANDU, MARCH 18 Sinovac’s CoronaVac. Nepal, however, has not rolled out A report on an investigation into Sinopharm vaccines yet. The Oxford- how 2,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca vaccine was the first to were brought to Nepal by a Bahraini get emergency use authorisation in prince was to be submitted on Nepal. The vaccine, manufactured by Thursday evening. the Serum Institute of India under the But officials on Thursday afternoon brand name of Covishield, is current- said that the vaccines were Chinese, ly being used in Nepal. not AstraZeneca as claimed before. Sheikh Mohamed Hamad Mohamed At least two officials at the Health al-Khalifa, the Bahraini prince, and Ministry, who did not wish to be his team landed in Kathmandu on named, said that the vaccines from Monday on an Everest mission. Bahrain are Chinese and developed The Nepali embassy in Bahrain on by Sinovac Biotech, for which Nepal Monday said in a statement that the has not granted emergency use prince’s team would be carrying 2,000 authorisation. doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, which A Drug Administration Department will be administered to the locals of official, however, said the Samagaun of Tsum Nubri Rural POST PHOTO: ELITE JOSHI Bahraini prince had brought Municipality in Gorkha district. The A woman weaves carpet at a workshop in Chyasal, Lalitpur on Thursday. Sinopharm. “The vaccines they team will stay in Nepal for 80 days, [the Bahraini team] brought according to the statement. here are from the Beijing The team was in Nepal in October Institute of Biological Product, last year to climb Lobuche and which means it’s Sinopharm,” Manaslu mountains. Santosh KC, spokesperson for Officials told the Post on Tuesday INSIDE UML vs UML the Department of Drug that though the vaccines were brought Administration, told the Post. in good faith, the process failed to The Nepal-Khanal faction plans to revive all party Which company manufac- comply with the rules stipulated by Officials bent on granting tured the vaccine holds a lot of the country’s drug regulator for committees to counter KP Sharma Oli while significance, as Nepal has grant- importing such items. affiliation to B&C college ed emergency use approval to >> Continued on page 2 despite controversy the latter appears firm on bulldozing decisions. KATHMANDU: Kathmandu University has recommended the Medical Education Commission grant affilia- tion to the Jhapa-based B&C medical college to run MBBS courses, despite controversies surrounding its opera- tions. A senate meeting of the univer- sity, allegedly under pressure from Minister for Education Krishna Gopal Shrestha, on February 24 decided to pave the way for the col- lege to acquire affiliation. “We have received a letter from Kathmandu University,” Semant Koirala, spokes- person for the commission, told Post. “The commission’s board meeting is authorised to decide on the matter.” The commission’s board is led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli while Shrestha and Minister for Health and Population Hridayesh Tripathi are its co-chairs. The commission’s board meeting hasn’t been convened yet. However, it is likely to be convened PHOTO COURTESY: SURYA THAPA/TWITTER Since their Dhumbarahi meet failed, the two factions of ruling party are drifting further apart. soon, officials said. (Details on Pg 5) TIKA R PRADHAN are held following the due procedure.” India and Pakistan suffer KATHMANDU, MARCH 18 Leaders from the Nepal-Khanal fac- tion group want to up the ante against new Covid-19 surge The CPN-UML fight is on–and it’s Oli but they also fear losing their law- MUMBAI/ISLAMABAD: India and escalating by the day. maker positions. Pakistan reported a big jump in new The Madhav Kumar Nepal-Jhala The Parliamentary Party meeting coronavirus infections on Thursday, Nath Khanal faction of the UML has held at Baluwatar on Thursday decid- driven by a resurgence in cases in decided to launch a nationwide cam- ed to direct lawmakers of the Khanal- their richest states. While authorities paign to revive and reorganise all Nepal faction to return with “self-real- in India have mainly blamed crowd- the party committees in the stage isation” or else face action. ing and an overall reluctance to wear they were some three years ago—prior According to Shanta Chaudhary, masks for its spike, Pakistan says the to its merger with the Communist the party’s whip, the meeting decided UK variant of the virus found in the Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre). that