<figure><img width="800" height="489" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b785a9c7e80680e064699jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: EU IN NEPAL</figcaption></figure>T he European Union Ambassador to Nepal Veronica Cody spoke to Nepali Times on International Women’s Day. Excerpts:Nepali Times: Does it make the job of being an ambassador easier or more difficult if you are a woman?Ambassador Cody: The duties of an ambassador can be carried out equally well by a man or a woman. Anybody who has gone through the formal process of education and training to become a diplomat can easily accept the challenge. The question is more do men and women have equal access to that education and training. And are women being offered the opportunity to enter and prosper in areas of work which have traditionally been male-dominated, like diplomacy. Gender-stereotyping is still very prevalent, and young girls can inherit prevailing views that the world of politics is not for women.Over my career, I have seen a considerable increase in the number of women entering diplomatic service in Europe and around the world, and the number of female ambassadors here in Nepal is testimony to that. However, this has been a slow process and there is much room still for greater representation in diplomacy by women, particularly at the highest levels. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/her-excellencies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Her Excellencies</a>, Sanghamitra SubbaWhat have been the reaction of ordinary Nepalis you have met when they have found out you are the EU ambassador?I have been in Nepal for two-and-a-half years now and I think it is very important to see the whole country, to visit the different provinces and see both urban and rural areas.  I travelled to the mid and far west part of the country last year. This year, I travelled to the mid-eastern part of the country. The Nepalis I met were very welcoming and hospitable, and for the most part expressed no surprise on finding out that I was an ambassador. There were a few occasions where the khada and garland of flowers were extended to a male colleague rather than to me – in the expectation that the man must be the ambassador! But once the introduction was made, I was always treated with the utmost respect.Do you feel like women in media make a difference in coverage?Each profession has its own prospects and limitations. Media is a field where a diverse workforce and a diverse work environment definitely make a difference in the way issues are covered and dealt with.Experience from around the world reveals that a larger number of women in the field of media would contribute towards more coverage of issues of concern to women, and more coverage from a woman’s perspective, which is not necessarily that of a man. Women journalists have privileged access to half of the population and that should be considered an asset by their media houses.I attend many events in Nepal where media professionals are present but I do not see many women. The few women journalists and TV presenters I have met are very vocal about their concerns and are determined in their career choice and what they wish to achieve. The EU supported the first women journalist mountaineers who scaled Everest two years ago. I was impressed by their ambition to get to the Summit, the hard training they undertook to prepare themselves for the challenge, and the determination and resilience they showed in achieving it – all skills that make for great journalism! Women journalists deserve to get to the top of their profession as well, and this would benefit all Nepali citizens.

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When garlands are offered to male colleagues, and not to the woman ambassador

Story of Nepali history

When the Nepali Times morphed into a weekly newspaper from an e-platform in 2000, it was met at first with initial skepticism as the few English weeklies that existed back then had changed hands, declined in quality, or just faded into oblivion.However, this new paper swiftly made its mark as it brought on board a panel of writers and journalists whose reportage covered the nation’s socio-political struggles with insight and acumen. Nepal at this time was going through the curse or blessing of interesting times -- a turbulent transition from a monarchy to the planet’s newest federal republic.This boldness was at odds in a country where journalism had historically faced censorship. The editorials and articles were well researched and unequivocal, speaking for the disenfranchised and for those who were tortured, killed and disappeared by both the Maoists and the Army. Nepali Times  never compromised on fundamental issues like human rights, and even today continues to demand an inquiry into war crimes.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77f89c7e80680e06466ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1491"/><figcaption>#851 24 - 30 March 2017</figcaption></figure>Well known writers and influencers such as C K Lal, Prashant Jha, Dewan Rai, Anil Chitrakar, Thomas Bell and Manjushree Thapa (to name a few) have written for the paper. The Nepali Times  archives give us a window onto 20 years of our nation’s socio-political and cultural history: the decade-long bloody civil war which led to 16,278 deaths, the peace process, the restoration of democracy, the promulgation of the new constitution that finally got written but is already contentious and why this is so, the nomination of our first President, the earthquake, the Blockade, the birth of the federal states, the political upheaval in the Tarai, load shedding and the hero Kulman Ghising who busted the darkness imposed on the nation by the power mafia.I have enjoyed the film column by Sophia Pande, Sewa Bhattarai’s art reviews, and Lisa Choegyal’s writings that  take us back to a time when Nepal was still Shangri-La and not the paradise lost it is today. Nepali Times also covered cultural activities and happenings: Nepathaya’s nationwide peace concert tours during the insurgency, Jazzmandu, booklaunches and reviews, various literature, film and theatre festivals, the Kathmandu International Art Festival, Photo Kathmandu, the Kathmandu Triennale  and reviews of art exhibitions in the city’s galleries. The preservation of Nepal’s tangible and intangible heritage has also been an area of focus with the Times.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77fb9c7e80680e06466bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="474">Nepali Times has consistently covered the critical issue of climate change and its ramifications for a country where the melting of Himalayan glaciers can displace populations and create climate refugees. But my favourite pieces in the Nepali Times  are those by The Ass, which are befittingly featured on the back page. It gives us the opportunity to laugh during the darkest hours of our nation’s history, and at the absurdity of the Nepal’s present-day politics.Sangeeta Thapa is Director of the Siddhartha Arts Foundation and Siddhartha Art Gallery in Kathmandu.

