WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 287 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 24.8 C -6.5 C Tuesday, December 15, 2020 | 30-08-2077 Bhairahawa Jumla Congress holds mass rallies to proclaim it’s back in business. But is it? Analysts say it’s already too late for it to focus on raising issues from the House and work as an effective opposition party that can really hold the government to account. ANIL GIRI ber. Even as the Oli administration KATHMANDU, DEC 14 failed on multiple fronts, the opposi- tion was barely seen, except for a The last few days have been busy for handful of leaders on some occasions Bishwo Prakash Sharma, the spokes- thundering at Parliament, making person for the primary opposition any impact. Nepali Congress. From disseminating But after the government prorogued information on the demonstrations the budget session on July 2, the planned for Monday through party lost even that platform from various mediums, including social where it could have questioned the media like Twitter, to correcting the executive. Nepal map on his social media video Observers say the main opposition in which he was making a case for the should have taken into consideration rallies and calling on his party mem- the Covid-19 threat and avoided mass bers to join, Sharma was doing all he demonstrations and instead pressed could to make the Congress protests the government for the House session. successful. Many say the Congress party seems to The party organised mass demon- be taking a queue from some pro-mon- strations in all 77 districts on Monday archy, pro-Hindu forces that were on POST PHOTO: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA to, what it said, expose the Oli admin- the streets recently. Prakash BK is carried to Dhading district hospital after fracturing his leg. It took BK and his three companions 16 hours to reach the hospital at the district headquarters from Tipling village, only istration’s failures and hold it to “In just about two weeks, the House to be told that his treatment was not possible there. The 23-year-old was referred to a hospital in Kathmandu. account. session will convene as per the consti- As Congress leaders were allotted tutional provisions,” said Damannath different districts to address Monday’s Dhungana, a former Speaker. “I won- rallies, Sharma was in Hetauda. der why it has chosen to hold street “Don’t try to tease a sleeping tiger,” protests. If it has indeed realised its Sharma roared. mistakes, it can call out the govern- Judicial custody of former anti-graft body A Twitter user was quick to react. ment and hold it to account from “So the spokesperson is admitting Parliament.” that they were sleeping,” the user A divided house in itself, the wrote on the microblogging site. Congress party has been struggling to chief raises questions over appointments The one charge the main opposition get back on its feet ever since it faced has been facing over the last three a drubbing in 2017 elections. years is that it went into a deep slum- >> Continued on page 2 Unless appointments are made in a transparent way without political motivations, the trend of choosing a person lacking qualifications will continue, observers say. PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHA character to be appointed as chief ship dispute of a Bhaktapur-based KATHMANDU, DEC 14 commissioner or commissioner of the college when he was an incumbent anti-graft body as per the constitution. commissioner. The Special Court order to send Deep The Special Court, which looks into “Officials of the commission being Basnyat, former chief commissioner cases related to corruption, refused to dragged into corruption case has of the Commission for Investigation release him on bail as he had been smeared the image of the anti-graft of Abuse of Authority, to judicial cus- accused of a serious offence--of creat- body,” said Surya Nath Upadhyay, a tody on the Baluwatar land grab case ing fake tenants as well as transfer- former chief commissioner of the has once again raised questions over ring government lands in their names, commission. “These cases have also why people like Basnyat are appointed according to Pushpa Raj Pandeya, raised serious questions over the to lead the anti-graft body in the first spokesperson of the Special Court. intention of those who appointed place. Basnyat is not the only one who, them to run the commission. They Basnyat, a long-time bureaucrat, was despite having a poor track record, still should take first the biggest responsi- appointed chief commissioner of the managed to head the anti-graft body. bility for controversial figures taking anti-graft agency after Lok Man Singh Ignoring massive protests within charge of the anti-graft body.” Karki was disqualified for the job by political