<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2023020814028/63e39f649c7e80680e0d6fecjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1800" height="1041"/><figcaption>Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is busy garnering <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/left-led-coalition-upturns-nepal-politics/">support from parties left, right and centre</a> for the 10 January vote of confidence he has to prove in the Federal Parliament. On Wednesday, he met Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Unified Socialist (US) for the first time since he broke away from the Nepali Congress (NC) led coalition.With his Maoist Centre (MC) being only the third biggest party with a mere 32 seats in Parliament, Dahal has had to give away powerful ministries: Finance to Bishnu Paudel of the UML, and Home to Rabi Lamichhane of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).And with less than a week before the confidence vote, there will be more wheeling and dealing behind the scenes. There is already talk of adding two more deputy prime ministers to specifically appease the far-right Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Janata Samajbadi party (JSP).The Constitution sets a limit of 25 ministers in the Cabinet. But Dahal has to balance the disparate demands from members of his coalition for posts. He will exceed that limit, and for that will have to split some ministries.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/oli-dahal-political-deja-vu/">Oli-Dahal political déjà vu</a>, Santa Gaha MagarDahal may be prime minister, but it is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/oli-dahal-political-deja-vu/">UML's K P Oli who is pulling the strings</a>. As the head of a high-level political committee, Oli will essentially be running a parallel government. And given the past bad blood between Oli and Dahal, there is every possibility of them falling out, and the coalition falling apart.The UML is the second largest party with 78 seats and has shrewdly gained the upper hand by playing the long game by agreeing to give Dahal the first go at premiership while bagging plum political positions for his party in the process.The committee Oli heads is an extension of this power-sharing deal between him and Dahal. The fact that the Prime Minister is the executive head of Nepal but will now have to adhere to a committee on high-level political decisions has essentially turned Dahal into a puppet of Oli’s making.But these power games have long stopped being of interest to the people. It was in fact the very frustration with political manipulation that voted <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/for-whom-the-bell-tolls/">independent collective RSP</a> to be the fourth largest party in the 2022 elections.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/for-whom-the-bell-tolls/">For whom the bell tolls</a>, Shristi KarkiBut regardless of who is in the coalition or who has an upper hand, the biggest challenge for the new government in 2023 is to save Nepal from an impending economic collapse.As of 4 January, the total expenditure of the Nepal government in the current fiscal year stands at Rs517 billion against its revenue of Rs362 billion. Nepal is unable to support the government’s spending, and herein lies the biggest problem.The additional ministries in the new government and their staff will only add to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-energy-policy-in-2023-and-beyond/">unnecessary expenses in security, infrastructure, salary and other administrative costs</a>. Increased ministries and staff doesn’t guarantee better service delivery either.The appointment of Bishnu Paudel of the UML as  finance minister has made businesses hopeful, but there is only so much he can do to rectify the blunder made by his Maoist predecessor, Janardan Sharma. On Wednesday, Nepal Rastra Bank, acting  a directive from Paudel and Prime Minister Dahal has revised its new guidelines pertaining to current capital loans to spur investment.Nepal’s imports decreased by 20.17% in the last five months compared to the same time period last year owing to the central bank’s ban on luxury items following rapidly declining foreign exchange reserves. This helped increase the reserves but also reduced revenue from imports, which continues to be the government’s biggest source of income.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-year-challenge-to-new-government/"> New year challenge to new government</a>, EditorialIn the meantime, Nepal’s export in the same time period decreased by 34.61% to Rs6.7 trillion and trade deficit by 18.77%. But reduced demand for goods and services can lead to a recession. Year-on-year inflation is also high at 8.08%. In response, banks have  increased interest on loans to reach more than 15% which has discouraged businesses from investing.Moreover, leakage in revenue and lack of economic activities as well as investment in unproductive sectors continue to pose formidable challenges to Nepal’s stagnant economy which is propped by remittance money sent home by Nepalis ioverseas.Those jobs have allowed the government to get away with not providing youth with enough employment opportunities at home. But remittance is an unsustainable source, especially as Nepal needs its workforce at home for agriculture, construction and manufacturing, among others.Nepal needs to reduce its nonessential spending, stop revenue leakage in VAT and others, expedite development projects and promote industries and manufacturing at home. All of this will need to be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-year-challenge-to-new-government/">facilitated by reformed policymaking</a>, not just directives.Instead, planners bring about ad-hoc schemes like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/think-twice-about-bringing-your-mobile-to-nepal/">Mobile Device Management System</a> (MDMS) benefiting select businesses, further adding to the frustration of the common people and making service delivery even more difficult.Sonia Awale

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Nepal's political economy

&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230112100136_63bfd4f89c7e80680e0d30c8jpeg.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230112100136_63bfd4f89c7e80680e0d30c8jpeg" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="635" loading="lazy" alt=" "> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure>  Nepalis had much to look forward to in 2022. The pandemic had abated, tourism was picking up, and the second series of elections under the federal system were set to take place. Barely two months into the year, Russia invaded Ukraine and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ukraine-crisis-hits-nepal-economy-hard/" target="_blank">the war hit Nepal’s struggling economy hard</a>. A steep rise in the petroleum import bill further depleted state coffers, and widened the trade gap. Political disarray led to ministerial mis-steps and delayed government response. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-local-election-gives-power-back-to-people/" target="_blank">Local elections</a> in May consolidated the coalition, but the strong showing of the independents in federal elections shook the established parties. However, the leaders have ignored the national mood and in a repeat of 2017, Nepal’s Communist parties have joined forces to form <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/left-led-coalition-upturns-nepal-politics/" target="_blank">another coalition government</a>, this time of seven parties with Pushpa Kamal Dahal as the Prime Minister for the third time. Nepali politics continues to be defined by a coalition governments devoid of ideology and incapable of solving urgent problems like creating jobs, curbing pollution, or addressing the climate crisis. <div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4fc9c7e80680e0d30c9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="659" height="635"></div> A recap of the year that was through the 12 front pages of Nepali Times in 2022: Pollution and exploitation <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/happy-new-air/" target="_blank">Nepali Times’ first issue for 2022</a> carried an image of brick kilns spewing smoke. That, combined with vehicular emissions and open burning meant that Kathmandu residents were breathing the dirtiest air in the world, reducing their lifespans by 4 years. Garbage piled up on the streets of the capital even as the rivers and mountains were ravaged by illegal quarries and sand mining. As the country plunged headlong from a Covid pandemic into a dengue epidemic. Climate breakdown The year saw worsening impact of the climate crisis, with heat waves and weather extremes. Himalayan glaciers continued to melt, and two-thirds of what remains will be gone during this century. COP27 in Egypt agreed on a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/what-next-after-cop27-ld-fund/" target="_blank">Loss and Damage Fund</a>, but failed to agree on a more ambitious emission target. But Nepal’s leaders cannot blame global warming for everything -- many of our problems predate the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-climate-crisis-is-a-water-crisis-in-the-himalaya/" target="_blank">climate crisis</a>. More than to save the planet, Nepal must reduce petroleum imports to save its economy from collapse. Migration Nepali Times continued its coverage of the hopes and sorrows of Nepali migrant workers overseas, and added its voice to calls for compensation for the abuse and<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/world-cup-ending-without-migrant-relief/" target="_blank"> deaths of workers building World Cup infrastructure</a> in Qatar. Remittances have started picking up again after the Covid slowdown, propping up the economy. It is not just workers who are leaving, as our investigation last week showed, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-hard-working-students-overseas/" target="_blank">students are leaving in droves</a> with many of them taking this path to emigration. New blood&nbsp; The local election in May and<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-nepali-people-have-spoken/" target="_blank"> federal and provincial polls</a> in November indicated that while the established parties are still dominant, many Nepalis are fed up with them. Rapper-engineer Balen Shah became mayor of Kathmandu, while young professionals were elected to the federal parliament. &nbsp;While traditional politicians will try to trip up the new entrants every step of the way, their very presence in legislative positions provides a glimmer of hope that democracy may finally deliver. Shristi Karki