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History in (not such) a hurry

I'm so old that I remember a time — back in the hoary 1990s — when you couldn’t expect flair, or at times even fluency, from Nepal’s English-language media.My grasp of the Nepali language was poor then. I had to rely entirely on the English-language media to understand my society. This put me at a distinct disadvantage vis-à-vis my peers who could read the Nepali-language press. They  understood not only what was happening in the nation, but how everyone—and they—felt about it. Their intellectual lives were rich with nuances I could not begin to grasp.The Nepali Times stands as testament that those days are gone. Thanks to this paper, The Kathmandu Post, and more recent publications such as The Record, English-language media has finally come of age in Nepal. And we are all more intelligent for it.Nepali society has always suffered from a cultural chasm between those who are fluent in the national languages and those who are limited to English. The former group is grounded in the complex lived reality of this society, and can draw upon local histories, languages, knowledge bases, and intelligence systems to understand and analyze the contemporary moment. The latter group has money.English has been a hothouse language here -- the language of diplomats, aid industrialists, expatriates, foreign academics, travelers, and a handful of nationals educated in private schools or, like me, abroad. Together, these people wield vast power.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77f59c7e80680e064668jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="544" height="1000"/><figcaption>#124 20 - 26 december 2002</figcaption></figure>It would seem obvious that they try to learn the national languages, but this has not been the case. Neither has it been easy. When I decided to learn Nepali, I took year-long lessons and diligently pored over shelves of Nepali-language literature. (I then began to translate what I was reading for a biweekly column in this newspaper.) This investment of time and effort paid off for me: reading the work of my peers in the original language has enriched my own writing.To expect everyone to do the same is unrealistic. What the country needed — and has now produced — was a critical mass of bilingual Nepalis to help bridge the chasm between English and the national languages. This could happen only after the 1990s, with the proliferation of English-medium schools and, crucially, with the right to free expression.Today, when I read the Nepali Times , I do so for the multifaceted examination of a complex society. I read <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/author/muna-gurung/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Muna Gurung’s interviews with contemporary women writers</a> whose work I crave to read. I linger over Diwakar Chhetri’s smart, stylish cartoons. I scan through the listings to pick out cultural events that interest me. I read about the latest political fiasco and ongoing outrages, and, inevitably, I marvel at The Ass: how does the Donkey  maintain such a robust sense of humour after all these years?I also always stop to appreciate the diversity of voices in the Nepali Times, and in particular, the vibrant presence of women writers, reporters, columnists, and editors. It is the presence of all of these women that has always made this paper feel like home to me.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77f79c7e80680e064669jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="474">This, truly, is something the paper can teach the Nepali media, which, like Nepal’s polity itself, suffers from a vast overrepresentation of men, particularly of the so-called high castes. The resulting group-think, echo-chamber uniformity, and insularity do great harm in politics. In the media, they prevent the public discourse from reflecting Nepal’s extraordinary diversity of experience.Freedom of expression — so late to arrive in Nepal, so hard won, so very precious—only strengthens from vigorous exercise. As in many other parts of the world, in Nepal, the polity is giving in to authoritarian impulses. It falls on Nepal’s media to defend the rights and freedoms of citizens. This is best done when all of the media—in all languages — speaks out in its diversity.Onward.Manjushree Thapa wrote the fortnightly ‘Nepaliterature’ column in Nepali Times 2000-2004 with translations of Nepali-language writers.

