WI THOUT F EAR O R F A V O U R Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 148 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 33.7 C 13.0 C Wednesday, July 22, 2020 | 07-04-2077 Biratnagar Jomsom Tempest in ruling party almost over after Dahal makes conciliatory gesture Until a few weeks ago, Oli was cornered, but he has now managed to overpower mounting pressure to resign both as party chair and prime minister. TIKA R PRADHAN Agreeing to Oli’s early general con- KATHMANDU, JULY 21 vention to become the party chair means betraying his allies—Nepal Over the last three weeks, the ruling and Khanal. Accepting People’s Multi- Nepal Communist Party’ Standing party Democracy as the party’s guid- Committee has been postponed for at ing principle not only means capitu- least seven times. The reason: two lating to Oli but also putting the chairmen KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Maoist party’s legacy to an end. Kamal Dahal were “in a bid to strike a “That’s why after reaching a tenta- reconciliatory note”. tive understanding with Oli, Dahal Until a few weeks ago, Dahal, was scrambling to placate the Nepal backed by senior leaders Madhav group and former Maoist members,” Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, said Mani Thapa, a Standing had driven Oli into a corner. But now Committee member. Insiders say the the tables have been turned. Oli has Standing Committee meeting that the managed to have the upper hand, put- Dahal-Nepal faction demanded until a POST PHOTO: BEEJU MAHARJAN ting Dahal on the back foot. few weeks ago to force Oli to resign People look at the raging Bagmati river at Jalbinayak in Chobhar, Kathmandu on Tuesday. Weathermen say the current spell of rainfall will continue at least until Friday. Insiders say Oli has not used all the now has lost its relevance. weapons in his armoury yet and that Tuesday’s meeting lasted only half he has so far played his cards pretty an hour with the decision to direct the well and that he still has an ace or two party’s rank and file to be involved in up his sleeve. “The recent bait that Oli rescue and relief in the wake of floods dangled before Dahal was an early and landslides across the country. Ongoing spell of rain could stay at least until general convention to make the latter “There was only one agenda for the sole party chair,” said a Standing today to direct the party members to Committee member who spoke on respond to natural disasters,” said condition of anonymity. Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the party’s Friday, weather forecast office says “Oli, however, put forth a condition spokesperson. “The meeting also that Dahal should agree to embrace expressed condolences to the families People’s Multi-party Democracy as of those who lost their lives to floods Rains that started in western Nepal are moving towards the east and the low-lying areas of provinces 1, 2, and 5 the party’s ideology.” and landslides and wished speedy Dahal is now caught between a rock recovery of the injured.” and Bagmati are most vulnerable to possible loss of life and property. and a hard place. >> Continued on page 5 CHANDAN KUMAR MANDAL Places with the highest rainfall in the last three days KATHMANDU, JULY 21 Total The current spell of widespread rain- Station Districts June 19 June 20 June 21 accumulated fall will continue for a few more days rainfall until Friday, concentrating on the eastern and central parts of the coun- Danda Nawalpur 87.6mm 157.8mm 105.8mm 351.2mm try, according to the latest prediction Kolbhi Bara 0.2mm 156mm 168.8mm 325mm of the Meteorological Forecasting Gharedhunga Kaski 24mm 169mm 119.4mm 312.4mm Division. “The impact of the current weather Aarughat Gorkha 9.2mm 111.6mm 160.2mm 281mm phenomenon that had started from the Makwnapurgadhi Makwanpur 8mm 59mm 199.2mm 266.2mm western part of the country will now Source: Department of Hydrology and Meteorology slowly move towards the central and eastern regions from Wednesday Consequently, there is a prediction Management Authority. onwards,” said Samir Shrestha, a of floods in the rivers of these prov- Although the country has received meteorologist with the Division. “Its inces as well as in Province 5, accord- widespread rainfall, there has been no impact will be less in the western ing to the Department of Hydrology record-breaking rainfall for a particu- parts of the country.” and Meteorology. lar area, say meteorologists. As per the latest forecast available The incessant rainfall starting “There has been much rain across up to Thursday, places of Province 1, Sunday has affected most places in the the country if we look at the rainfall Province 2, Bagmati Province and country so far, claiming lives, damag- data of the last three days,” said Gandaki Province will receive heavy ing roads and bridges and flooding Indira