2022: mandates, migrants and malaise

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058b09c7e80680e0ce1b5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667"/><figcaption>Patan Darbar Square. Photo: NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>As Nepal gears up for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-vote/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">general election on 20 November</a>, it is that time again to put our best bet on the same veteran patriarchs. The last time I wrote a piece of breaking news as a journalist in 2020, I remember how then-Prime Minister K P Oli pulled the best gambit ever, announcing a nationwide election in November amidst the Covid pandemic.If only it were as easy to restart one's life like prime ministers announce elections at the drop of a hat. And while the country's finance, foreign affairs, defence, federal affairs, water supply, and so on are mentioned in every election rally, culture and heritage does not deserve that distinction.And while 'culture' has been part of the Nepali vernacular for decades, 'heritage' is just beginning to creep into the leaders' lexicon. Hopefully, after these elections, culture and heritage will find their own meaning and importance in government policy. For now, they are lost in transition, appended to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.In fact the 'culture' baton has been shunted from one ministry to another for 40 years. No one quite seems to know what to do with culture. The term ‘culture’ was first used by the Council of Ministers in correlation with the Ministry of Education in 1981. The irony is that before culture was included in the ministry, the Department of Archaeology (DoA), the country's primary organisation for archaeological research and protection of cultural heritage, was established in 1952 and was administered by the Ministry of Education for 28 years.Since then, 'culture' has been shunted around in the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture; the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; the Ministry of Culture and State Rebuilding; the Ministry of Federal Affairs, Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture; and finally the Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism again since 2011.The Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism has had six ministers since 2020: Yogesh Bhattarai, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Uma Shankar Arajriya, Lila Nath Shrestha, Prem Ale, and Jeevan Ram Shrestha.These ministers are known for their one-of-a-kind personalities: from Prem Ale's video scandal, to Ale exposing Yogesh Bhattarai for alleged land extortion in Narayanhiti, while Uma Shankar Arajriya and Lila Nath Shrestha may have broken the Guinness World Record by now for the shortest tenure as Ministers of Culture.Jeevan Ram Shrestha also had a leading role in the September 2022 episode at the VFS Global Visa Application Centre in Thamel when a security guard was arrested for requesting him to stand in the queue like everyone else for his Canadian visa biometric.And, while Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal was not the Culture Minister at the time, he was caught picking his nose as Health Minister on national television, before he was assigned to the Ministry of Unculture.Culture is now the step-sibling of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. As is customary, the cream of the crop gets divided among the veteran leaders and parties, while Culture is relegated to the backburner. Let's take the annual budget as an example.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The history of heritage</a>, Ashish Dhakal<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058b29c7e80680e0ce1b6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4000" height="2707"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Minister Sharma notified in a speech on 29 June that a Mountaineering Research Centre and a museum reflecting the adventurous identity of Sherpas will be established in the Everest region, and the Himalayan Monastery Conservation Program will be implemented for the protection of Himalayan monasteries older than 500 years.In addition, a Newa Museum will be established with Kathmandu Metropolitan City, and assistance will be provided for the implementation of the Master Plan for Indigenous Gurung Culture Preservation in Pokhara.However, ministers in the past have repeatedly failed to set aside budgets for training and recruitment for heritage preservation and culture. Along with agriculture and tourism, culture  should also receive government subsidies and assistance. But, tourism and civil aviation always end up taking a larger chunk, leaving the scraps for culture.If Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has the budget to promote Janakpur's tourism, it might as well provide more resources to the promotion of the city's culture and heritage. In addition to the Janaki Temple and being the birthplace of Sita, Janakpur also houses a vibrant Mithila culture, art and cuisine. Tourists are drawn to culture, not the other way around. Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture are all intertwined, but without culture, there is no tourism. Without tourism, what happens to civil aviation?We live in a country where the youth is deprived of Nepal's history. For instance, there is no knowledge of the original copies of the Sugauli Treaty. Who is accountable for its loss? What is the state of the country's archives? Instead of spending money on the disastrous Yetis of Visit Nepal 2020, give resources and budget to passionate lone <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/adventures-of-a-lone-archivist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">archivists like Santosh Khaderi</a>, who works day-in and night in Qatar searching for Nepal's history online through newspaper clippings and museum archives abroad.The state of our national and state museums is not much better, and the DoA with limited resources and employees is expected to manage such large institutions. The chief of the National Museum Jayaram Shrestha remarks that he has tried his best to make the Museum relevant to the nation, but, given the limited budget, their hands are tied as they are not autonomous like the Patan and Narayanhiti museums and have to seek permission from the DoA for every single detail.Speaking of Narayanhiti, there is not a piece of land untouched by controversy and the cronies of the country.Only during the 2015 earthquake did culture and heritage generate a stir. Now, almost eight years later, we're back to square one. The National Library of Nepal, Kaiser Mahal, Singha Durbar, Sanskrit University, and many other projects remain unfinished. The disasters of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/our-kamal-pokhari/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kamal Pokhari</a>, Rani Pokhari and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tri-chandras-run-down-state-is-a-microcosm-of-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tri-Chandra College</a> are clear examples of how the metropolitan city offices, Department of Archaeology, and Ministry of Culture have failed to respect culture.Aside from simply rebuilding or adding wooden bars to support the walls, the government has consistently failed to preserve heritage, which includes the history, the artefacts, wall details, arts, statues, books, relics, furniture, pictures, and the legacy of the place, all on top of its structure.Moreover, the public wants to know what books, what paintings, what artefacts remain within Singha Durbar and Kaiser Mahal. But there is scant record keeping for the future generation to get a glimpse of what Nepal once looked like.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/restoring-a-piece-of-nepals-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Restoring a piece of Nepal's history,</a> Sahina ShresthaInterestingly, Nepal Tourism Board website also boasts of various intangible heritage of our country, but when one browses through UNESCO's list of intangible heritage of Nepal, the list is empty. If Nepal is to promote intangible heritage as a mode of tourism, it must also take a step back and preserve it from a cultural standpoint.It is true that often it rests on the community's shoulders to keep their practices, rituals and heritage from going extinct, but without support and incentive from the government, without the necessary research, the meaning behind the rich dances, jatra may soon be lost to time.There is also a National Language Commission, and many of Nepal’s languages are on the verge of extinction. But what is truly missing? Budget and human resources.In 2021, there was fake news that the Nepal government did not have the budget to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/laxmi-narayan-is-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">repatriate a stolen Laxmi-Narayan figure from the US</a>. The government panicked because it had never dealt with repatriation with so much media interest before.Currently, the DoA is nearly exhausted due to the rapid homecoming of stolen devi-devta, many of which are in transit, as the Chhauni Museum prepares to return them to their communities. Despite this, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Tourism and Culture and the rest of the government continue to only demonstrate "a keen positive interest", as shopping malls, swimming pools and apartment buildings continue to rise on public space, towering over the red roofs and golden spires of our heritage.Citizens and communities can take ownership, but if the elected candidates do not represent us or assist us in preserving these heritages, there will no longer be the temples or the palaces that have been the emblem of our cultural and historical legacy for centuries. Even Mt Everest is now listed as ‘endangered heritage’ by UNESCO, owing to the climate crises and garbage buildup. Everyone requires resources to keep up with the expanding economy, but if Nepal does not act now, we will have nothing left to teach the next generation.It is past time to detach Culture from Tourism and Civil Aviation. Culture and Heritage, when combined, can provide a platform for opportunities that have previously been unexplored. The sector that has borne most of the brunt of development and urbanisation has been culture. It is time to move beyond words and into deeds.Alisha Sijapati is a former Nepali Times Culture Correspondent, and is currently pursuing a masters in Cultural Heritage Studies at the Central European University in Vienna.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058b69c7e80680e0ce1b7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="88" height="110">

Culture cannot be an afterthought

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058969c7e80680e0ce1aejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="965"/>Don’t be an ass. Get out and vote, even if it is for a serial politician who has been given the chance to ruin this country several times over for the past 25 years. After all, we have to prove the astrologers right and have PM Dubya back on the saddle for his sixth innings.So, stamp your swastika on the Star of David, hammer and sickle, rhinoceros or umbrella. These election symbols were designed for a  time when Nepalis could not read or write, and the Erection Commission  believes that Nepalis are still functionally illiterate.Election symbols are meant for people so they don't vote for the wrong party. The Commgress has a Hammer, or Sickle, or both. And just to be different, the Congmunists have kept the Tree, which has been the NC's symbol since BP's election in 1959. But it may be time to change it to a Cactus.The most recognisable election symbols have been monopolised by the 5-Party Cartel, so the Sun, Moon, Tree, Cow are taken. Smaller parties have had to make-do with the Ox, Water Buffalo, Yak and Uncastrated He-goat. But there just are not enough symbols to go around for the plethora of parties in the fray.And this is where The Ass, in the national interest, springs to the rescue. Our ballot papers should enlarge the pool of election symbols reflecting the country’s flora, fauna and sauna, and the Nepali love for biodiversity and diversity visas.We should be inclusive and not discriminate against certain species. Political parties must set an example by inducting the Scorpion. And if a Yak is ok, why not a Yeti? (See Virtual Reality ballot paper above)Various spheres of national life can also be represented on the ballot paper. Since corruption plays such an important role in lubricating Nepal’s political mechanisms, the Cash symbol will be up for grabs for the party that offers the biggest bribe for it. The party that waged an underground armed struggle for ten years can fall back on the pressure cooker bomb.Memorise these symbols. It will determine Nepal’s future. May the best Jack Ass win.Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/election-dos-and-donts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Elections dos and don'ts</a>, The Ass