Onward

It was easy for me to get in the door of the Nepali Times after I first moved to Nepal in 2005: Editor Kunda Dixit and I shared ties with the Inter Press Service News agency – me from North America, he from Asia.What I liked about the Nepali Times then is what I still admire it for now: its reporting is issue-based. It does not focus on the what happened? of daily news but tries to get at the why is it happening? Other English papers in Nepal are increasingly adopting this approach, and I often see Nepali Times stories echoed in their pages.The downside of this, I see as I click through the archives, is that it reveals that things change slowly. It is frustrating to read 15-year-old articles about <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12644#.XmDQrHIzbIV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">famine and malnutrition in the Karnali</a> that could have been reported yesterday. So little has the situation in some parts of the region advanced.Deficits in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-how-to-upgrade-nepals-rural-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">maternal and child health</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/after-quantity-nepals-education-needs-quality/">quality education</a>, reliable water supply and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/new-constitution-lays-bare-misogynistic-patriarchal-psyches,591" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gender equality</a> still make headlines 20 years after the Nepali Times started reporting on them. But I need to temper my impatience -- statistically, progress has happened, it just takes longer than I want it to.When I arrived in Nepal 15 years ago we were a larger group in the newsroom than we are today, which is hard to believe considering that the 2020 team produces the paper version and a continuously updated news website. Back then, we printed out the pages on Thursday and each of us took turns reading each one for errors. Today, copy-editing is done mainly online, by one or two staff, while others rush to put the finishing touches on a video or update social media channels.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77f19c7e80680e064667jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1123"/><figcaption>#983 8 - 14 November 2019</figcaption></figure>When I returned in 2016 it was slightly annoying to see the written paper was not the centre of everyone’s attention on deadline day, but I have come to admire the online/offline juggling done by the current writers and editors. And my disappointment that space previously reserved for text had been reduced by larger images and graphics over the years, is now balanced with the appreciation that online versions of articles can run much longer than in the paper.As befits its name, the Nepali Times  keeps changing as the years pass, adding columnists — women and men — and deep-diving into topics, like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-lottery-of-migration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">labour migration</a>, that other media simply skim. It has benefitted from its sister publication Himal Khabarpatrika and from cross-border projects with other media in Asia. Yet despite these changes, I know that if I approach Kunda Dixit with (yet another) article about <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/malnutrition-stunting-wasting,3603">malnutrition</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/born-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">maternal deaths</a>, he will find a place for it because it remains an important issue.Such relentlessness is unique. I would probably have thrown in the towel years ago if I found myself writing eerily similar editorials about the corruption and incompetence of official Nepal decades apart, or editing again a story about shortages of medicines at health posts. Nepali Times tenaciously takes a spotlight to these issues year after year after year. That is worth celebrating.Marty Logan is a writer, editor, and communications all-rounder who is lucky to call both Canada and Nepal home

Marty Logan

Times change, but the Nepali Times stays the same

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXxxTSU5ubgTo Pratima Sherpa, the golf course is home, literally. She was born and raised in a small storage shed on the <a href="https://www.golfadvisor.com/courses/21820-royal-nepal-golf-club" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Royal Nepal Golf Course</a> in Kathmandu.Growing up, Sherpa watched men dressed smartly in polo shirts and white pants swing shiny golf clubs on the vast grassy course below the airport. She wanted to do the same and so her father, a security guard at the course, crafted a makeshift club for her out of wood and Sherpa spent hours practicing her swing. There has been no looking back.Sherpa was just finding her footing in Nepal’s golf scene when the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/on-course-to-be-champion-golf,3390" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepali Times first profiled her</a> four years ago. She went on to win national golf competitions and attract the attention of international media like the Los Angeles Times, Golf Digest, and ESPN.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41633&amp;preview_nonce=1a5fef970e&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trail-running trail blazer</a>, Sanghamitra Subba<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41606&amp;preview_nonce=6d2bb56d9f&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coming Soon: Ani Choying, the movie</a>,  Alisha SijapatiSherpa moved to California a year and a half ago and her life there is a world apart from the golf shed behind the third hole in Sinamangal, where her parents still live. In her second year at Santa Barbara City College, Sherpa  attends public speaking, business and math classes, practices golf for three hours, goes to the gym for two hours and does homework before bed. On weekends, she frequents a nearby beach with her friends and host family.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77c69c7e80680e064657jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1323"/><figcaption>Photo: MICHAEL MONTANO</figcaption></figure>Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/golfing-in-nepals-monsoon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golfing in Nepal's monsoon</a>“Sometimes I have a tournament and a midterm exam on the same day and those days can be very hectic,” she laughed during a recent phone interview with Nepali Times.When she met him, Sherpa’s idol Tiger Woods advised her to work on her course management. “I still remember him saying ‘Hi Pratima!’ when we first met,” recalls Sherpa. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that or the fact that he said that my swing was perfect.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77c99c7e80680e064658jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="744" height="800"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>During her meeting with Woods, Sherpa was filming for an ESPN documentary, A Mountain to Climb, which chronicled her journey from the 2017 Qualifying School tournament in Kathmandu to her stay in California, where she is hosted by a couple eager to support her golfing career.Tanya and Michael Montano had read Oliver Horowitz’s article about Sherpa in Golf Digest in late 2016 and had soon after travelled to Nepal to visit their daughter Sophia, who was in the country for a semester abroad. While in Kathmandu they decided to reach out to the young golfer.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41677&amp;preview_nonce=28a6e8e67c&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A goddess among people</a>, Shristi Karki<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41700&amp;preview_nonce=6d0139bd58&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From kamlari to MP</a>, Alisha SijapatiSherpa stayed with the Montanos in Santa Barbara, California for two months in 2017 and trained there in preparation for the Q School tournament that would take place back in Kathmandu that September. “They are my family,” Sherpa says of her hosts. “They’ve supported me, loved me and cared for me as much as my own parents have.”With the help of her host family, Sherpa became the first Nepali to compete in the The Symetra Tour in 2019, a tournament organised by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). After she finishes college in 2022, Sherpa will be eligible again to compete in the Q School tournament and thereby try for professional status in Nepal. No matter what changes in her life, Sherpa has her eyes set on one goal: to be Nepal’s first female professional golfer.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1364#.W1GkTtUzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Women play too</a>, Deepak Acharya

