Sonika works to break mistrust toward women entrepreneurs

Public transportation is a personal affair for Sonika Manandhar. She remembers riding her father’s small blue three-wheeler, colloquially known as Bikram Tempo, as a child in the 1990s and experiencing an almost other-worldly joy.

Internet Governance

THE internet is a system connecting networks around the world using TCP/IP. This is a vast array of networks and with its relevance growing day by day, concerns over whether and how to regulate it seem to be rising. Today, internet governance has become a burning issue. However, one thing we must be mindful of is that governance does not mean control and it most certainly does not mean exclusive government. Internet governance needs a multistakeholder approach calling for the involvement of various...

Ethnocentrism & Colonialism

Ethnocentrism is the process of judging a culture based on how it compares to one's own cultural norms. Rather narcissistically, ethnocentrism is the view that one's own group is the centre of everything. Ethnocentrism is especially prominent in matters of language, culture and religion. These ethnic distinctions and sub-divisions serve to define each ethnicity's unique cultural identity and thus, ethnocentrism. An example can be found in food habits.

Bagmati Yatra Once A Grand Pilgrimage

It was the 14th day of the dark lunar fortnight of the month of Baisakh in the Bikram Sambat Year 2005 and Indra Kaji Joshi, who was 11 years old at the time, had woken up at two in the morning. He was getting ready with his father to go to the Shikhar Narayan Temple in Pharping to participate in the grand Bagmati Yatra. “It was my first time so I was very excited,” the now 84-year-old Joshi recalled.

People ignoring safety guidelines even as third wave of COVID fears loom

Nepal’s COVID-19 infection graph has been steadily rising over the past week. Our positivity rate hovers around 20 per cent and the government and health experts are worried about an impending third wave of the pandemic.

Custom-made wears latest fad among youths

Rimi Sharma, a primary school teacher aged 29, almost exclusively buys custom-made clothes these days. From formalwear to party dresses, she looks up her favourite stores on Instagram whenever she needs something and places her order.

Nepal-Russia relations have good potentials for tourism boost

Nepal is fast becoming an attractive destination for Russian tourists. According to the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Nepal, there had been a steady increase in the tourist flow from Russia to Nepal before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As per its data, 4,900 Russian tourists visited Nepal in 2015. In 2019, the number increased by more than 100 per cent and reached 10,300.

Monsoon regains strength, flood warnings issued

With the monsoon regaining strength from Saturday thanks to the low pressure line coming close to the Terai region and water vapour-laden winds blowing in from the Bay of Bengal, the country once again faces a heightened risk of floods and inundation.

More than Rs. 60 million in damages from floods, landslides since April

Floods and landslides have a caused more than Rs. 62 million in damages since April 14. As per the data provided by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), floods have caused an estimated loss of Rs. 55,342,500 and landslides have caused a loss of Rs. 6,941,500 since the start of this Nepali year.

Consumer habits need to change to displace plastic bags: Retailers

While presenting the budget for the fiscal year 2021/22 on May 29, Minister for Finance Bishnu Paudel announced that the government would ban the import, manufacture, sale and distribution of all plastic measuring below 40 microns in width from July 16. He also said that stores and malls would be required to provide biodegradable cotton, jute or paper bags to their customers instead of plastic ones. This move was hailed by environmental groups as a big step against plastic pollution. But store-owners...