The Ass

Symbolic elections

<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-end-of-ideology-in-nepal/attachment/nepal-votes-nt/" rel="attachment wp-att-96596"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111414114/63723d3f9c7e80680e0c9664jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"/></a>On 7 October, Upendra Yadav’s Janta Samajwadi Party (JSP) a member of Nepal’s five-party governing coalition, switched sides and defected to an opposition alliance led by K P Oli of the UML to contest the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-parties-forge-new-pre-poll-alliances/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">20 November federal elections</a>. The two leaders are understood to have agreed to continue the partnership beyond the election.JSP chair Yadav had been a staunch critic of erstwhile Oli when he became prime minister after 2017 and dissolved Parliament in December 2020. Yadav then joined the Nepali Congress-led five-party coalition to successfully oust Oli.Meanwhile, Mahanta Thakur’s Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) itself split from the JSP and was in talks to form an alliance with the UML. But when the JSP teamed up with the UML, Thakur took the LSP into the governing coalition.Former parliamentarian Pari Thapa says that personal interests have taken <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/house-of-cards-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">precedence over ideology</a>: “Party principles, policies, and programs have absolutely no bearing on political alliances anymore, all that matters is rank and power, it doesn’t matter whom parties ally with to achieve it.”Nepal’s recent history of break-up, make-up politics is a proof that for parties and their handful of ageing, career politicians self-interest and a quest for power is much more important than any ideology or credo, bringing together the likes of Nepali Congress and the Maoist Centre to form a government and an electoral alliance.Nepal’s governing coalition parties range from the supposedly Communist Maoist Centre, CPN (Unified Socialists), and Rastriya Janamorcha Party; and the quasi-socialist Nepali Congress.While Marxism, Leninism, socialism with Communism as an end goal are core philosophies of the UML, identity-based federalism and social inclusion are guiding principles of the JSP. The could not be more different. The UML, which takes the 'People's Multiparty Democracy' as its ideological line, and the Maoist Centre, whose goal is ‘21st Century Democracy' had formed the powerful Nepal Communist Party in 2018 only to split two years later  due to political infighting between Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal.Although ostensibly Marxist-Leninist, these two parties were ideologically distinct. If they could form an alliance, it is not surprise that even more diametrically opposed ideologies have joined hands again for the election. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-post-breakup-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Politics makes strange bedfellows</a>.Even within Nepal's Communist parties, there are widely differing ideologies. While Madhav Kumar Nepal’s CPN-US, which split from the UML in 2021 subscribe to ‘scientific socialism’, Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led Maoist Centre’s goal is to achieve Communism through something called 'scientific socialism'. Functionally, the CPN-US identifies as being policy-oriented and a party that puts ideas above individuals, while the Maoists adhere to 'democratic centralism', which means that the party follows instructions of the elected leader.Meanwhile, the smaller Rastriya Janamorcha, which has been critical of the coalition despite being a part of it, opposes federalism, calling for the abolition of provinces in its local election 2022 manifesto, adding that federalism poses a threat to Nepali nationalism. The Party does not support the Parliament-endorsed amendment to the Citizenship Act 2063 (2006) and had protested the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mcc-gets-green-light-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ratification of the Millennium Challenge Compact</a> (MCC) as well-- all while being a part of government.Political science professor Krishna Khanal agrees that leaders are willing to make temporary ideological associations to gain power: “Politics has become entirely transactional. Ironically, there are no communists in Nepal even with an abundance of Communist parties.”But while parties in the coalition are philosophically opposed, socialism seems to be the common thread running through the ideologies of Nepal’s political collectives. Lokendra Bista Magar, a former standing committee member of the Maoist Centre who left politics to take up agriculture, says that there is a difference between the socialism of the NC and that of the Communists. “The socialism of the Nepali Congress pertains to the economy and not to politics,” he explains.Ideas, organisation and leadership are essential to any political party. The Nepal Praja Parishad, Congress and Communist parties that were established before the end of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/inside-story-of-nepals-rana-dynasty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Rana regime</a> were built because of the need for newideas. They were born out of struggle and revolution were guided by ideas that sought to free Nepalis.But for Nepal’s political parties, ideology and values have been reduced to party documents and declarations, having faded somewhere between the multiple struggles for democracy decades ago and Nepal becoming a federal republic.“We are experiencing an ideological collapse in Nepal’s political parties,” notes Krishna Khanal. “I prefer to see it as an abandonment of principles rather than a lack of it. Ideologies are low on the food chain of the party structure, while those at the top do not care for principles.”Ideological politics played an important role in underground Nepali politics during the Panchayat era, but its decline began following the end of the 1990 People's Movement.“The idea of a party itself has been rendered null and void because Nepal’s political leadership is only concerned with protecting its own power,” adds political analyst Hari Sharma. “Nepal’s politics has become a rudderless ship, and the state has lost all accountability.Lokendra Bahadur Chand in January 1997 and Surya Bahadur Thapa in October 1997 were elected Prime Minister by the UML and the Nepali Congress respectively after the parties failed to obtain a majority in the 1994 elections. Both the leaders belonged to the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and had been part of the Panchayat system, yet were elected by parties who had fought long and hard against it to restore for multiparty democracy.The Maoists, who fought a ten-year armed conflict that killed at least 17,000 Nepalis, promptly gave parliamentary positions to Nepal Army personnel like Surya Bahadur Sen Oli and Kumar Fudong, who retired from the military as a Major General, once they joined mainstream politics. Now, their closest confidant in government is the former arch-enemy the Nepali Congress.Maoist leader Ram Karki says that political parties lost their direction following the struggle to abolish the monarchy: “Nepal became a republic with the political leadership having paid no heed to our past and having no idea where we are headed in the future. Nepal’s current political mechanism is a football game without goalposts.”Some leaders have taken this blurring of lines between right-wing, centrist, and leftist politics as an opportunity to call for the restoration of the monarchy.The UML has joined hands with the far-right RPP to contest the November election, with RPP-Nepal chair Kamal Thapa running for parliament under the UML’s election banner, while the UML’s own high-profile leaders have been left without election tickets. In 2017, Thapa and other RPP leaders ran for the election with support from the NC.Says Prakash Chandra Pariyar of the Bibeksheel Sajha Party: “Looking at the last decade of Nepali politics it is difficult to reconcile Nepal’s current mainstream political parties with the one that had the likes of revolutionary leaders including the UML’s Manmohan Adhikari and NC’s Bhim Bahadur Tamang.”Political scientist Chandra Dev Bhatta warns that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/3-party-dictatorship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">leaders without ideology are a threat to democracy</a>, noting that it is ironic that it is leaders who are permanent in Nepal when it should be a political system. “The absence of political principle has meant that any political change only serves to benefit a certain faction of Nepali society,” says Bhatta.When the state’s political parties and leaders do not function as they are supposed to, one cannot expect political institutions to function as they should. As such, our public institutions and our branches of government have begun to collapse.“The collapse and chaos of our public institutions are entirely due to the fact that our politics is thoughtless and without integrity,” says Professor Lokraj Baral.All this political horse-trading has also come at the expense of Nepal’s minority communities, who have been sidelined from contesting the elections. Women make up less than 10% of election nominees. The Nepali Congress, for example, has not nominated a single person from the Dalit community to contest the direct election. Madhesh-based parties have given up on the agenda to join hands with large political parties.During local elections in May, public frustration and disenfranchisement manifested itself as independent candidates who swept the polls in major cities like Kathmandu and Dharan. This enthusiasm to run elections independently and to support such candidates has carried over to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gambling-with-our-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this provincial and parliamentary elections</a> as influential Nepalis from across professional backgrounds form independent collectives to fight in the polls.But even independent candidates lack ideological clarity, say experts. Politics is a public service that must serve the people's interests and the protection of democracy. Not only established parties but independent candidates must also have a clear socio-economic stance, on inclusivity, foreign policy, climate change, as well as on issues of secularism and republicanism.Says Analyst Hari Sharma: “Nepalis have lost trust in politics and politicians due to a lack of ideological clarity. So it is even more imperative that alternative parties and independent candidates make their principles and agenda clear to voters.”Adapted by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in Himal monthly magazine.

