Koziell appointed deputy DG of ICIMOD

Izabella Koziell has joined the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) as Deputy Director General. With thirty years’ experience working in environment and development, in multiple leadership roles, and across policy, development and research, Izabella’s work has spanned topics critical for the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, including climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and land and ecosystem degradation.

Solukhumbu unable to utilise tourism royalty

The District Coordination Committee (DCC) of Solukhumbu has not been able to spend Rs. 220 million it earned from tourism royalties six years ago. The then District Development Committee had earned Rs. 400 million in the fiscal year 2015/16 from its 30 per cent share of the total mountaineering fees collected from tourists. Of that amount, Rs. 220 million still remains unspent.

Neck blast leaves Jhapa paddy farmers nervous

Farmers in Kamal Rural Municipality of Jhapa and southern part of Damak have been worried due to neck blast disease. According to the farmers, the disease is caused by the fungus when the paddy is ripening. In Jhapa, there is a problem of neck blast disease every year. It can affect all above-ground parts of a rice plant--leaf, collar, node, neck, parts of panicle, and sometimes leaf sheath.

Extension of transition period demanded

Nepali Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called for the extension of transition period for the implementation of the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The CSOs have called on the Chair of the TRIPS Council, United States Trade Representative and the Commissioner of the European Commission in Geneva to urgently and unequivocally support the LDCs’ request to extend the transition period for the implementation of the Agreement on TRIPS of the WTO.

Development In Focus

Politics reigns supreme in a state as it influences every sector of the society including the economy. However, the statecraft is not the end in itself; it is basically a means to ensure development, prosperity and happiness of the citizens. End is more important than the means. Politics for the sake of politics, with its departure from ends, cannot win the trust of the people.  Systems of governance that fail to deliver development and prosperity cannot sustain. Working of a syst

Mind Of A Winner

When we grew up, our strongest communication tool was radio. So I grew up listening to various radio channels, and my favourites were BBC World Service, All India Radio and Radio Nepal. The habit of listening to BBC World Service stuck on and it has become an almost round the clock habit during lockdowns. One of the comments “mind of a winner” made by a reporter while in an interview regarding Naomi Osaka’s announcement that she dropped out of attending press conference after her game competition,...

Agro-strategy Tailored To Protect Ecosystem

This year’s World Environment Day was recently observed with the theme ‘ecosystem restoration.’ Every nation had their own slogans appropriate to their specific need and priority. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-30) has envisioned mitigating the catastrophic climate change. The UNEP and FAO marked the decade as “a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature”.

Quest For Valuable Art

The world's present most costly painting The Salvator Mundi has come into limelight in a billion dollar art feud. The Salvator Mundi which means, saviour of the world, is credited in whole or in part to the renowned Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. In 2015, the Russian fertiliser tycoon and oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev accused Yves Bouvier of swindling him off $1 billion on 38 highly prized artworks including The Salvator Mundi. Yves Bouvier is a Swiss art dealer who also happens to be a freeport...

Pressure builds to return artifacts from Paris

Heritage activists are pressuring Bonhams Art Centre of Paris, France, into returning the five 600-year-old religious objects of the Patan’s Taleju Bhavani temple. The objects, housed by the centre, were recently on sale.

How does America intensify disinformation war?

As U.S. reporters Amy Goodman and David Goodman pointed out in 2004, this was the "classic disinformation two-step," in which the White House first leaks a lie to a U.S. media outlet, and the latter publishes it as a startling exposure; then, the White House conveniently masquerades behind the credibility of the media.