National
ICYMI: Here are our top stories from Sunday, April 21
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (April 21, 2019).Post Report
Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (April 21, 2019).
Four years since the earthquake, Gorkha Durbar still in ruins
The palace, built during the reign of King Ram Shah in the 1600s, was considered a masterpiece of Newar architecture and the symbolic heart of Gorkha district. Seven Shah kings ruled Gorkha from the palace before Prithvi Narayan was crowned the king. Gorkha Durbar was everything—a fort, a palace and a temple in its nearly 350-year history.
After the earthquake, it took over two years for the reconstruction process to even begin. The Department of Archeology reached an agreement with the Pachali Siwa JV Construction to begin reconstruction only on November 15, 2017. But the entire structure of the remnants of the palace had to be flattened before rebuilding could start. The demolition began on December 17, 2017.
So far, only 25 percent of work on the palace’s reconstruction has been completed, according to officials at the Department of Archeology.
Why development efforts in the country go down the drain—almost always?
The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited digs the roads to maintain leaking pipes and change the old rusted pipes. The road office fixes roads. The Melamchi project then digs the road again to lay new supply pipes. The road office again goes to fix the dug up road.
Multiple officials the Post talked to agree that there is a serious lack of coordination among government agencies.
Every year, the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited spends over Rs50 million for changing old and leaking pipes. But these pipes, which can last over 60 years, will not be used when water from Melamchi arrives.
Unification of ruling party said to conclude soon
The ruling communist party leadership could announce the conclusion of the unification process between the erstwhile CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) on Monday, coinciding with the establishment day of the Nepal Communist Party seven decades ago.
Party leaders say that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who co-chairs the unified Nepal Communist Party (NCP), is positive about addressing the concerns raised by the disgruntled faction, led by senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, to conclude the unification process.
Oli and NCP Co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had agreed, during their overnight stay at the Chandragiri Hills Resort on April 12, to announce the conclusion of the party unification process by addressing the concerns raised by the disgruntled faction, according to leaders close to Dahal.
Government to take steps to control haphazard throwing of used recharge cards and tobacco packets
The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has decided to take initiatives to control the practice of haphazardly throwing used recharge cards and tobacco products’ packets on the roads as part of a fresh bid to beautify the city.
Time is ticking: Ghantaghar may just give up due to the lack of technical support and the government’s indifference
For the past 124 years, Ghantaghar has been projecting accurate time—with occasional dysfunctions—throughout the years. But that may change soon, as the man who ensured that the monumental time teller is up and running is set to retire.
The clocks were imported to Nepal from London by the Rana Prime Minister Bir Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, whose name is carved in the yellow background right below each clock in the tower. According to Thapa, Bir Shumsher’s original intention wasn’t to build a public clock tower, instead, he had ordered four huge clocks to be installed in the residences of each of his four sons.