The end of ideology in Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131144/637238b69c7e80680e0c739fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="640"/><figcaption>Photo: JORGE FRANGANILLO/WIKIMEDIA</figcaption></figure>In June, inside a crowded auditorium of the Oslo Met University in Norway, YouTube’s Brandon Feldman was fielding questions from fact-checkers from around the world.Feldman had just finished a "fireside chat" with Baybars Orsek, the director of the International Fact-checking Network (<a href="https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/">IFCN</a>), when he was bombarded with questions from the audience.To the applause of fellow fact-checkers, one speaker after another exposed YouTube's failure to stop the spread of false information on the platform.A participant from Pakistan's Soch Factcheck said he came across a flood of potentially fatal false claims on YouTube. Others exposed videos with hate speech that went unchecked. Feldman promised reform, but it was too little, too late to appease fact-checkers.I was in Oslo for the annual <a href="https://globalfact9.com/register">Global Fact 9</a> Summit, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/fact-checking-movement-grapples-with-world-awash-false-claims/">first in-person conference</a> in three years with nearly 500 participants from 69 nations.I clicked through our own South Asia Check and showed <a href="http://southasiacheck.org/fact-check/popular-youtube-interview-on-covid-19-full-of-false-misleading-claims/">articles</a> debunking conspiracy theories around Covid-19.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/election-infowar-goes-digital/">Election infowar goes digital</a>, Ramesh KumarIn one session, employees of TikTok, a short-video platform that is becoming increasingly popular in Nepal, spoke about how they were tackling information disorder on the platform. There was a session on automated fact-checking. At another panel, a Meta speaker noted that Facebook does not moderate political content.After a week of this, I was a little overwhelmed by the work that lay ahead back in Nepal which is having federal and provincial elections on 20 November. If the local election in May was any indication, this one too would be fought on social media platforms.Balen Shah and Sunita Dangol, who ran for mayor and deputy mayor of Kathmandu in May were the targets of rumours and false information. Disinformation actors aim to delegitimise candidates or attack rivals with propaganda. The objective is to influence, if not manipulate, public discourse.With easy access to the Internet, more Nepalis are getting news and entertainment through their mobiles. This will inevitably lead to a proliferation of falsehood because social media algorithms promote clicks that are designed to attract users, and keep them on the platform.Both Facebook and TikTok have features that help content go viral. During significant news events, such as elections, people unknowingly share false information (also called misinformation) with significant impact on the integrity of the electoral process.Fact-checking, supporting media literacy initiatives, and media monitoring during elections can all contribute to fostering trust in public institutions.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-social-media-contagion/">The social media contagion</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel One of the reasons we started <a href="https://nepalcheck.org/">NepalCheck.Org</a> as the elections approached was to combat misinformation. But it is difficult to distinguish fact from fake, truth from trolls, and most importantly, to expose public officials who are lying. The fact-check report must be supported by reliable, authoritative evidence.How do we do it? The same tools that help spread misinformation and disinformation can also be employed to identify and debunk false claims.We conduct keyword searches on Google to verify information. Finding problematic online content requires constant social media monitoring. Since the news is the main source of false information, fact-checkers must be up to date on current affairs.Online search skills are also crucial. But there is a catch: you have to keep refining your searches and building on what you find in order to identify the origin of a misleading photo or video.Since fact-checking started in the US in the early 2000s, a lot has changed. It picked up steam during the 2016 US presidential elections. Recent international events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, have demonstrated how you can find the truth by utilising information that is publicly available.It has prompted the creation of novel tactics such as <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/osint-ukraine-war-satellite-images-plane-tracking-social?utm_source=dynamic&amp;utm_campaign=bfsharetwitter">open-source intelligence</a>, which assesses data from readily available sources using more sophisticated technologies to combat misinformation.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/paradigm-shift-in-nepali-media/">Paradigm shift in Nepali media</a>, Shristi KarkiDespite the rise in popularity of fact-checking, the pervasiveness of viral disinformation makes it appear like an intractable challenge. A quote often attributed to American author Mark Twain succinctly captures the situation: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while truth is putting on its shoes.”In my two and a half years as a fact-checking editor, I have occasionally felt like I am up against powerful fake news factories. Only a small portion of online misinformation and disinformation can be fact-checked.New studies in ‘inoculation theory’, have given me hope for a better future. Researchers from the universities of Bristol and Cambridge in the UK <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/08/can-you-inoculate-people-against-misinformation-before-they-even-see-it-this-study-says-yes/">found</a> that users can more effectively battle misinformation and disinformation if they are aware of the techniques used to distribute it.A total of 30,000 participants watched video clips to become more familiar with manipulative strategies, including employing polarising and emotional language. The study advocated immunising people against the tactics of misinformation and disinformation, drawing on the psychological concept of ‘inoculation'.Exposure to less harmful disinformation can aid in the development of a person's defences against propaganda and misleading claims, much like a vaccine does.As we progressively recover from the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to the vaccine, let us hope that a new vaccination will be an effective tool against the ‘infodemic’.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/punished-for-fact-checking-in-nepal/">Punished for fact-checking in Nepal</a>, SalokyaDeepak Adhikari is the editor of NepalCheck.Org, a new bilingual fact-checking platform in Nepal. He was the editor of South Asia Check from March 2020 to July 2022.

Inoculation against misinformation

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131140/637238059c7e80680e0c7363jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="366"/>Nepali Congress Joint General Secretary Mahalaxmi Upadhyay recalls how she missed a call from a journalist because she was attending an event.When she called back later, the reporter replied to the Member of Parliament, “I couldn’t reach the party vice-president, so I called you.”Another time, Upadhyay was meeting the press with other women in leadership to brief them on how underrepresented female politicians were in the news media. One editor said he listened to women: he always called up a politician’s wife for inside information.Chanda Chaudhary, an MP from the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, recalls a well-regarded tv anchor telling her without a hint of regret that there were no women politicians worth inviting to his talk show.Binda Pandey of the UML sees Nepali politics as a revolving door of ageing politicians — mostly male, and some female who behave like men — who are always given office as if there were no one else in the party who deserved it.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-power-to-have-a-say-in-her-story/">The power to have a say in her-story</a>, Shristi KarkiNepal’s women politicians have had enough. They feel so strongly about being excluded that they have banded together across party lines to share these experiences with the media. They have been galvanised into action by their parties once more trying to short-circuit affirmative action policies in the Constitution allowing greater women’s representation in provincial and federal elections on 20 November.Women politicians are on the list, but they are not given tickets to stand for direct elections and are confined to proportional representation registers.In the 2017 elections, 41% of locally elected representatives were female, whereas there was 34% women’s representation in provincial elections. At the federal level, the Upper House has 37% female representatives, while 33.1% of MPs in the House of Representatives are women.The Global Gender Gap Index ranked Nepal 61st out of 155 countries in political participation, and 40th in terms of women in parliament. Nepal is currently one of only 35 countries in the world that has a female head of state or government.Nepalis like to tout positive statistics, and the fact that we have a female president and once had a female Speaker and Chief Justice finds its way into every discourse about gender equality. While these numbers are encouraging, the ground reality of Nepali women politicians is starkly different.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-leaders-unable-to-accept-women-in-power/">“Nepali leaders unable to accept women in power”</a>, Nepali TimesAfter the May local elections, only 69 out of 753 municipalities and metropolitan cities are led by female chiefs, with most women getting tickets for deputy chief positions because Nepal’s Local Government Act requires at least one female candidate between the chief and deputy chief.Out of the 91 women in Parliament (exactly 33% as per the Constitutional requirement) only seven were directly elected, and the rest through the proportional representation system.Women are getting into the legislative through their quota, but not through direct ballot. Nor are they given decision-making executive roles. Were it not for constitutional mandates and affirmative action policies, they might not even be in those positions.Getting elected is half the battle. Female leaders recount how those nominated through proportional representation are seen by their male counterparts as someone less deserving and competent than those directly elected.What this means is that women in political leadership, just like many Nepali women at home or in the workplace, are expected to be grateful that they were even allowed to enter the Parliament premises.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/women-leaders-set-example-for-rest-of-nepal/">Women leaders set example for rest of Nepal</a>, Laxmi BasnetElected women face gendered condescension on a daily basis. They are second choices when it comes to interviews, opinions and media representation. Male leaders are addressed simply by their full names, or by adding जी at the end of their names, while female politicians get addressed as दिदी or बहिनि.All this has forced many women aspiring to political leadership to speak and behave like their male counterparts, often at the expense of their femininity and identity.Maoist Centre MP Anjana Bishankhe is fed up with women trying to make it to the top presenting themselves in a masculine way just to be considered seriously for leadership roles. “Why do I need to change to conform to the patriarchy?” she asks.Women leaders are actively campaigning to compete directly in the election and to be given a 50% seat at the table. But they are up against the formidable patriarchy of their parties.While voters need to be informed and vote for capable female leaders in future elections, political parties need to nominate them for competitive positions first. After that it will be up to the Nepali people to vote more women to office come November.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/reward-performance/">Reward performance</a>, EditorialShristi Karki

