News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal:- In ‘Kumarasambhava’ epic, great Sanskrit poet Kalidasha says ‘Himalayas is the centre of earth’. Nepal is an ancient Himalayan country in South Asia with a long history of its continued existence as an independent country, which stands as the crossroads of Chinese and South Asian civilisations. Nepal is a not only a country but a civilization - the Himalayan civilization or ‘Himabatkhanda’. Different archaeological evidences have pointed to the fact that Nepal as a Himalayas civilisation has existed right from 300 BC, which is more than 2300 years ago. But some scholars are of the view that the history of Nepal goes back to as early as 1500 BC during the Ramayana period. The history of Nepal’s international contacts and relations is long. Hindu mythology and scripts point. Legend has it that there used to exist a powerful kingdom in Nepal's southern plain called Janakpur or Mithila even earlier and its king was Janak, who was famous throughout South Asia for ...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:- It has been almost six months since KP Sharma Oli assumed premiership of Nepal third time, leading the Nepali Congress-CPN (UML) coalition government. Prior to the formation of the Oli-led coalition government, Nepali Congress and UML had reached a seven-point understanding, of which the amendment of the constitution was the principal agenda. The two parties have agreed to amend some provisions of the present constitution. However, they have not yet clearly spelt out what exactly they want in their amendment. It is, however, understood that their primary concern is the electoral system. Our electoral system is of hybrid nature - mixture of first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) and proportionate systems - , which is blamed for political instability and frequent change of governments. This, to some extent, may be true. In the mixed or proportionate electoral system, there is a high probability of a hung parliament in which a political party is less likely to win major...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:- West Asia or the Middle East seems to be on the cusp of new crisis and conflict with the change of regime in Syria. The political developments in Syria emerged in such a lightning speed that surprised all. Even the deposed president Bashar Al Assad and also the rebel troops that forced Assad flee had not thought that the game would be up so quickly. But it happened in the lightning speed and as a result one more dictator has gone out of the political scene in the Middle East. Syria is an important country in the Middle East from geopolitical standpoint. It is located in south-eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea which is a vital lifeline for the trade between Asia and Europe. In other words, Syria used to be popularly known as the intersection of Eastern and Western civilizations. However, Syria now appears to be at the crossroads of its own existence due mainly to a long history of suppressive regime of Assad family and factional fighting among different Islam...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:- My almost 28-year stint as a journalist in The Rising Nepal daily has been a mixed experience characterised by excitement, opportunities, and challenges. Prior to joining The Rising Nepal, I had a few years of journalism experience in the private Nepali weeklies that were mouthpieces of the radical communist party of that time—the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) or CPN-ML. The CPN-ML was later renamed as the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), or CPN-UML, after the merger of the two dominant communist parties of that time—CPN-ML, led by Madan Bhandari, and CPN-Marxist of Manmohan Adhikari. The CPN-UML, at present, is the second largest party in parliament, and its chairman leads the coalition government. I joined the TRN as a subeditor and got promoted with the passage of time to reach the highest position—the editor-in-chief of the daily—before I finally retired. During my entire career as a journalist at The Rising Nepal, I worked i...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:- Back in 400 BC, Greek philosopher Diogenes would walk around the market place of Athens with a lantern in hands in broad daylight in the search of an honest man. Finding an honest man in politics has been a difficult task right from the ancient period across the world. This has been more in the present context as the politics is guided more by personal and partisan interests rather than the interest of the larger masses. Gone are the days as Socrates once said ‘politics is a quest for justice for which rulers should be virtuous’. Now Chanakya dictum seems to be guiding the present day politics all over the world. Chanakya, back in 300 BC, was of the view that ‘a person should not be too honest as straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first’. Given the state of the present day politics all over the world, parties appear to be enterprises, while leaders are like bosses, workers salespersons and people consumers or voters. Politics has thus ...