Nepal Is Going To the Dogs
Nepali Times ईspecial 2 - 8 August 2024 #1223
Hello all dog-lovers,
With Pashupati as its patron deity, Nepal used to be an Animal Kingdom. Now it is a secular Feral Republic. And in recognition of the country going to the dogs, this week’s Nepali Times devotes an entire centerfold to man’s best friends (page 6-7 and online).
Kathmandu Valley’s street dog population is 100k and the mutts are breeding like there is no tomorrow. With human fertility rate now dipping near replacement level, pretty soon there will be more dogs than people in this city.
After he finishes installing spiral festival lights on all street-side telephone poles, Mayor Balen better do something about dog do-do so Kathmandu is open-defecation free for canines as well. Don’t expect Nepal’s superannuated politicians to do anything about it since, well, you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.
To mark World Tiger Day, Shashank Poudel of WWF on page 5 applauds Nepal being able to triple its population of wild tigers in 12 years, but cautions us about the challenges arising from it.
Not that anyone has asked us, but our unsolicited advice would be to intensify wildlife diplomacy by gifting man-eaters to friendly and not-so-friendly members of the international community. And while we are at it, how about also shipping out our surplus dogs to canine-friendly countries like the UK or DPRK?
On a more serious note, Nepali Times starts a new column called PEOPLE POWER on renewable energy trends by Bikash Pandey of Winrock International. His first instalment on page 4 is on how Nepal should not just think about generating more hydropower, but also increasing domestic electricity consumption by promoting EVs and household electric appliances.
Our editorial this week (page 2) by business reporter Ramesh Kumar breaks down Nepal Rastra Bank’s new monetary policy, and argues that economic revival is more dependent on creating jobs and attracting investment.
Elsewhere in issue #1223, Lisa Choegyal pays tribute to Shyam Bahadur Panday, founder of the Shangrila group of hotels who died last week. ‘The Shang’ was a hangout for early Kathmandu expats.
And Editor Sonia Awale in her page 1 analysis titled ‘Fatalism and Fatalities’, looks at cultural factors in Nepali society and politics that could underlie frequent highway and aviation disasters. Could our faith in fate be at the root of these tragedies?
Bow-wow for now.
Kunda Dixit