Donors and multilateral institutions must not continue to ignore corruption to fulfil their own objectives. Nepal currently has unprecedented opportunities for economic development along with establishing practices of good governance. These opportunities include a changing demography, the availability of cheap resources, political stability, federalism, geopolitical competition, and remittance. But this …
Cyber Insecurity: Catastrophe in the Waiting
The vulnerabilities of Nepal’s banking system came to the fore on the night of August 31, 2019,[1] when five Chinese nationals were arrested in the capital, who were on ATM hacking spree in different places in Kathmandu. The hackers had come to Nepal on August 20 and had planned to …
Dengue and Climate Change – A Hard to Win Fight for Nepal Government
Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease caused mainly by the female Aedes aegypti. Some other species including Aedes albopictus, Aedes polynesiensis, and Aedes scutellaris are also vectors of dengue.[1] Dengue has been rising over the last half-century due to factors, including global trade and travel, urbanization, population growth, and climate change, …
End of the ‘tacking’ strategy
With deeper integration, Nepal may no longer be able to swing freely between India and China as in the past. Since 1951, when the people overthrew the Ranas, Nepal has used the strategy of ‘tacking’ to sail through the influence exerted by China and India. For example, in 1956, King …
News Digest (July 22-28, 2019)
The Ruling Party Opposition Politics Security and Strategic Affairs International Relations Gender and Social Inclusion Provincial Affairs Economic Development and Governance The Ruling Party NCP The ruling party announced the district in-charge and sub-in-charge. The party’s topmost leaders, however, misused power and appointed their closet ones and not included many …
The Nepal-China Railway
A Nepali delegation headed by Devendra Karki from the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport went to Beijing between 17th to the 23rd of June for a consultation meeting on the construction of the Kathmandu-Kerung Railway. According to the department engineer Kiran Karki, the delegation had been invited by the …
PEACE BY PEACEFUL MEANS
Conflict and revolution have become a culture of the country. Be it chanting slogans against Panchayat system in 1990, or suffering armed conflict for a decade starting 1996, the Madhesh Movement, the Tharuhat movement and the like. However, the warring parties have always reached a negotiated settlement. The Maoists, as …
News Digest May 15-21, 2019
Government and the Ruling Party Bills and Parliamentary Affairs The government registered the Environment Protection Bill in the Federal Parliament with new provisions on carbon trading, reducing adverse impacts of pollution especially from vehicles, machine, equipment, industries, hotels and restaurants and pollution control measures during mountaineering, trekking, and sightseeing. [1] …
Social Roots of Authoritarianism
We blame the prime minister’s ‘authoritarian’ tendencies for constricting the space of civil society, but we need to do some introspection. In the recent months, there are three observations to be made. Civil society and the political opposition is growing weaker, the incidences and magnitude of corruption are increasing and …
Flying[1] Flu Claims Life in Nepal
Nepal has been witnessing bird flu outbreaks since 2009. Bird flu, also termed avian influenza, is a severe, often fatal, type of influenza that affects birds, especially poultry and that can also be transmitted to humans. Past incidents show the intensity of avian flu in Nepal. The year 2013 saw …