the party will take necessary country could also be a factor. The Nepal-Khanal group’s move is legal action against those who violate Maharashtra state, home to India’s aimed at attacking the faction led by the party’s directions. commercial capital Mumbai, reported party chair and Prime Minister KP Addressing the national gathering 23,179 of the country’s 35,871 new Sharma Oli. organised by his faction, Nepal said cases in the past 24 hours, and the Oli, on the other hand, is threaten- that some lawmakers attended the fast-spreading contagion in major ing action against leaders of the Parliamentary Party meeting at industrial areas raised risks of com- Nepal-Khanal group. Baluwatar because of a communica- panies’ production being disrupted. On Thursday, Oli called a meeting tion gap. With the worst rise in infections of the Parliamentary Party and decid- “But the way they were humiliated since early December, India’s total ed to form a Parliamentary Board shows Oli’s intentions are not good,” cases stood at 11.47 million, the high- with 24 members, including Nepal and said Nepal. “Oli is vindictive and est after the United States and Brazil. Khanal. signs are not good.” Deaths rose by 172 to 159,216, accord- Though parliamentarians of the Oli has called a Central Committee ing to health ministry data on Nepal-Khanal faction were supposed meeting on Sunday, but the Nepal- Thursday. (Details on Pg 6) to attend the meeting, most of them Khanal faction has refused to attend, did not. Some, however, attended the saying that Oli must withdraw the meeting. decisions he had taken through the Bhairahawa hotels reopen as Insiders say Oli appears to be clear March 12 Central Committee meeting. domestic tourists come back in his strategy—proving his strength On March 12, Oli amended the and dangling the threat of action party statute and inducted as many TILOTTAMA: Hotels in Bhairahawa are against his opponents. as 23 Maoist members into the reopening as domestic tourists begin The Nepal-Khanal faction at this Central Committee. Oli also relieved to emerge out of their coronavirus time finds itself in a tight spot. The leaders close to Nepal of their respon- hibernation, encouraged by signs March 7 court order reviving the UML sibilities. that the pandemic is on the wane. All and the Maoist Centre came as a bitter Leaders from the Nepal-Khanal fac- hotels, lodges, guest houses and pill to swallow for the group as it was tion say Oli is making all attempts, resorts were forced to shut down after left with no option than to return to legal or illegal, to exact revenge on the federal government imposed a the UML fold. them. Those from Oli’s orbit say the lockdown in March last year. And The two-day national gathering of Nepal-Khanal faction does deserve even after the stay-home order was the Nepal-Khanal group, which con- punishment, for until the court withdrawn in July, they continued to cluded on Thursday, decided that they revived the UML and the Maoist remain closed as provincial govern- will continue their internal struggle Centre, they were making all attempts ments enforced their own restric- and face the challenges ahead. to unseat Oli. tions. Hundreds of employees suf- “We are for the unity of the CPN- Nepal in particular has been Oli’s fered layoffs when the hotels went UML. So we will continue our struggle arch-rival in the UML. The merger to offline. In Bhairahawa, hotel owners by being within the party. We don’t form the Nepal Communist Party used the prolonged downtime to have any plans to announce a split,” (NCP) in May 2018 had helped Oli expand their properties and upgrade said Yogesh Bhattarai after the fac- emerge as a powerful leader. Oli’s the facilities. New hotels were also tion’s national gathering. “We, howev- high-handedness had irked Nepal no built. More than 20 big hotels came er, won’t attend the Central Committee end, as he was once relegated to the up in Rupandehi district during the meeting. But we may attend fourth rank in the party. pandemic. (Details on Pg 8) Parliamentary Party meetings if they >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Simara residents padlock warehouse of steel foundry over pollution issue The conflict has escalated as more people are now living close to the industrial area, industrialists say. SHANKAR ACHARYA should adopt scientific methods in PARSA, MARCH 18 order to lower their pollution levels. “They should begin by at least On Wednesday, the local residents of replacing old machines.