A Moment For Social Democracy

The coming years will be pivotal for social democracy, a democracy of free citizens living in solidarity across castes, classes and genders with positive and negative rights. It enables the people to fairly share public wealth, resolve problematic condition and engage in constructive international cooperation to resolve global problems. As the leading apostles of laissez fair capitalism continue to face structural crises intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturn, environmental degradation,...

Governing YouTubers To Curb Fake Information

The evidence shows YouTube could be a menace, when it is left unchecked—audience being uncritical, YouTuber being avarice— and there are concerns that some mechanisms to govern YouTubers are needed. YouTube has become a platform not only to help those in need, but also to spread malice, hatred, rumours, and earn revenue easily. While discussing the governing mechanisms, we should focus on the role of different actors—state, YouTubers and audiences— and create a balance between rights and...

The Eminence Of Pako Pukhudya

There might hardly be a man, woman or child in Kathmandu who has not at least heard of New Road. The beating heart of the capital’s nervous system, many of us also know that the road was constructed by Rana Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher after the earthquake of 1934. However, if we were to hear of a place named Pako Pukhudya, most of our minds would go blank. The name Pako sounds familiar and some of us familiar with Kathmandu might know of it as a place near New Road that has become more popularly...

Two airports of Solukhumbu remain unused for years

Two airports in the mountainous district of Solukhumbu have remained unused for years. Only two airports are in operation in the district. The district has five airports, the largest number of airport in a district in Nepal, and one is under construction. The Kangeldanda airport, which is targeted at densely populated areas in the lower part of the district, has remained unused and turned into a pasture for the last seven years. The Kageldada airport was constructed by investing tens of millions...

A family shifts to cave after failing to pay house rent

Manbir Gurung is now living an isolated life in a cave with his wife, a son and a daughter, after he failed to manage house rent and cost of living for his four-member family. He lost all the sources of income following the enforcement of lockdown and the COVID-19-induced restrictions. After failing to find any source of income, the poor family has now shifted to a cave near the bank of the Buldi River at Ashapuri in Byas Municiplaity-2. Poverty has forced Gurung, his wife Udasiya, his 20-year-old...

PM's efforts focussed on consensus based Cabinet reshuffle

The unity deal has saved the ruling Nepal Communist Party from the brink of division, but the latest parleys to address the intra-party discontent through cabinet overhaul is taking longer time than expected because consensus has become a prominent point to consider.  A series of meetings between Prime Minister and party chair KP Sharma Oli and executive party chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda is continuing for over a week. The two chairs obviously have some sticking points to work out before...

NCP secretariat meeting today

A meeting of two chairmen of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Prime Minister KP Sharma and Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, concluded on Friday by deciding to call the party secretariat meeting for Saturday. The meeting of the two chairmen decided to call the secretariat meeting for Saturday at 4:00 pm. The two chairmen have been holding series of meetings since last Thursday to discuss the cabinet reshuffle, as proposed by the previous meeting of the party secretariat.

Bhalubang proposed as State 5 Capital

State 5 is on the way to fix its capital as its Cabinet has proposed Bhalubang area of Dang district as its capital. Likewise, the name of the State is proposed Lumbini, which is the birthplace of the Buddha. If the name of the State and capital is approved by the State Assembly, it will be the fifth State to complete the tasks. Of the seven states, State 1 and 2 are yet to make any progress in this direction while four states have already named themselves as Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim. The...

Nepal's COVID-19 death toll reaches 520 with 11 new fatalities

The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) on Friday confirmed 11 COVID-19 related deaths. 11 persons, four females and seven males, succumbed to the novel coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, revealed the daily report released by the MoHP today.

Kathmandu Valley records a whopping 1,638 new cases of COVID-19, highest in a single day

In 1,4739 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in the last 24 hours, as many as 1,638 persons, 627 females and 1,011 males, were found with the novel coronavirus infection in the Valley itself, revealed the daily report released by the MoHP today.