DON’T VISIT NEPAL YEAR?
If an enemy wanted to sabotage what's left of Nepal's economy this is what they would do: shut down all hotels indefinitely. Instead, we are doing it to ourselves.
KUNDA DIXIT AND BINOD BHATTARAI
December 8-14, 2000
Headline
Editorial
Look out, lockout!
Strike while the iron is hot. That seems to be the maxim for Nepal this winter. Now is the time to pick a cause, any cause, because our rulers…
Columns
State Of The State by CK LAL
Difficult to be friends? Let’s agree not to be enemies.
Cynical as we may be about South Asian talk fests, they need to keep happening. It is the last remaining chance for Indians, Pakistanis and the rest of us to meet. Without these junkets, we would be even more remote.
Guest Column by MAHENDRA P LAMA
Made in China
You get a free T Rex with every pack of chicken mcnugget bought on a London street, the plastic dinosaurs are made in China. Plug-in adapters for Taiwanese laptops bought in Singapore are made in China. Plastic water guns on the shelf of a New York Toys R Us: Made in China.
Here And There by DANIEL LAK
Stuck in the throat
"...I still haven't decided whether I was watching a story of immense human dignity and the common ground that unites diverse cultures, or a tale of Westerners dancing among the exotic of the mystic east, the New Orientalists."
Economic Sense by ARTHA BEED
Share scare
To play Nepal's stock market, forget all you know about profits, losses and balance sheets.
Under My Hat by KUNDA DIXIT
Mobilising the nation
News that an Islamic court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a passenger who used his mobile phone during a domestic flight to 20 lashes with a wet…
Nation
Nepal’s ‘Russian mafia’
There are more than 5,000 Nepalis who studied in the ex-Soviet Union. Even though the scholarships have stopped, Russia-returns still contribute greatly to Nepal's development.
SALIL SUBEDI & ALOK TUMBAHANGPHEY
Goodwill ambassadors
Nepal is the third largest contributor to the UN volunteer programme.
HEMLATA RAI
Year of the volunteer
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the International Year of Volunteers 2001 this week by urging governments and institutions worldwide to…
Business
Oodles of noodles
Nepal's noodle barons are entangled in a domestic brand war, and in chowchow imperialism.
MUKUL HUMAGAIN
Review
Bravo
Talent is a non-taxable export and Rato Bangala School's production of the 1950s musical West Side Story underscores the belief that Nepal's…
Culture
The temple of the rising sun
In recent years it has become fashionable to be married at Surya Vinayak.
Leisure
The first Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (but not the last)
"Festivals like these hone your critical abilities, and sharpen the eye. You learn to read films fast at festivals."
ANAGHA NEELKANTAN
Nawang Kapadia, Chitra Bahadur and a Place of Roses
An Indian Gorkha officer dies in Kashmir while trying to rescue his Nepali comrade.
KUNDA DIXIT
Raving, and ranting
It isn't too surprising, actually, that Mukundo or Caravan didn't win the popular vote. Certainly, both played to packed houses and were very…
Literature
Conservation
Bird and buffalo country
The birds haven't let us down this year. Nepal's best wetlands and biggest man-made reservoir are teeming with bird life, unlike the stricken…
SALIL SUBEDI
Nepali Society
Tsering
Tsering Rhitar Sherpa likes Iranian films. He likes their simple stories, rich detail, and lyricism, especially for the shoestring budgets and…
From The Nepali Press
Domestic Brief
Good and bad news
Nepal has made progress in the battle against iodine and vitamin deficiencies. According to the Nepal Micronutrient Survey (NMSS) 1998 involving…
AIDS update
Half of all new HIV/AIDS infections have been reported among young people between 10-24 years, most of them women, warns UNAIDS. In Nepal, the…
Refugee impasse
Nepal and Bhutan are planning to sit down at another attempt at resolving the 10-year-old refugee impasse. The meeting to be held later this…
WFP aid to refugees
The World Food Programme (WFP) will provide $3.8 million to be spent on the upkeep of Bhutanese refugees from January through June 2001. The…
Close schools,or else
Schools across the country are preparing to close down 8-14 December in response to threats from an extreme student group allied to the Maoists.…
Strike cost
What would a hotel strike mean? Let's look at the numbers as provided by the Hotel Association of Nepal. The shutdown would affect 846 hotels,…
Business Briefs
Economic report card
Government spending was slow despite early disbursement, price rise was minimal and exports to India continued to do well. That summarises Nepal…
Rupee at new low
The Nepali rupee dipped to new lows against the dollar last week responding to a slide in the value of the Indian rupee against the…
Tourism recovers
In line with projections of the Nepal Tourism Board, for the first time in 11 months, tourist arrivals bettered that of last year. The increase…
Nepal-China pact
Nepali and Chinese companies have signed six agreements for joint ventures in herb processing, pashmina, agriculture, surface transport and…
NIIT-Nepal expands
NIIT, the Indian software and training company, has opened its third learning centre in Patan. The company, which describes itself as e-Business…
Break free with Bolero
India's Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has introduced the Bolero GLX, the latest in utility vehicles in Nepal. The 4-wheel drive comes for Rs 1.62…
Grindlays’ microcredit
Nepal Grindlays Bank Ltd is to provide Rs 30 million to the Centre for Self-help Development (CSD) to fund its microcredit programmes in poor…
Letters
Tip or service charge
No one is forced to pay a tip when going to a hotel or a restaurant. Depending on the friendly service you receive or the food you've enjoyed…
Ujeli
Thank you for publishing the beautiful and true story of “Ujeli” (#19). Jan Salter deserves many many thanks from all of us. This is not the…
Amabassador Gautam
News of the early recall of Damodar Gautam as Nepal's ambassador to the United States and Canada has come as a shock to the Nepali diaspora in…
In this issue:
Don't visit Nepal year ? | Look out, lockout ! | Editorial: Difficult to be friends? Let's agree not to be enemies. | Made in China | Nepal's 'Russian Mafia' | Stuck in the throat | Goodwill ambassadors | Missing the wood | Bravo | Share scare | The first Kathmandu Mountain Film Festival | Nawang Kapadia, Chitra Bahadur and Place of a rose | Is the floppy disk finally obsolete? | Best democracy money can buy | Health for some by 2000 | Outrage, hope and democracy | Little Cameleers | What was his crime? | UML and the constitution | Teacher Boycott | Maoists - Unity | Koirala Invincible | Black runners have speed genes | The temple of rising sun | Khagendra Sangroula on tradition and change | Bird and buffalo country | Mobilising the nation