Pratima Sherpa swings for pro

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77c09c7e80680e064655jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1713"/><figcaption>Photo: GOPEN RAI/NT ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>Lately, world-renowned trail-runner Mira Rai is busy with documentary filming, physiotherapy, organising the fifth Bhojpur Trail Race, inspiring young Nepali athletes through her <a href="https://miraraiinitiative.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mira Rai Initiative</a>, and preparing for a competition in Europe.When she’s not travelling the world, changing lives or adventuring in remote Nepal, Mira tries to make time for wall climbing and bicycling. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/mira-rai-trail-running,1776" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepali Times first featured Rai in 2014</a> when she was just starting her running career. She was hot off her very first ultra-marathon race then, and the 23-year-old went on to win three more international races after being noticed by Trail Running Nepal.Now a part of the international Salomon Running Team, Rai is a household name in both the Nepali and the international sports scene. Having participated in ultra-marathons and trail runs around the globe, Rai has an impressive repertoire of races under her belt. “Every race is my favourite!” she says, but her most memorable is the Mont-Blanc 80km marathon she completed in 2015.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41606&amp;preview_nonce=6d2bb56d9f&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coming Soon: Ani Choying, the movie</a>,  Alisha Sijapati<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41653&amp;preview_nonce=6e1c391959&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pratima Sherpa swings for pro</a>, Sanghamitra Subba“Nepal had just been devastated by the earthquake and I wanted to be first in order to lift the spirits of fellow Nepalis,” recalls Rai. “I just kept running and running and when I placed first, it was my proudest moment, one I will never forget.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-fantastic-female-runner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal's fantastic female runner</a>, Sewa BhattaraiA knee injury last year kept Rai off the trails. Taking a year off after surgery, Rai has been in physiotherapy to regain her former mobility. She has used the time to expand the Mira Rai Initiative to promote trail-running, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mira-rai-racing-to-help-other-runners/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">support female athletes</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-ultra-marathoners-anti-litter-drive/">launch an anti-litter campaign</a>.Rai credits former Maoist comrade Anupama Magar, the national karateka who gained recognition in the 2019 South Asian Games, with supporting her throughout her journey. The two met when they were guerillas in their late teens, and found they shared a deep passion for sports.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77c39c7e80680e064656jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="641" height="800"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“My dost has supported me throughout my career, and I do not know what I would have done without her,” Rai says fondly of her roommate, who has been especially supportive this past year as Rai has been recovering from her injury and unable to participate in marathons.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41677&amp;preview_nonce=28a6e8e67c&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A goddess among people</a>, Shristi Karki<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41700&amp;preview_nonce=6d0139bd58&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From kamlari to MP</a>, Alisha SijapatiEven with a knee injury, Mira Rai does not stop. She says: “As a young girl from remote Nepal, I never even dreamed of the opportunities I’ve had. With this initiative I want to give other young Nepalis an opportunity to accomplish what I have. I want to keep running till the end.”Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/mira-rai-trail-running-nepa,2014" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Running all her life</a>, Naresh Newar

