Nepali Times ePaper
Dear Nepali Times Readers,
One year after being appointed Prime Minister for the fifth time, Sher Bahadur Deuba's government has a mixed report card. Covid vaccines have been provided for most of Nepal’s eligible population, he got the MCC grant ratified, and conducted a relatively uneventful local election.
But his time in office has also been marked by scandals involving ministers. The economy is in bad shape, and Nepal is in the middle of another geopolitical quagmire with the SPP.
And while Deuba’s five-party alliance continues to hold for now, trouble brews within individual parties of the coalition — which threatens the electoral alliance. As Nepal heads into the next phase of the elections in November, it remains to be seen if the election partnership will survive. Read page 1 story by Shristi Karki and our Editorial on page 2.
Other highlights from this week’s issue:
Nepal Sets Ambitious Target for Food Sufficiency
The budget last month unveiled a plan to increase domestic agricultural production by one-third. While it sounds good on paper, upon closer inspection, the decision is too ambitious, and unrealistic. Ramesh Kumar reports.
Climate Change Hits Himalayan Rice
National Paddy Planting Day (on 29 June this year) is no longer the optimal time to transplant rice seedlings
Erratic monsoons and irregular rain due to the climate crisis has meant that farmers are now confused about when to plant paddy. Erica Wu reports from Pokhara where farmers are now preserving indigenous seed varieties that can cope better with climate induced crop failures.
Get a view from above as Abhushan Gautam Shakya captures the annual paddy planting season in Kathmandu with stupendous photographs.
Feedback Questionnaire
In this week’s Backside column, the Ass presents a tongue-in-cheek feedback questionnaire to improve Nepal’s tourism sector.
This and more at nepalitimes.com.
Stay Safe.
Nepali Times