Kadel, a senior divisional mete- rains in the coming days. several settlements in the Tarai and in orologist at the Department of “The rainfall is likely to be more the Kathmandu Valley as well. There Hydrology and Meteorology. concentrated in areas below the have been 71 water-induced disaster “However, there has not been record Mahabharat hills, in the Chure and incidents between Sunday and rainfall for a particular day anywhere Siwalik ranges and the Tarai dis- Monday morning, according to the so far this monsoon season.” tricts,” said Shrestha. National Disaster Risk Reduction and >> Continued on page 5 Government decides to lift four-month-long coronavirus lockdown, but with conditions Provisions related to Covid-19 prevention, control and treatment will continue. TIKA R PRADHAN KATHMANDU, JULY 21 The government has announced an end of the nationwide lockdown that it had imposed starting March 24 to contain the spread of Covid-19. Minister for Finance and Communication Yubaraj Khatiwada, who is also the government spokesper- son, told a press briefing that Monday’s Cabinet meeting had decided to lift the lockdown effective from Tuesday mid- night with a few restrictions such as a ban on large gatherings still in place. The government had imposed the nationwide lockdown in March, after two cases of Covid-19 were reported in the country. Nepal so far has reported 17,994 Covid-19 cases with 40 deaths. POST FILE PHOTO: KESHAV THAPA According to the Health Ministry, so The public and businesses have been severely affected by the lockdown measures. far 12,477, or 69.34 percent of the total infected individuals, have recovered from the disease. continue. The lifting of the lockdown People are required to maintain will mean unrestricted move- social distancing and wear masks, ment of people and transport said Khatiwada. services. Business will also be The decision, however, seems to allowed to operate 24/7. have been taken under pressure, as “All the provisions including dissatisfaction was growing--not the two shifts for government because the government had imposed offices and odd-even rules [for the lockdown but because it had failed private vehicles] will be lifted to properly communicate the meas- with the lifting of the lockdown,” ures it was taking to help businesses, Khatiwada said. expand testing and provide relief for All other provisions related to the general public, especially those Covid-19 prevention, control from the lower economic strata. and treatment would, however, >> Continued on page 5 C M Y K WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 | 02 MEDLEY Inside the Post Quote of the day Risk of community transmission up in Valley Nation despite revision of testing criteria, Page 3 Three youths representing the “Enough is Enough” campaign have once again started an indefinite hunger strike after the government failed to act as per the agreement made with them earlier this month to handle the Covid-19 pandemic “Restrictions on testing and increased in a better manner. mobility of people from Opinion disease-hit areas have increased the With Indian influence on the wane and Anglo-Americans almost out of chances of community transmission.” the picture, Xi Jinping Thought is likely to reign supreme for now. A doctor at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital on Money the risk of community transmission of the coronavirus. After four days and nights of wrangling, exhausted European Union leaders finally clinched a deal on an unprecedented 1.8 trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) budget and coronavirus recovery fund early on Tuesday, after one of their longest sum- mits ever. Most read online World China threatened a “forceful counter-attack” on Tuesday in response to Britain’s International and domestic flights to resume starting August 17 announcement that it would suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong following Beijing’s introduction of a national security law for the former British The government on Monday announced the resumption of international and colony. domestic flights beginning August 17. The flights have remained suspended for over four months now in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe, the minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, told the Culture & Arts Post that a Cabinet meeting on Monday decided to allow both international and With major festivals postponed or halted, the cultural landscape of the Kathmandu domestic scheduled flights from August 17, as there “has been a decrease in the valley has suffered greatly, directly affecting its people whose identities are inter- number of Covid-19 cases in the country”. twined with their traditions. Rain-swollen Bagmati threatens squatter settlement in Thapathali Till late Monday afternoon, the rain was incessant in Kathmandu Valley.