parties, Karki was appointed He said that the political leader- the Supreme Court in January 2017. as chief commissioner in 2013 as a ship’s tendency to choose a person A person needs to have high moral consensus candidate of the parties who is close to a particular political despite his history of allegedly party or political leader, instead of playing a key role in suppressing one’s qualification and integrity, has people’s movement in 2006 and resulted in the appointment of contro- promoting gold smuggling dur- versial figures. ing his bureaucratic career. “This has also been the reason why The integrity of Raj Narayan the anti-graft body has been embroiled Pathak had also been questioned in controversy,” Upadhyay added. before his appointment as com- As per the Article 238 (2) of the con- missioner at the anti-graft body. stitution, the President appoints He is also facing corruption chief commissioners and commis- charges from the commission sioners of constitutional commissions itself after he was caught on vid- based on the recommendation of the eotape admitting to accepting Constitutional Council. Rs7.8 million to settle the owner- >> Continued on page 2 Mission impossible: Sherpa from Nepal to lead 55-member K2 winter expedition Despite over 30 attempts to climb the world’s second highest mountain in winter, given the extreme weather and the difficult route to summit, none has been successful. on the mountain. “It’s the planet’s toughest and most dangerous mountain to climb,” said Kami Rita Sherpa, who has climbed Everest a record 24 times. Eighty-four climbers have died attempting to climb K2, and only 306 have reached its summit. The death and success ratio is roughly one death for every three successful climbs. In contrast, 6,507 mountaineers have climbed Everest from the Nepal side since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and SHUTTERSTOCK New Zealander Edmund Percival The base camp of K2 (pictured) is reached after a week’s trek on a glacier. Hillary first set foot atop the world’s highest peak in May 1953. SANGAM PRASAIN blow up to 200km/h (124mph) that’s In the summer of 1954, Italian KATHMANDU, DEC 14 equal to cyclone Fani, the most severe climbers Achille Compagnoni and storm that travelled more than 900 Lino Lacedelli became the first per- Thirteen of the world’s 14 peaks taller kilometres (570 miles) from the Indian sons to reach the summit of K2. than 8,000-meters have been climbed state of Odisha and blew nearly two “K2 is 237 metres lower than in winter. But one still remains dozen tents at Everest’s Camp 2, at Everest, but it is much challenging to unclimbed—the 8,611 metres (28,251 6,400 metres in May last year. climb even in the best conditions. feet) K2, the world’s second tallest that It is also considered to be a That’s in summer,” said Kami Rita. straddles Pakistan and China. technically very difficult mountain to “The weather in winter is beyond Climbers say that avalanches are an climb and has been dubbed “killer imagination. The weather is good only ever-present risk, and in winter tem- mountain” for the sheer number of for 2-3 hours a day.” peratures can fall to -50C (-58F). Winds climbers that have lost their lives >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020 | 02 NATIONAL Government plans ambitious water project for Birendranagar It is projected to be the biggest drinking water project in the country after Melamchi. CHANDANI KATHAYAT BIRENDRANAGAR, DEC 14 The government has come up with an ambitious plan to lift water from the Bheri River and supply it to Birendrnagar, the provincial head- quarters of Karnali. Anticipating a possible population growth in Birendranagar, authorities are all set to initiate the Surkhet Valley Drinking Water Project by lift- ing water from the nearby Bheri River. The project is estimated to supply drinking water to Birendranagar for at least 30 years. POST PHOTO: CHANDANI KATHAYAT “The construction work of this pro- The Surkhet Valley Drinking Water Project will be funded by the federal, provincial and local ject will begin soon. We plan to com- governments. plete the work within three years,” said Suryaraj Kandel, the deputy supply water to each house in age of drinking water in Birendranagar director-general at the Department of Birendranagar. in the near future, the provincial gov- Water Supply and Sewerage. “We will “Structures and pipelines that are ernment has also kept the water lifting install modern devices to control the already in use will also be utilised for project in its priority list. POST PHOTO: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA flow of water and its distribution.” the project. Pipelines will be installed “We have prioritised the Surkhet People from the Gurung community perform the Maruni dance at Chalise in Dhading district.