Trail-running trail blazer

Retailing for Rs20 and running to a full 20 pages, the ‘demo issue’ of the Nepali Times, <a href="http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/nepalitimes/pdf/Nepali_Times_000.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NT #0</a>, was printed and distributed in early July 2000 (below). Its ambitious masthead asserted that it was (or perhaps would be) ‘Nepal’s Top Newspaper’. This was at the height of Nepal’s civil conflict, and the front cover led with the headline ‘The people don’t want war’. Alongside ran a ‘Publisher’s Note’ extolling the virtues of fairness, objectivity and professionalism in the media, and pushing back against the dominant cynicism of the time.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77a79c7e80680e06464bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="466" height="578"/><figcaption>Front page of Nepali Times Issue #0.</figcaption></figure>Many of the contributors to this demo issue would go on to become regular columnists, including C K Lal with his ever-thoughtful ‘<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11070#.XmEw8XIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State of the State</a>’, the late and direct Barbara Adams and her ‘Barbs’, Sujeev Shakya writing under the pseudonym Artha Beed in a wide-ranging column entitled ‘<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11111#.XmEw7nIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Economic Sense</a>’, and editor Kunda Dixit’s spicy ‘<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11072#.XmEw73IzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Under My Hat</a>’ satire on the back page. A first-rate collection of Nepali writers and journalists filled out the rest of the issue. The publishing landscape of Nepal was about to change forever.In the following week’s issue, <a href="http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/nepalitimes/pdf/Nepali_Times_001.pdf">NT #1</a> (19-25 July, 2000), editor Kunda Dixit answered an implicit question that many were asking: why this weekly, now, and why in English? Noting that 1,300 newspapers were currently registered in Nepal, Dixit made an impassioned case for the relevance of an English-language weekly, arguing that the Nepali Times would 'take the concerns of those who matter to those who chatter', and do so by talking 'about us in a language that they understand'.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77a99c7e80680e06464cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="496" height="607"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=41764&amp;preview_nonce=2c61b17b70&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">16,600 pages of Nepali Times on Digital Himalaya</a>, Mark TurinAn essential element in achieving this broader goal was the page of translated articles ‘From the Nepali Press’ that became a regular, and much anticipated, weekly feature of the newspaper, ensuring that important local and national news received appropriate attention in Nepal’s English-speaking international community. Twenty years since the first issue, I caught up with Publisher and Editor Kunda Dixit to ask about the present and future of the Nepali Times.Mark Turin: What were your goals in establishing the Nepali Times in 2000?Kunda Dixit: We aimed for the Nepali Times to be a window on the whole of Nepal -- not just Kathmandu -- for the outside world. We opted for the ‘Berliner’ tabloid format with visually rich design, world-class production values, and a lively presentation of serious and not-so-serious issues. In short, a paper that people would read cover to cover. Actually, I could quote from the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10980#.XmEwsXIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Editorial from NT #1 on 19 July 2000</a>: 'Nepali Times will aspire to be a true reflection of our times -- a journal to record the life and times of Nepalis in the decades ahead.'Have your goals changed over time? We never had a big circulation compared to the Nepali-language broadsheets, but very soon after starting we sensed that we had influence disproportionate to our reach. The reason was obvious: the language, subscription price, and subjects we dealt with, put us in a different bracket. A former Finance Minister once told me the Nepali Times made him nervous because donors came to meetings on Fridays carrying the morning’s print edition. Not much has changed in terms of the mission and vision of the paper. We haven’t even tampered with designer Rustom Vania’s original masthead and page arrangement -- it has stayed the same for 20 years.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77ab9c7e80680e06464djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="4000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>What changes have you seen in the publishing landscape in Nepal since you launched the Nepali Times in 2000?Nepal’s media terrain is transformed because of the internet, as elsewhere. The business model of legacy media has collapsed. While reader eyeballs have migrated online, many advertisers haven’t. People get their breaking news from social media, but the Nepali Times was never in the business of hard news, so we haven’t had to change our focus much. However, we do understand our role now also in terms of countering the fake news and alternative facts being propagated on the social web. Our role is still to explain, explore and extrapolate. In general, our text is shorter now because of shorter attention spans of readers, which means there is tighter editing. We try to show more, and say less. And we have revamped our digital edition since ten times more readers access us online than in print. This means using multimedia packages, lots of videos, photo galleries, and interactive infographics.When have you felt that the Nepali Times played a decisive role in exploring an important political moment or covering an underreported issue?A highlight would be our coverage of the royal massacre in 2001, and our continuous follow-up of the story as new evidence became available. I believe the Nepali Times and our sister magazine Himal helped quell some of the wilder conspiracy theories. During the conflict, we prioritised field reports highlighting the plight of ordinary citizens caught in the crossfire, investigating human rights violations, torture and disappearances. After Gyanendra’s coup, we defied the censors by leaving white holes in print, and inserting a ‘freedom gauge’ on the masthead. In the post-conflict era, we have kept up the reporting on the lack of closure for survivors and families of victims. Lately, we have consistently followed the impact of the climate crisis on the Himalaya as part of our focus on the environment.What value do you see in having a complete online digital archive of back issues?One of our most important assets is our archive. It offers a complete history of Nepal over the past 20 years. The archive is used a lot by researchers, academics, teachers and even novelists. We ourselves use it a great deal in the newsroom because a site search puts all the events and trends of the past two decades at our fingertips. We also value our partnership with <a href="http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/collections/journals/nepalitimes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Himalaya</a> because all 1,000 print editions of the paper are available as freely downloadable PDFs.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77ad9c7e80680e06464ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1119" height="829">What are your aspirations for the next 1000 issues of the Nepali Times?We will keep doing what we are doing, with in-depth field reporting and expert analysis to make sense of Nepal’s fluid socio-economic and political state, and to uphold press freedom. We also want to maintain the quality of language and design, and tweak the online content to make it even sleeker and easier to navigate for the 120,000 loyal readers we have every week in Nepal and around the world.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8644#.XmC28HIzbIU">In a state of statelessness</a>, CK lal<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5622#.XmC3MXIzbIU">Branding Nepal</a>, Artha Beed<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5511#.XmC31HIzbIU">Visit Nepal while it’s still dark, Under my hat</a>, Kunda DixitMark Turin teaches at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He has lived and worked in Nepal for many years.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101148/636b77b09c7e80680e06464fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="125">