Shristi Karki

Affirmative inaction

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234599c7e80680e0c492bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="1066"/><figcaption>All photos: RABI LAMICHHANE/FACEBOOK</figcaption></figure>While mainstream political leaders in Kathmandu were vacillating on a date for the upcoming provincial and federal elections, one Ram Bahadur Biswokarma was up on a stage of an open stadium in Nepalganj.“May my country be like Rabi Lamichhane,” said Biswokarma in a quivering voice. He was prompted to speak about ‘the country of his imagination’ at a district meeting of the newly launched National Independent Party in Banke.Another participant, Balkrishna Chapagain added: “May my country be what Rabi Sir has envisioned!”Rabi Lamichhane is using this public preference for independent candidates because the incumbents are old and incompetent to his advantage and to catapult his National Independent Party to prominence. His personal brand as a well-recognised face has helped.Lamichhane is only the latest figure cultivating tv popularity for politics in a long list in Nepal, India and other countries. Viz:  Donald Trump, Silvio Berlusconi, Volodymyr Zelensky, Smriti Irani.According to John Street, English professor and author of Mass Media, Politics and Democracy, it is easy to have 'celebrity influence' on politics through television. The reason: compared to any other mass medium, television focuses more on the human aspect of the people -- making the audience in turn feel seen and heard.Lamichhane’s News 24 show  सधा कुरा, जनता संग (Straight Talk with the People) allowed him to generate a massive fan base after it was first aired in 2016. He took on issues of public concern including foreign employment fraud, mismanagement of airport immigration, and corruption. Heated political confrontation in the studio, live rescue of abused workers meant that people were now coming to him in the hope of solving their problems instead of going to the police.Soon enough, Lamichhane was everywhere. At political party events, the crowd lined up for selfies with ‘Rabi Dai’. On Facebook, he has over a million followers which is more than the combined total Sher Bahadur Deuba, K P Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal have on the platform.But his influence was perhaps most visible when he was taken into custody by Chitwan Police in 2019 for the suicide case of a former employee. Even as an alleged video emerged where Salikram Pudasaini before his death blamed Lamichhane among others for mistreatment, supporters took to the streets calling the incident a smear campaign against the tv presenter.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/kathmandus-balen-phenomenon/">Kathmandu’s ‘Balen Phenomenon</a>’, Sarala Gautam<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/6372345c9c7e80680e0c492cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="852">Which might as well be, but Lamichhane’s persona is cultivated by sensational, clickbait journalism. his content is provocative and unapologetic, it incites antagonism against guess. Few anchors on national television have hurled invectives and threats as he has.But when the Press Council sent Lamichhane a warning letter, he wrote back, ‘I’m not a journalist, not yet.’ And yet, he has used the media to propel himself to national popularity. 'I would rather be a cobbler than apply for a press pass,' he added, which the followers supported by waging a cyber jihad.For a celebrity presenter of his status, he is quite fast and loose with facts. His forte is not fact-checking, as exemplified by episodes on Nepal manufacturing its own Covid vaccine and a haunted house in Kathmandu which were baseless, problematic and promoted false narratives.So it is only natural to wonder if his politics will resemble his journalism. After all, a leader has the responsibility to forge a path without crowd pressure, having judged right from wrong.Lamichhane accepts that he lacks leadership experience in Nepal, but claims to have led a large group at his workplace in the US to improve customer service. Lamichhane was formerly a manager at an outlet of the sandwich chain Subway in Baltimore.It was also the Chitwan incident that prompted Lamichhane to join politics, he has said. He had even announced a new reality show titled Leader to find candidates for his new political party but the pandemic intervened.But when he joined Galaxy 4k TV where he was also an investor, one could see a marked difference in his demeanour. He was constrained, and diplomatic with his guests. Perhaps he was just biding his time to join politics.“I had thought of running for mayor of Kathmandu,” Lamichhane was quoted as saying. But the results of the May election where independent candidates were victorious in some of the major cities appears to have emboldened him to launch an entirely new political party.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/rise-of-the-independents/">Rise of the independents</a>, Editorial<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234609c7e80680e0c492djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Lamichhane set some ground rules during the campaign. At his party functions, it is not the leaders who speak and make false promises but participants who talk about their expectations, election tickets will be given only to the candidates chosen by ordinary members and the party will refrain from setting up cadre and forming fraternal organisations.But Lamichhane’s unclear stance on federalism and secularism is suspicious to many. To be sure, he was in the news for his anti-republicanism and anti-federal sentiments around the time Rajendra Lingden won the RPP chairmanship.There was also talks of him joining the party prior to local elections in May. Lamichhane’s celebrity status combined with RPP’s stronghold could have been a powerful alliance, but by setting up his own party, it seems he wants to be his own boss and not be led by crowds.We have already seen how Bibeksheel Sajha Party went into decline after its chair also a former media personality Rabindra Mishra demanded feudalism to be scrapped, monarchy restored and a referendum on secularism.Will Lamichhane be able to connect to the people with his politics as he did with his brand of journalism? Will the voters amid their distaste for mainstream parties and the same old leaders seek an alternative as they did with Balen Shah and Harka Sampang in May? We will have to wait till November for answers.So far, the new party has enjoyed a good turnout at its district meetings. But so do gatherings of rural cooperatives. And despite the Lamichhane Craze, his new party lacks candidates and leaders to properly contest the election. Even Lamichhane’s otherwise tv presenter-style provocative oration lacks substance at his political events.“Giving a public speech is much more difficult than speaking on tv where we talk based on facts,” Lamichhane himself admits. But one cannot discount the possibility that the celebrity presenter could cut the vote bank of the establishment and even capture their strongholds.Rabi Lamichhane’s transition to politics is an experiment. Voters will also be experimenting by voting for him. For many, given the current crop of ageing leaders, that is worth a gamble.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/snowbalen/">SNOWBALEN</a>, Shristi KarkiUmesh Shrestha is the editor at NepalFactCheck.org, a joint initiative of the non-profit Center for Media Research Nepal (CMR-Nepal) and the Nepali language blog, MySansar.com

After Balen, the Rabi Phenomenon

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223079c7e80680e0c032djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1364" height="860"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>On his first anniversary in office this month, Nepal’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deuba-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">five-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba</a> and his coalition governments get a mixed report card.Deuba came to power by riding on an internal feud within the leadership of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-outraged-by-pm-oli-move/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">powerful Nepal Communist Party</a> (NCP) that ruled the country after the UML and Maoists together won the 2017 polls. As the NCP disintegrated, so did the UML, and Deuba replaced K P Oli in July 2021.It has been a chequered year for Deuba. On the plus side, more than 90% of Nepal’s eligible population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the American-aided MCC project <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mcc-gets-green-light-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">got ratified by Parliament</a> after a bruising political battle, local elections were held.However, just as Nepal was emerging from the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-real-cost-of-nepals-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 pandemic</a>, it plunged headlong into an economic crisis spawned by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ukraine-crisis-hits-nepal-economy-hard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economy is in bad shape</a>.The 5-party coalition in its first cabinet meeting had given itself ten targets that included post-Covid economic prosperity, strengthening the federal democratic system, disaster management and equitable access to public services.But perhaps the biggest achievement of the Deuba administration has been the relatively successful conduct of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-goes-to-the-polls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">local polls in May</a> which was held in 752 local constituencies with 35,045 representatives elected. Holding elections in time should not be regarded as an ‘achievement’, but we have to remember that Deuba had to convince both coalition partners Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoists and Madhav Nepal of the CPN-Unified Socialists who were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dance-of-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reluctant about polls</a> because they thought their parties would lose.Deuba even managed to convince Netra Bikram Chand, erstwhile separatist C K Raut, and Resham Chaudhari who had been expelled from Parliament on allegations of involvement in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tikapurs-protracted-trauma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kailali massacre</a> of 2015, not to disrupt the voting.But Deuba’s second singular achievement was to steer the $500 million MCC infrastructure grant through House ratification despite the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/high-tension-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">political polarisation</a> that it had created. The MCC was stuck in Parliament repeatedly when the NCP with its near two-thirds majority was in power, but Deuba’s deserves credit for deftly manoeuvring the bill through the House.The MCC was not just important because of the size of the grant, but because the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-cost-of-no-mcc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">future of Nepal’s hydropower development</a>, distribution and possibility of future export of surplus electricity to India depends on it.The previous Oli government had been accused of corruption in the import of Covid test equipment, vaccines, security printing press, and real estate scams. The Deuba coalition has not been able to escape allegations of corruption in high places either.As soon as his coalition took over from the Oli government, Deuba sent both Houses into recess and called a Cabinet meeting the very next day to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/political-expediency-trumps-nepal-constitution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pass an ordinance allowing parties to split</a> with just 20% of the membership.This was targeted directly at the UML, allowing its rump Unified Socialists to split off. This was a blatant misuse of power for partisan benefit, especially since it was Deuba himself who was responsible for a law requiring 40% membership of a parliamentary party for a break-up — a requirement especially designed in 2017 to prevent political instability,All this was the height of hypocrisy for a coalition that had attacked the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-pm-oli-goes-it-alone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">K P Oli government for violating the rule of law</a>. Deuba ended up out-doing Oli in bending rules for power and partisan gain.Since then, scandals have been coming on thick and fast involving ministers in the Deuba government. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma first got burnt in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/state-sponsored-economic-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sacking Nepal Rastra Bank governor Adhikari</a>, then for allowing outside consultants to help him pass tax laws in the new budget that benefited only certain business houses.Sharma then got embroiled in allegations that he had allowed special interest groups illegal access to the budget design process. And then there was the tape of Minister of Culture, Tourism and Aviation Prem Ale abusing and manhandling the head of Nepal Airlines, allegedly over refusing to give jobs to the minister’s cronies. Instead of reprimanding the minister, Deuba’s ministerial council sacked the airline chief.There was also blatant interference in the promotion of the new police chief, which sent the message that the security services had been politicised. But this was not new for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/reinstate-remove-repeat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deuba</a>, who as Home Minister 30 years ago, had interfered similarly in police promotions.Despite all this, by the sordid record of past governments in Nepal, this coalition government is relatively clean. With <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-local-polls-a-rehearsal-for-federal-elections/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal and provincial elections looming</a> on the horizon, the Nepali Congress still has a chance to distance itself from its tainted partners and aim for a fresh mandate in November.Santa Gaha Magar

