HELLO NEPAL

The Himalayan Times 28 June 2013 Scary situation Looking closely at the increasing number of drug users in the country as publicized by the Home Ministry on the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking “Statistics paint scary picture of drug use” (THT, 27, June 2013, Page 2), one can only say that such a large scale of drug abuse is really nerve-racking. According to the data, the percentage of drug use among the young people varies from one group of users to anther. The unemployed people tops the list standing at almost 50 percent, employed people at 29 percent and students especially of 6-10 grade, SLC appeared and Plus Two students at 21 percent. There has been tremendous increase in the number of drug users (current number 91543) against the official data in 2008 (46309).   The actual number could be much higher if in-depth survey had been done. I am not so sure whether there has been any thorough study done by any IN...

The Himalayan Times 21 June 2013 Revival of monarchy It was not surprising to read the news report “RPP-N chief foretells monarchy’s revival (THT, 19 June, Page 5) considering the insensible and immoral political acts of so called senior leaders of major political parties. Looking closely at their political activities during the last 6 years, the republicans seemed completely disoriented in institutionalizing second jana andolan achievements. They have completely failed on all costs-from nation building to constitution writing to the preservation of national integrity and social harmony to maintenance of law and order to good governance to economic developments. They continued to make mistakes and ignore the plight of the common people. They found to be engaged in power politics and blame game undermining the universally accepted democratic norms and values. They spent the first four years after the Second Jana Andolan most unproductively. They proved themselves ineffect...

It was not surprising to read the news report “Over 58 per cent fail to clear SLC” (THT, 12 June, Page 1) considering the ongoing teaching-learning practices in Nepal especially in the public schools. There are several factors that have been contributing to such a low performance in the outcome of the SLC results. Some of them are (1) highly politicized environment (2) lack of proper monitoring and supervision by the higher authorities (3) poor management in the distribution of text books out in the rural areas (4) teachers absenteeism (5) teachers irresponsible acts (6) traditionally designed curriculum (7) insufficient and poor infrastructures and so on. If we looked back at the success rate in the last decade, the pass percentages found to be gradually declining from one year to another year showing that there were some serious deficiencies in the educational system of Nepal . None of the concerned authorities showed any serious concern on these burning issues.   Th...

The Himalayan Times 5 June 2013   It was true that the majority people of Nepal wanted to see the end of undemocratic rule of the king when the II Jana Andolan was in its peak back in 2062/63. It was known fact that once the then king took over the rule in his hand in February 2005, the agitating political parties united together against this move, joined hands with the Maoists and started the final agitation that remained to be successful in bringing thousands of people out in the streets. The king had no alternative but to abdicate as reported in “How ex-king helped in demise of monarchy” (THT, 29 May Page 1). As a result, Nepal was declared a republic. Much water has flowed down the Bagmati Bridge so far. The political situation in Nepal has become more fragile and uncertain. The major political parties those had cohesively worked together to declare Nepal a republic state have completely failed to institutionalize the second Jana Andolan achievement. Se...

The Himalayan Times 24 May 2013 Disaster in the making The question of whether another CA election will be held or not has been the people’s concern. It was known to everybody that the first historical CA election failed to draft the new constitution just because of some of the contentious issues those had to be first sorted out first were never properly addressed. The so called senior leaders of major political parties are repeating the same mistakes by not making consensus over the contentious issues before going to the second CA. What they might be doing instead has been the talk of the town as reported in “What parties are doing to ensure CA election” (THT, 22 May, Page 1) They appear in no mood to sort out the contentious issues of CA election such as, the question of thresh-hold for CA seat under the Proportional Representation (PR) system, strength of the CA, eligibility criteria for CA candidates and formation of constituency delimitation commissions. Lo...

The Himalayan Times 17 May 2012 No mercy to them Kudos to Kavre Police team for making public some kidney racketeers as reported in “Kidney racket busted in Kavre; 10 arrested” (THT, 15 May, Page 1). It was really a commendable job. Thank God, this time the victims who were lured into selling their kidneys in India made bold to knock at the police doors for help. Otherwise, the kidney racketeers would have continued their business as usual. All the culprits who commit such heinous crimes should be severely punished so that they cannot prey on innocent people in future. This incidents clearly shows that the racketeers might have been involved in such crimes for long luring the poor people into selling their precious kidneys without knowing the consequences. However, it is not a new case that has occurred in Kavre. There were other such cases reported in the past also. But, it was not known whether the culprits were lawfully punished and the victims were properly...

It is sad to know that the political parties have again started playing foul game of retaining the same huge size of CA members (601) of the dead CA who had most unproductively finished billions of rupees in the name of drafting new constitution. It should be widely opposed by every sensible citizen of Republic Nepal. We should not again let them enjoy our hard earned tax paid money from the state coffer for their perks and benefits. I have already started opposing their ill thinking wherever and whenever I get the opportunity. How about you?  

I am not so sure what is cooking behind the curtain in Nepal . In spite of tremendous objections from every walk of life, Constitutional Council nominated widely criticized Lokman S Karki to the top post of CIAA. What made the senior political leaders and CC helpless? The ball is now in the President’s court. Constitutionally, it is difficult for the President to say “ No” to the CC nomination. Let us wait and see how he is going to act.