A Forgotten Scholar

With time, people start to forget the departed souls. When a renowned person disappears suddenly, it becomes a shocking and painful experience for the family, neighbours and the whole nation. The same thing happened in the case of Professor Dor Bahadur Bista, the father and founder of Nepali Sociology and Anthropology. Years ago, I had visited Jumla for a supervision exercise and wanted to meet Prof. Bista. Unfortunately, I could not meet him as he had gone to Kathmandu at that time. I still regret...

Lactose Intolerance in Human Beings

Lactose intolerance is the inability of the human body to digest the lactose present in our foods, especially in milk and dairy products. It is synthesised in the mammary glands. The term, lactose intolerance, is more of a relative than absolute term. Lactose, a milk disaccharide consisting of glucose and galactose must be broken down in the small intestine by the enzyme lactase (β-galactosidase) in order for its constituents, galactose and glucose, to be absorbed. The lactase is present on the...

The Sad End Of Bhimsen Thapa

The year was 1816 AD and the Gorkha Empire was in an unimaginable mess. The war with the British resulted in a humiliating defeat, shrivelling the size of the kingdom following the signing of the Sugauli Treaty. While the nation blamed incumbent Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa, he blamed the lack of training to soldiers for modern warfare.

Paddling For Tourism Promotion

Ajit Baral needs no introduction. He is a world cyclist who has already paddled 77 countries. He has travelled across the length and breadth of Nepal three times. He has even paddled to such extreme places of the country where no cyclists have ever dared to tread. If you think this is enough then you are utterly wrong.  To add more excitement and boost the Pokhara adventure tourism, Ajit Baral surprised everyone when he was seen flying with paragliding along with his mountain bike. A huge crowd...

Turquoise Tarn Gem Of Nepal

Only the exceptionally serendipitous ones get that chance of a lifetime to bask between the turquoise tarn and wild blue yonder above at an elevation of 3,691 metres high from sea level with the white fluffy clouds frolicking over the infinite canvas of sapphire.

Whip Cabals to Build System

As a slew of stories about the poor financial performance of Nepal Airlines were getting media attention, I was coincidently turning the pages of chapter 27, 'Cartel Nation', of a book penned by former journalist and advisor to World Bank, Rajib Upadhya. The points Upadhya mentioned on Page 178 are a strong reminder of how the state-run corporations are led to their collapse by agents. Bribes were paid generously for preventing the state-owned airlines from operating on the same international routes...

Beauty Of Lotus

Water does not stuck on the lotus leave; it rolls back and forth a little. So, the analogy “water in the lotus leaf” expresses any uncertain state of life. In the evening, if anyone upset about the uncertain situation of life then he/she should take a boat ride in the lotus pond.

TU conducting research on climate adaptive capacity

The Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University has started a collaborative research on households’ adaptive capacity to climate change in South Asia. This research includes several case studies from different parts in South Asia and aims to bring a synthesised knowledge by integrating both natural and social science perspective that will provide knowledge and policy input to combat climate change at local, national and regional level. This is important as we have very poor knowledge...

Global greenhouse gas emissions highest from 2010-2019: Report

In 2010-2019, average annual global greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest levels in human history, though the rate of growth has slowed. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C is beyond reach. However, there is increasing evidence of climate action, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Monday. Since 2010, there have been sustained decreases of up to 85 per cent...

Experts stress sustainable mgmt of water, energy and food

The climate of Nepal is dominated by monsoons and about 80 per cent of annual precipitation occurs during the summer monsoon, which is the reason the country is forced to deal with disasters such as floods and landslides, experts said. Speaking at a workshop on “CGIAR NEXUS Gains Initiative Inception Workshop” led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on Wednesday, experts highlighted the country will have water scarcity for nearly eight months and Nepal’s water security...