Deuba's mixed report card

Ang Kami Sherpa just broke his own record to climb Mt Everest for the 26th time last week. Also aspiring to be in the Guinness Book is Prime Minister Deuba by being prime minister seven times (five down two to go) and have a wax figure of himself yawning installed at Madame Tussauds.Hoping to get into the Guinness Book this week is the shortest man ever to summit Mt Everest. We already have Ghantaghar in Dharan officially listed as the world’s fastest clock, and the CPN Maoist Centre has been recognised as the world’s most rightwing Communist Party.We can now reveal that Nepal’s Election Commission is going to be on the Guinness Book for being the slowest ballot counters. This is a great national recognition that does Nepal proud, and shows that our hard-won democracy is taking a great leap forward.There have been calls to speed up the counting process so that Nepalis can get on with their busy schedules to enjoy two-day weekends. That would be a bad idea. After all, haste makes waste, and slow and steady wins the race. The Election Commissars have also wisely desisted from putting the names of parties and candidates on the ballot so as not to confuse voters. For The Ass, 13 May was a toss up between Shuttlecock and Cock.To be fair, voters do have a right to be confused about ballot papers this time, there were just too many candidates. This presents a clear and present danger of the Erection Commission running out of party symbols for future polls.Since prominent symbols like Fountain Pen, Mango, Duck and Rabbit have already been taken by the 5-Party Cartel, we need more symbols so that in November  voters can confidently stamp their Hammer and Sickle on the Swastika.In order to enlarge the gene pool of election symbols, the Ass is inspired by Nepal’s rich biodiversity to include the country’s flora, fauna and sauna. The Uncastrated He-goat, Bull, Water Buffalo and Yak have already been conscripted.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111128/6372186e9c7e80680e0baa40jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="765" height="2000"/>To accommodate political parties that are missed out, we have assigned them the Scorpion, Yeti, Vulture, Porcupine, Snake, Snail and (the Donkey is pleased to announce) a Jack Ass delivering a back kick.We have also included symbolic symbols like Handcuffs, Grenade (with pin attached) and Squat Latrine. The Family Party’s symbol has been changed to a male prophylactic, and Bibeksheel Sajha gets Face Mask.As more election results come in, let the best ass win.

Ass s

Symbolic symbols

Born in Khandbari in eastern Nepal, Parashuram Pathak helped his family around the farm, sold what they grew in the market and lent a hand in the kitchen.&nbsp; After working as a chef in Dubai, San Francisco, Denmark, Australia, and on cruise ships, Pathak has now brought back what he has learnt to the Tusa Restaurant in Bhaktapur that opened on Nepali New Year on 13 April. Tusa uses fresh indigenous ingredients from various parts of Nepal, and fuses them with international methods to produce unique dishes. Pathak is a global Nepali, and is introducing global Nepali cuisine to his homeland. Pathak left an executive chef job to intern at three-Michelin-starred Noma in Denmark, named the best restaurant in the world five times. Noma runs on a philosophy of foraging to rediscover wild local ingredients, and Tusa’s mission is similarly noble: preparing dishes with Nepali ingredients using modern techniques and equipment. “We are taking Nepali food beyond dal-bhat and momo, we are taking it international,” Pathak said on the phone from Sydney. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-baker-rises-to-the-top-in-denmark">Denmark’s best baker is a Nepali</a>, Vishad Onta  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_1312bc016cbb2fe59c6d4a78d1f8b463af4a10b3f79559a2405fd54ea5b3197a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240419180424_1312bc016cbb2fe59c6d4a78d1f8b463af4a10b3f79559a2405fd54ea5b3197a" data-rendition-name="original" width="801" height="802" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Photo: PARASHURAM PATHAK/FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  Pathak’s team in Nepal includes chefs Rupesh Bohara and Sagar Shrestha who have also worked extensively in Dubai and Australia, and share his vision. The three realised they shared the same dream, and over the past five years have travelled across Nepal to research their menu, collecting ingredients and ideas from homestays, food carts, and nature. The team then scouted for Nepal’s best architect, and zeroed in on Bhaktapur-based heritage conservationist Rabindra Puri who designed the Malla-era house for Tusa in the Nag Pokhari neighbourhood. Bohara and Shrestha have moved back to Nepal for good, and Pathak arrives in September. “I made dishes from all over the world, but when someone asked what Nepali food was like, I had no answer,” says Bohara, “I came back to find out.” &nbsp;“You can get citizenship, a green card, big houses and cars, but where is the self-satisfaction?” asks Shrestha, who has a red-and-blue chef’s knife with the sun and moon of the Nepali flag tattooed on his right forearm.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/diaspora-diaries/the-return-of-a-master-baker"> The return of a master baker</a>, Raju Pakhrin  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_c601264463e5a28d4e71a46781f340a53619a08d00949a7aaebfef84e75a319d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240419180424_c601264463e5a28d4e71a46781f340a53619a08d00949a7aaebfef84e75a319d" data-rendition-name="original" width="6000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Photos: TUSA</figcaption> </figure>  Bohara and Shrestha passionately recount stories of their trips across Nepal, speaking of generous lodge owners who introduced them to local ingredients. Tusa can seat 28, and dining here is a sensory experience with a live kitchen. The chefs cook and place dishes on a large granite countertop with induction sections built in. Behind the counter is a grill on an indoor fire with pulley control to adjust the fire. Everything that can be made in Nepal — chairs and tables, ceramic dishes, the grill — is locally sourced. The executive kitchen/laboratory is downstairs. It is spacious, spotless, and contains appliances rarely seen in restaurants here: a sous vide machine that cooks vacuum-sealed packets at consistent temperatures, and a dehydrator for sisnu nettles. A fresh batch of deep purple kimbu (mulberry) muffins has just come out of the oven. Fridges have dry-aged fish and marigold kombucha. Fermentation seems to be the theme at Tusa, and Pathak explained: “Fermentation takes away the natural sugars in food, leaving behind a true, umami taste.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/vikings-khukri-passion">Viking's khukri passion</a>, Alisha Sijapati  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_c59e2b4230864f646bc36108adb951e95ec85da6156740294b1ec715b86acf89.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240419180424_c59e2b4230864f646bc36108adb951e95ec85da6156740294b1ec715b86acf89" data-rendition-name="original" width="5895" height="3930" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> </figure>  Tusa itself means ‘shoot’ in Nepali, and can be a dish of fermented bamboo shoots. The restaurant serves a tasting menu with six courses, plus surprises. It starts with a fermented potato and millet roti with charred green garlic and tomato chutney. The bread tastes like a mix of alu paratha and kodoko roti with a satisfying, mild flavour. The chefs do not show off, and overdo it. Dishes are tastefully simple and faithful, a theme that runs through the meal. The second course is a filet of fish charred on one side and placed in a broth. It is delicate and smokey, and does not mask the character of the fish.&nbsp; The next is Batuk Chukauni, a Magar dish with a lentil snack and a yoghurt-based potato achar. The batuk, made of lentil batter, is light and the chukauni has potatoes and peas. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/money-is-not-everything-but-you-need-money-for-everything">"Money is not everything, but you need money for everything"</a>, Rohit Shrestha  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_e3f51228ff792e8d4297f81f8e67d138584e922ae035d131977494219e5e85c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240419180424_e3f51228ff792e8d4297f81f8e67d138584e922ae035d131977494219e5e85c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Batuk Chukauni. Photo: VISHAD ONTA</figcaption> </figure>  Next is a skewer of jackfruit with a tamarind and mustard glaze that has the texture of a slice of sausage and melts in the mouth. Then comes the first off-menu item: a steak of watermelon, glazed and grilled, tasting sweet, sour and smokey. After that a palate cleanser sorbet made with laligurans syrup adorned with a frozen candied rhododendron petal. Finally the main course: barbeque chicken and chyakla coarse corn grits. The chicken has been brined, marinated, cooked sous-vide and seared on the grill. The delicate consistency of the chicken stands out. Desert is a smooth, creamy cheesecake that uses the local juju-dhau yoghurt. And the last course is a moist, moss-green sisnu cake laced with mulberry jam and cream.&nbsp; There is nothing gimmicky about Tusa. It is the coming together of skilled Nepalis with international exposure who have mixed what they have learnt abroad with the flavours of home.&nbsp; The tasting menu is Rs3,500, and it may take some time before Nepalis develop a predilection for some of its items. The chefs are excited, vindicated, and relieved. Coming back to Nepal, uprooting successful careers abroad to take a chance on Nepal must not have been easy.&nbsp; Tusa had a soft launch on New Year’s day with Kathmandu-based diplomats. Australian Ambassador Felicity Volk was one of them, and wrote on a Facebook post: ‘Chefs who honed their skills in Australia and returned to Nepal to give back. We call it fine dining, they call it #cominghome.’ Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-baker-of-barpak">The baker of Barpak</a>, Tara Aryal Pandey

