News, Views From Nepal

  Yuba Nath Lamsal In the modern era of liberal democracy, ideology appears to have lost its appeal and charm. What matters is the immediate interest and benefit. Like in economics, market rules the roost in all sectors, including politics. In other words, market is the God that determines the fate of politics, parties, politicians and even individual citizens. Politics, too, is being dictated by the market force and we are in the age of market politics. Since market calls the shots in the larger political ruckus, parties and politicians tend to manufacture products that sell in the neoliberal political bazaar. What sells today is rhetoric, populism and propaganda which may hardly see the day of light in the world of realpolitik. Gone are the days of ideology and politics of ideals and principles. In the present era of market dictated politics, every action and move has a price tag. Values are replaced by prices and profits. This is the fundamental of neolib...

  Yuba Nath Lamsal “I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, Among my skimming swallows; I make the netted sunbeam dance Against my sandy shallows. I murmur under moon and stars In brambly wildernesses; I linger by my shingly bars; I loiter round my cresses; And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever” These are the excerpts from Lord Tennyson’s poem ‘The Brook’ in which the poet beautifully portrays the life and journey of a river that begins as a small rivulet to grow bigger before joining the vast ocean. Like the poem, the Gorkhapatra had a humble beginning and grew slowly and steadily to become the proud and living history of Nepali media industry. Writing about the Gorkhpatra is, thus, writing the history of Nepali newspapers and journalism. The Gorkhapatra is the pioneer newspaper in Nepal which began in 1901. The Gorkhapatra is the seed from which Nepal’s journalism grew fast and steadily to...

  Yuba Nath Lamsal Diplomacy is a litmus test of an individual or state especially in time of crisis, which should be visibly seen to maximize the engagement of counterparts and get things done in the larger interest of the country. Sun Tzu, a military strategist and philosopher of ancient China, said in his famous book ‘The Art of War’, diplomacy is “a supreme art of war to subdue the enemy without fighting”.   In a way, a diplomat is a warrior without fatal weapons and strategist like a commander in war.   The real test of a diplomat is, thus, seen at the time of crises between countries. Given Nepal’s stated non-aligned foreign policy, we have no enemy but friends all over the world. But sometimes, geopolitics is so cruel that it drags even a neutral country into difficult position although the country itself may not be responsible for it. At times, countries fall victim to geopolitical rivalry between big powers, while the slight miscalculation and mishandling o...

Yuba Nath Lamsal The federal structure of the state has been touted as one of the key political achievements of the Jana Andolan II of 2006 in Nepal, which was formally codified in the constitution in 2015. Under this system, there are three tiers of governments comprising central, provincial and local structures including central government, seven provincial governments and 753 local units (municipalities and village councils). This constitutional provision was already exercised and experimented over the last five years which have mixed experiences. Now the local elections are again going to be held and the date of which is just over a month away. On May 13, 2022, the elections in all 753 local unites will be held to choose representatives for manning and running the local bodies. Political parties are on the field rolling their sleeves to muster popular support so that they can have their grip in local governments. Foundation of democracy This is the second time the ...