1,000 weeks of Nepali Times

Earlier this month, Nepal received Rs1.6 billion from the World Bank as part of its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/will-nepal-ever-be-paid-for-saving-trees">Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)</a>, rewarding the country for increasing its carbon sink capacity. Nepal is the first in South Asia to benefit from this facility, and it is specifically to recompense the country for increasing forest cover in 13 Tarai districts between 2018-2024. “We are also trying to get another Rs13 billion from the facility while also preparing for free market-based carbon trading in the international market,” says Nabaraj Pudasaini of the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) Implementation Centre. Big emitters of greenhouse gases are under pressure to reduce their carbon emissions, and many have signed agreements to do so by investing in decarbonisation projects in developing countries. Countries that emit more than a specified amount of carbon would be able to buy emission rights from countries that emit less. Nepal is internationally known for its community forestry program which has been largely credited for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">increasing tree cover to over 45%</a> in less than three decades. But this achievement had not been adequately recognised or rewarded internationally before. Forests, especially in the tropics, absorb and store large amounts of carbon while releasing oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis. <a href="https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/">Preventing deforestation</a> and increasing canopy cover is considered a much more achievable goal than reducing emission in the scale necessary to limit global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. COP11 in Montreal in 2005 first proposed reducing carbon emissions by improving forest quality by halting degradation. By 2015, a new mechanism of financial assistance was created to help less developed countries with sustainable management of forests <a href="https://www.un-redd.org/">(called REDD+)</a>. Under this new mechanism, countries receive aid based on their efforts to prevent forest degradation and increase carbon sink, and in 2021 the World Bank was entrusted with implementing it. Nepal’s FCPF receipt this month was calculated on the basis of 2.4 million tons of carbon stored at a rate of $5 per ton. In the second phase, Nepal will receive more than Rs4 billion within the next year for storing an additional 7 million tons of carbon. Eighty per cent of this amount obtained from carbon trading needs to be spent on local beneficiaries and indigenous communities.&nbsp; But carbon trading is not easy, Nepal needs to prove that protected forests will not be destroyed in future.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="Greenbacks for greenery NT "> <figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Explains carbon trading expert Yugan Manandhar. “Forests should be handed over to the community and shown that they are managed sustainably. Proving this will be particularly challenging; forest encroachment and degradation is rife in the Tarai.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke">Deliberate forest fires</a> have also added to the challenge because they increase carbon emissions and reduce the sink capacity of forests. The basis for the amount that Nepal received was set five years ago by calculating the carbon reserves of forests in the 13 Tarai districts. In the meantime, sustainable forest management, tree plantation, forest destruction and erosion control were prioritised to increase carbon reserves in those forests. Nepal is signing another carbon trading agreement during the ongoing Baku climate conference. The <a href="https://www.leafcoalition.org/">Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF Coalition) </a>proposes to sell the carbon stored in the forests of Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces. For this, Nepal signed the letter of intent three years ago at COP26 in Glasgow. The target is to store 70 million tons of carbon in 32 million hectares of forest in the three provinces per which Nepal will receive Rs13 billion in four years at $10 per ton with provisions to increase the rate if various conditions are met. However, the agreement in itself doesn’t guarantee the amount. According to the targets set by Nepal, forest degradation should be stopped and carbon reserves increased by protecting tree cover. Preparations are also underway for clean air carbon trade because it has offset fossil fuel use by introducing 30,000 electric vehicles. Nepal has been selected for the first round to receive $40 million within one and a half years through the Clean Air System of the World Bank. Given that most of Nepal’s energy mix is from biomass, replacing them with electric stoves can significantly improve health by reducing indoor pollution as well as strengthen the country’s capacity for carbon trade. “Nepal's goal now is to sell carbon in the free market where carbon credits are bought and sold based on supply and demand in an open and transparent manner,” adds Pudasaini of the REDD Implementation Centre. “Nepal can now set its own price and bargain with interested buyer countries and organisations.” Lately, India has been discussing setting up a carbon market. Nepal has exported Rs12.72 billion worth of electricity to India so far this fiscal year, which can be traded under Nepal’s carbon market. “Carbon trading can create significant economic benefits for Nepal, which will help reinvest in development and environmental protection projects,” says Manandhar. “But we must prioritise sustainable management of forests, cutting older trees and allowing regrowth as well as promoting electric stoves and electric vehicles.”