The return of the natives

For a year or two after the 25 April 2015 earthquake, the residents of Kathmandu were too terrified to return to their high-rise apartments. None of them collapsed in the 7.8 disaster, but many sustained serious structural damage. &nbsp;
Fast forward nine years, and they have all but forgotten that frightful day. Kathmandu is back to building substandard structures, even as land prices drive developers to build taller.&nbsp;
With no more space to spread horizontally, Kathmandu is going vertical. But structural engineers say most of the high rises do not take into account seismicity, soil condition, construction methods, quality of raw materials, fire hazard, and search and rescue in collapsed concrete structures.
“Much of our focus since the 2015 earthquake has been on building and construction, but not as much on where we are building,” warns Sangeeta Singh, Professor of Urban Planning and Deputy Director of Centre for Disaster Studies at the Institute of Engineering.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">In a disastrous state</a>, Sonia Awale
She adds: “Kathmandu is not really suited for high-rises. We have to first test the condition of the soil, but building permits are being issued without this fundamental step.”
Kathmandu Valley is a former lakebed with soft topsoil prone to liquefaction and excessive shaking, as seen during the 1934 megaquake. Many ruptures tore up the surface in 2015. &nbsp;
During an earthquake, the rock layers below Kathmandu ring like a bell and the vibrations on the surface take between 0.5 to 2 seconds for one oscillation. Buildings also vibrate, but at different frequencies depending on their height, construction material, and arrangement of their structural components.
At five floors, the vibration period of a building is 0.5 seconds, which is the same as that for Kathmandu Valley, and this could cause more damage, says structural engineer Surya Narayan Shrestha at the National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET).
“Building anything that is five storeys or higher in Kathmandu needs special design and structural considerations,” says Shrestha.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/shaking-things-up">Shaking things up</a>, Editorial
Technologies exist to reduce seismic risk in high-rises, and these are used in earthquake-prone cities like Tokyo, Los Angeles, Jakarta or Mexico City.&nbsp;
Base isolation, for example, separates the vibration of the land and the building, reducing damage from soil-building resonance. Base isolators move and stretch under pressure, absorbing much of an earthquake's impact by reducing swaying and shaking. &nbsp;
Seismic dampers change the pattern of vibration altogether, dissipating energy as vibrations move across a structure. But these are all expensive technologies, and none of the high-rises in Kathmandu use them.
However, Nepali engineers who can help with technology transfer are working in the field in Nepal and overseas. Kathmandu’s high-rises are already very expensive, and making them seismic-resistant would be an incremental cost.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/learning-from-jajarkot-what-we-didnt-after-2015-695vpzle">Learning from Jajarkot what we didn't after 2015</a>, Sushil Gyewali
The shape of high-rises also matters. Reinforced concrete buildings with asymmetric designs of the kind that are seen in newer structures in Kathmandu experience more torsion and shear during quakes. High-rises with regular geometry are stronger. &nbsp;&nbsp;
An even bigger concern is that of emergency evacuation and rescue in case of fire or earthquake. Kathmandu fire services do not have ladders that reach the higher floors of most new structures.
“High-rises mean more people and potentially higher casualties,” explains Shrestha. “We need immediate evacuation routes, fire escapes, emergency ladders, and fire trucks that can reach higher. Right now, safety features are voluntary and not mandatory.”
The street access, shelters, open spaces, and evacuation routes are integral to disaster preparedness and the safety of neighbourhoods and not just buildings. Most new high-rises in Kathmandu have narrow access roads.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/rebuilding-resilience-7-years-later">Rebuilding resilience 7 years later</a>, Anil Pokhrel
Since most of the buildings that survived the 2015 disaster were reinforced concrete structures, it fed the misconception that they are safer. But Himalayan seismologists say that if the intensity and duration of the shaking had been just a little higher, many substandard concrete structures would have collapsed.&nbsp;
And that is the final gap: Nepal’s limited expertise and equipment for search and rescue inside collapsed concrete structures. Kathmandu’s high-rises need to be better prepared for the next Big One.
“Structural safety and design were at the front and the centre after the 2015 earthquake, we also revised some building codes but we are back to square one with contractor-driven construction, especially in peri-urban areas,” says Sangeeta Singh, who is also with the National Planning Commission. “We need to monitor construction as much as design.”&nbsp;
Shrestha at NSET agrees there have been improvements in building practices in the past nine years, but adds, “We have both learnt and unlearnt lessons from 2015. The awareness hasn’t yet translated into action on safety.”
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu">Lessons not learned from 2015</a>, Sonia Awale

The rise of high-rises

Midway along the stretch of the ancient trade route between Tibet and India lies the Kel Tol neighbourhood. The name is derived from the original Koligrām, and it is believed the Koli people, who were originally from Rāmagrām in present-day southern Nepal near the Indian border, settled here. The Koli were the maternal ancestors of none other than the Buddha. Kel Tol is famous for the Buddhist monastic complex of Kanak Chaitya Mahāvihar, featuring the majestic two-tiered gilded temple of the white god Karunāmaya.&nbsp; This elaborately decorated courtyard is a bustling centre of the Vajrayāna sect of Buddhism, practised widely by the indigenous Newā people of Kathmandu Valley. Karunāmaya, also known as Ārya Avalokiteshwor, is defined in great detail in the 1st century CE Buddhist text Sadharmapundarikā where he liberates all sentient beings from suffering. He helps rid the eight external fears metaphorically equated with their equivalent internal states of mind: lions (pride), wild elephants (ignorance), fire (anger), snakes (jealousy), floods (attachment), imprisonment (miserliness), thieves (wrong views) and cannibals (doubt).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_fe370cbee75003cd3eb5dccc7c3b2671630da193b0744db2aeac1bab3ff4a85c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240418130432_fe370cbee75003cd3eb5dccc7c3b2671630da193b0744db2aeac1bab3ff4a85c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1338" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  In the Pancha Rakshyā Sutra, a Buddhist scripture from 200 CE, Ārya Avalokiteshwor was counted among the eight major deities. Followers of the Brāhminical god Shiva worship Ārya Avalokiteshwor as Seto Machhindranāth. For Shaivites, Machhindranāth is the Indian saint who founded the Nāth cult in the 10th century CE. He is the guru of saint Gorakhnāth. During the reign of Yakshya Malla (1428–1482 CE), a beautiful image of Ārya Avalokiteshwor was dug up by a farmer in present-day Jamal, which was then a cultivated area outside the city. The farmer, known as a Jamami (meaning the one from Jamal) took the image home for safekeeping. That night, Ārya Avalokiteshwor appeared in the farmer’s dream and told him that the proper place for him to reside is at the confluence of two rivers. The nearest confluence was at present-day Wongha (Indrachok) and the image was installed in the Kanak Chaitya Mahāvihar complex in Kel Tol near Wongha. This made it easier for city residents to pay homage to Ārya Avalokiteshwor and spread compassion. Soon, the deity came to be revered highly as Jamaleshwor, the one found in Jamal. Eventually, the name got corrupted, as happens often in Nepāl Bhāsā, to Janabahā Dyo. The courtyard where his temple is located is now popularly known as Janabahā.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_5c9b219530e400445ef4e7f64856b43e7cdb756be26d9ed4565c84044c178a7e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240418130432_5c9b219530e400445ef4e7f64856b43e7cdb756be26d9ed4565c84044c178a7e" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1668" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  The gilded temple of Janabahā Dyo, first built in the early 16th century CE, is adorned with wooden and metal artefacts that symbolise 108 forms of Ārya Avalokiteshwor. It stands out as the most decorated temple of its kind in Kathmandu. Today, Janabahā is a living heritage site where many ancient customs and rituals are widely practised as per Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition. Devotees throng the Janabahā Dyo shrine for daily worship and to receive Karunāmaya’s blessings. Being the compassionate one, Ārya Avalokiteshwor goes around town every year in his tall wooden chariot to allow sick and physically disabled devotees to pay homage to him from the comfort of their homes. One could say it is a door-to-door visit by the Compassionate One.&nbsp; For the pragmatic minded, the chariot festival is an annual renewal of communal harmony, validation of our ancient mathematical supremacy and demonstration of the need to keep practical skills alive, including the craft of building earthquake resilient houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_fc8b234ceca87dee4b99e897a485cef121fb953857fb61492a413fbfcc48360c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240418130432_fc8b234ceca87dee4b99e897a485cef121fb953857fb61492a413fbfcc48360c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  The Janabahā Dyo chariot is pulled from Jamal, where his image was found by the farmer, through the historic heart of Kathmandu in a gala parade every year. The procession, accompanied by folk music ensembles and revellers, starts on the eighth day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra, and lasts up to a week (ending on Saturday this year). Hundreds of devotees pull the chariot along the streets as a way of expressing their gratitude to lord Karunāmaya for blessing them with compassion and well-being. Purna Ratna Vajrāchārya is an ordained priest who belongs to the clan responsible for taking care of Janabahā Dyo. He has been studying the design and architecture of the chariot for the past 40 years, and overseeing its construction for the past 15. He has learnt that the engineering principles of building the chariot are based on the mathematical system in which Buddhism is taught. For example, 365 pieces of wood are used in the chariot, each representing a day of the year. Each of the four wheels consist of 25 pieces of wood, totalling 100, representing completeness or fulfilment. The chariot is vertically divided into 13 sections, a parallel to the Buddhist concept of Trayodashi Bhuvana that describes the 13 steps that one must take to achieve the state of Nirvana.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_36d9964c9845f6d9a074786361fc5ab7d49138503ad162086998b731349b0ec0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240418130432_36d9964c9845f6d9a074786361fc5ab7d49138503ad162086998b731349b0ec0" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1668" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_2662753a9514a682ccdfd17bf05e2be3771183a68dc86b717ab67d9aad894563.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240418130432_2662753a9514a682ccdfd17bf05e2be3771183a68dc86b717ab67d9aad894563" data-rendition-name="original" width="1668" height="2500" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  &nbsp;Exactly nine types of wood are used, which is the sum of the four base elements that make up the universe (earth, water, fire and air) and the five human senses. The height and length of the chariot is 32 arm’s length (hāt in Sanskrit), 14.8m. The number 32 represents the maximum number of auspicious and physical qualities one could possess to be considered an outstanding human being.&nbsp; Says Vajrācharya, “Observing how the chariot is built helps one learn the fundamental pillars of the Buddha’s teachings, and find an easier path to Nirvana.” The structural design of the nearly 15m wooden chariot is not only awe-inspiring but also gravity-defying. It leverages the pliancy of the materials used in its construction -- flexible joints tied with cane soaked in water for several days. The precise proportions of the chariot ensure great manoeuverability in the narrow streets along the route of the chariot procession that include some 90° bends, without colliding into houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_9f5c2943f5d6b3f0010d3d5213697549945e87a6f7d3d8cbadd69f0dea6c6e2c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240418130432_9f5c2943f5d6b3f0010d3d5213697549945e87a6f7d3d8cbadd69f0dea6c6e2c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="3750" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  Driving and steering the chariot with brute muscle power of the mirthful crowd is a seemingly impossible task. But this has been achieved year after year, despite the fact that the devotees who tug wildly at the ropes lassoed to the two front wheels, are most likely in high-spirits (pun intended). Sanjay Manandhar, a US-based technology entrepreneur, recounts how his high school physics teacher from Canada asked his students to go observe the locals build the chariots of Karunāmaya if they were interested in becoming engineers in the future.&nbsp; “That made no sense to me then, but, after all these decades, I now see clearly how the structural design of the chariot, adopted early on by our ancestors is full of earthquake-resilient properties that need to be applied in building houses in an earthquake-prone zone like Nepal,” says Manandhar. A highlight of the chariot festival is that human goddess Kumari makes an appearance at the final destination in Lagan, usually on the third day. This is only one of the 13 times that people get to see the Kumari outside her temple abode.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_08aa39f3f004a212b33c60a2840d6013110de15dd34a0288f699dd5fda8957ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240418130432_08aa39f3f004a212b33c60a2840d6013110de15dd34a0288f699dd5fda8957ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  On the last day of the festival (Saturday), the image of lord Karunāmaya is carried on a palanquin by priests from Janabahā in a gala procession and brought back to his permanent residence at the temple in Kel Tol.&nbsp; The chariot festival is thought to have started during the reign of King Pratap Malla of Kantipur in the 17th century CE. For close to four centuries, the construction of the chariot and its operation has proven to be a phenomenal engineering feat, and the people’s faith in divinity means the tradition is alive.&nbsp; The essence of the colourful rituals and the religious beliefs of this ancient chariot festival is now all but lost. The logic, technology and practicality must be brought back to light, as they reflect the high civilisation and wisdom of our ancestors that we can leverage in modern times and into the future. &nbsp; Alok Tuladhar is a culture and heritage documentarian.

Kathmandu’s gravity-defying chariot festival

"I shut down my poultry farm as the villagers did not buy fresh chicken from me,” sums up a Dalit farmer from Arghakhanchi district why he had to leave for work.&nbsp;
Most people can sell fresh meat in their villages and make a good profit but Dalits still cannot because people will not buy from them due to caste stigma. Dalits have no choice but to sell their poultry to outside suppliers for lower profits.&nbsp;
“Other hoteliers found out my caste and used it to push me out of competition. They informed my customers of my caste and discouraged them from staying at my hotel,” a Dalit hotelier shares.&nbsp;
The hotel was close to a medical school and had earned a good reputation among hospital visitors, at least until they discovered his caste.
As ‘higher’ caste customers stopped coming, he moved his hotel to the East-West highway, where customers, in a rush, do not have time to worry about the caste of the owner.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-looks-at-alternative-investments">Nepal looks at alternative investments</a>, Siddhant Raj Pandey
“They will knock me out of the business if they know my caste,” says a Dalit who owns a pipe manufacturing business in Western Tarai. He has been in the business for several years. Due to fear of ostracisation from non-Dalits who dominate the industry, he has erased his caste name from all his documents and uses a non-Dalit surname.&nbsp;
These three incidents illustrate deeply rooted caste barriers blocking Dalits from entering and thriving in business even as they make up 14% of Nepal’s 29 million population.
Yet, due to Nepal’s hierarchical caste system, Dalits continue to be looked down upon as ‘untouchable’ and of ‘lower’ rank, and non-Dalits, as per caste norms, do not eat food and beverage items touched by them.&nbsp;
In a 2018 Tribhuvan University study, even seven years after anti-caste discrimination laws were passed, 34% of Hill Dalits and 28% of Madhesi Dalits reported routinely facing caste-based discrimination.&nbsp;
Caste-based barriers obstruct Dalits from freely participating and thriving in business, yielding at least three distinct types of market and non-market barriers.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/success-in-nepal-means-not-having-to-work">Success in Nepal means not having to work</a>, Anil Chitrakar
First, caste bias means ‘higher’ caste groups avoid buying goods and services from Dalits, except for menial labour. In their 2019 book Good Economics for Hard Times, Nobel laureates in economics Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo show that social norms such as caste and patriarchy, and not just price, shape business decisions.&nbsp;
In Nepal’s case, ‘upper’ caste customers examine not only the price and quality of what they are buying but also the social value of goods and services.&nbsp;
Second, companies use caste norms to sideline Dalits out of competition. Development economists confirm that firms often deploy caste and ethnic discrimination to remove their competitors from the playing field.&nbsp;
Third, Nepal’s Dalits do not have easy access to resources such as land, capital, and networks that are usually a precondition to enter and thrive in business. Impoverished by decades of exclusion and discrimination, Dalits do not have collateral for loans. They face social stigma and stereotypes and do not get access to idea-and-trust-based loans.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/invest-in-investment">Invest in investment</a>, Nepali Times
As a result, they are forced to get by with low capital and higher interest rates. Dalits also do not have strong business networks, nor do they have access to the social spaces where business decisions are made. They do not have a strong community support system, which could compensate for low capital and weak policy networks.&nbsp;
These caste barriers not only block the entry of Dalits into business but also create market failures. Just like the Dalit hotelier in Bhairawa who was pushed out of the market, discriminatory practices allow only a few castes to dominate, forcing customers to buy in a market not governed by price and quality but by non-market measures. Eventually, such caste-based business practices create conditions for cartels and monopolies, blocking the free market.&nbsp;
Caste-biased business practices also yield inefficient resource allocation. Caste-based preferences in recruitment mean businesses are forced to draw from smaller talent pools, and Dalits miss out on opportunities for human development. Resources such as land and capital do not move across social groups, ultimately leading to unequal income distribution and lower economic growth.&nbsp;
Despite the challenges, Nepal is committed to ending discrimination in employment and business. In 1974, Nepal ratified the ILO Convention 111–Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958. In 2002, the country enacted the Bonded Labour (Prohibition) Act, formally ending forced labour such as Kamaiya, Haliya and Haruwa-Charuwa. In 2020, Nepal Rastra Bank issued a guidance note to encourage loans to Dalits of up to one million rupees on concessional interest rates.&nbsp;
While the commitments on paper have been swift, they have not led to tangible results. In 2023, the ILO Experts’ Committee called for Nepal to implement Convention 111 to address discrimination against Dalits and to promote their access to productive resources such as land and capital.
Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside">Caste Aside</a>, Nepali Times
Ahead of its upcoming graduation to middle-income country status in 2026, Nepal has prioritised private sector-led development, hoping to increase investment from domestic and international investors. The Nepal Investment Summit this weekend is designed to attract investments.&nbsp;
While these are welcome moves, Nepal should not miss the opportunity to free itself from barriers holding back the Dalit community. By unlocking Dalits from discrimination, Nepal can add to its human capital, ensure fair income distribution, increase resource allocation efficiency, and augment economic growth.&nbsp;
We need research on how caste-based discrimination has reinforced market failures. The business development capacity of Dalits needs to be enhanced by creating better access to information and business networks. Nepal’s macro and micro-economic policies should combat visible and invisible caste-based business barriers.&nbsp;
Monetary policies can grant Dalits access to non-collateralised finance at concessional interest rates, and tax exemptions can create a level playing field. Finally, there could be a policy guarantee that the government, as one of the largest buyers, purchases goods and services from Dalits.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/dalit-lives-must-matter">Dalit lives must matter</a>, Shristi Karki

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