Greenbacks for greenery

Khukri Rum is <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3719#.WurBk6SFPIU">one of Nepal’s most iconic brands</a>, and is now launching a new Cask Series premium product to sell in Nepal and abroad. The Cask Series Smoked Finish Khukri Rum is a limited edition sipping rum with only about 5,200 bottles made for export and rum connoisseurs in Nepal. Each bottle is numbered and will mention the cask from which it is derived. “We are taking a classic Nepali liquor to a premium, luxury rum category. Each Cask Series flavour line will only be produced once,” explains Shuvash Lamichhane, General Manager of The Nepal Distilleries that first started making Khukri rum in 1959 in Balaju and has never stopped. Fermented from molasses in the Tarai after the annual sugarcane harvest, the rum is matured for at least eight months during distillation. The distillery bottles the classic Khukri XXX, Coronation Khukri XXX, Khukri White Rum and Khukri Spiced Rum. It is now adding this limited edition of the Cask Series. While the original rum is stored in huge wooden vats, the rum used for this more exclusive line is in smaller casks made from oak or sal, with charred insides that give the rum a smoky, smoother flavour. The Cask Series rum is indeed smokier than the classic, while the spiced rum tastes toasty and mostly of cardamom. These flavours are carefully crafted by blenders and tasters who have to pass regular palate tests.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241122131124_10b8ddca93b37b0348bf964b4f09e7fac6ef4e754cca6231368850539cd558e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241122131124_10b8ddca93b37b0348bf964b4f09e7fac6ef4e754cca6231368850539cd558e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1498" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Khukri Rum"> </figure>  The packaging for the Cask Series is as special as the process. A sturdy patterned box that opens up to a black glass bottle with gold lettering, and an indication of which cask the rum is from. These are then shipped to premium customers around the world One of the reasons this is the more expensive premium line is because the casks are smaller than the vats and the blenders reject more than half of the rum in the casks when the aging period is complete. The trick for the blender is also to decide when to take the rum out of the cask. Says Lamichhane: “If we have 25 casks, only ten might match the flavour profile for a certain series.” Over the decades, The Nepal Distilleries has created and maintained a brand that feels quintessentially Nepali, and serves as Nepal’s ‘ambassador’ with exports to Germany, Korea, Belgium, Finland, the Czech Republic, besides the existing markets among Nepalis in the US, UK, Hong Kong and Australia. Its unique <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/khukri-rum-sharpens-its-act">khukri shaped bottle</a> first introduced for King Birendra’s coronation in 1975 has been a collector’s item. The bottle and rum have been a staple for Nepalis and visitors to take as gifts when they leave the country, and is used as decoration on bar tables around the world. Now, nearly 40 years later, even that bottle will soon be getting a makeover with a sharper design and sleeker handle. “Our bottle design has always been instantly recognisable,” says Lamichhane.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241122131124_b9474db3fc83c85845348dddc30c49652ee1f17229531867fa241de50849cedc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241122131124_b9474db3fc83c85845348dddc30c49652ee1f17229531867fa241de50849cedc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Khukri Rum NT"> <figcaption>Christopher Armes, master blender of the Cask Series.</figcaption> </figure>  The Himalayan restaurant at The Hague, for example, has a Khukri Coronation bottle<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-the-himalaya-to-holland"> adorning its bar</a>. In Washington DC, Himalayan Heritage Restaurant &amp; Bar offers a ‘Nepalese Khukri Rum’ mojito with fresh mint, soda water, lime juice and sugar syrup, for $12. A distinct element of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/khukri-rum-gets-award">award-winning classic Khukri rum</a> is its 'modern auburn' colour from caramel sourced from cooking sugar and blended with the raw rum. The spirits are then stored in a warehouse with floor-to-ceiling vats which are not just for storage, as the wood imparts flavour into the rum, and removes a lot of the harshness. &nbsp; On a visit this week, the bottling room was just about to begin for the day and the production line was churning out different shapes and sizes of Khukri bottles. Most of the process is automated, including screwing bottle caps, sticking labels, placing the government seal, and packaging. The only manual intervention is quality control where bottles are held against the light to check for sediment and colour.

Khukri goes premium with new rum

Turkish Airlines has introduced a new amenity kit collection designed in collaboration with French fashion house Lanvin for international business class passengers on flights more than five hours. It consists of five pieces designed for sustainability and elegance. Bags are reusable and will consist of Lanvin cosmetic products like hand and body lotions and lip balm. Eye masks and socks are made from recycled materials, earplugs are packaged in paper and the toothbrush is bamboo.

Turkish amenity kit

Nepal now generates a surplus of electricity and it is all from renewable hydropower. Nearly half the country is under forest cover. Despite meeting these decarbonisation goals, Nepal’s hydropower plants are threatened by increased risk due to climate impact.&nbsp; Till <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-it-rains-it-pours-ksqprbu3">28 September</a>, Nepal was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/india-nepal-sign-power-exchange-deal">exporting just over 1,000MW</a> of electricity to power-hungry India, when flash floods and landslides unleashed by historically heavy rains damaged over 30 hydropower plants across the country, temporarily <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/power-to-the-people">slashing nearly half the power generation.</a> The 456MW Upper Tamakosi in Dolakha was the hardest hit and it will take six months and Rs2 billion to repair. This has significantly reduced exports as well as domestic generation. Two months later, Nepal has still not been unable to fully keep its export commitment, and is actually paying Rs100 million in fines to India. Thirty-seven existing and under construction projects under the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN) suffered Rs2.5 billion in damage. One of them is the 22MW Bagmati project in Makwanpur which was almost completely buried in flood debris. Even before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/60-dead-64-missing-in-nepal-floods">record-breaking rain in September</a>, 15 other hydropower projects had been damaged by floods. Last year, floods caused by heavy localised rain damaged 28 hydropower plants. World governments met in Baku for COP29 to discuss the Loss &amp; Damage Fund and the Adaptation Fund, but for countries like Nepal the commas and brackets are meaningless until they are turned into $ and €. And likelihood of adequate compensation for climate-related damage is a long way off, if ever. Nepal’s national strategy is to use its vast hydropower resource as clean energy to spur economic growth, job creation, and boost export revenue. But the plants are located in narrow Himalayan valleys prone to landslides and floods even at the best of times. Now, those <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/changing-climate-for-investment-in-nepal">risks have been heightened by weather extremes</a> due to climate breakdown. At present, Nepal generates over 3,300MW of clean hydropower, and the target is to reach 12,700MW in the next five years. Projects equivalent to 6,000MW are under construction or ready to start. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has an Energy Development Roadmap and Action Plan with the target of producing 28,500MW by 2035 by when more than half of it will be exported.&nbsp; “The climate crisis will further change the rainfall patterns making hydropower generation a big question mark in the future,” Manjeet Dhakal in Baku, who is also the Nepali adviser to the LDC Chair at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “We are building hydropower projects on rivers without evaluating risk. This whole process needs to be reviewed and reconsidered.” The report of the National Adaptation Plan published by the Ministry of Forest and Environment last year mentions that hydropower production, transmission and distribution will be at risk from flash floods, debris flows, glacial lake outbursts and rising temperatures.&nbsp; This risk is not confined to Nepal. Average global temperatures have increased by 1.3°C compared to the pre-industrial era. Worse, the Himalayan mountains are warming faster than the global average by 0.7°C because of elevation-dependent warming. A study conducted by our own Department of Hydrology and Meteorology in 2017 showed that the average temperature in Nepal has increased in the last four decades. Scientists say this is leading to extreme weather unleashing floods and landslides on slopes already destabilized by seismicity.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241124071128_d22901a360e8958f606d80ffa21defba05a671f65afec65539dc21a6885d8345.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241124071128_d22901a360e8958f606d80ffa21defba05a671f65afec65539dc21a6885d8345" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Right climate for Nepal’s energy transition NT"> <figcaption>BIBLICAL RAIN: Photo taken during catastrophic rain on 27-28 September at the Upper Tamakosi project site that destroyed the control room, killing four staff and burying the sedimentation tanks. Photo: RSS</figcaption> </figure>  Increased atmospheric temperatures has made the monsoon rains more erratic. It does not rain when it is supposed to, and it comes down in torrents when it is not supposed to. The September floods happened two weeks after the monsoon was supposed to retreat from central Nepal. Kathmandu Valley received half its annual precipitation in just over a day. &nbsp; Winter precipitation has also failed, especially in the high mountains and trans-Himalayan valleys. Thirteen of the past 19 years experienced winter drought. This impacts on dry season flows of the rivers, reducing hydropower generation. Nepal’s power capacity normally goes down by one-fourth during winter, but the gap is widening. The Kabeli corridor could only generate 20MW November-March even though plants there have an installed capacity of 200MW. Similarly, Upper Tamakosi only produced 65MW at most against its 456MW capacity last winter. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) pays producers double the price for winter electricity, Rs8.40 per unit. Even though winter operation is highly profitable the rivers run low and NEA has to import from India to meet the winter demand. “This is not just a weather problem but a serious challenge also for the country's energy future, good climate-friendly design should be combined with policy and effective implementation,” says Subarna Das Shrestha, a hydropower investor and CEO of Sanima Mai Hydropower. “Insurance premiums have gone up as well, and settlement for damage is not timely.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/climate-risk-to-hydropower-investment">Hydropower investment</a> at one time was regarded as having a high rate of return. Now, some investors have become <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-smarter-himalayan-infrastructure">wary of the risks involved</a>. Says IPPAN’s Uttam Blon Lama: “Hydropower projects expected to give stable returns are now looking risky. Not only is climate adaptation design and planning expensive, but future repair and maintenance costs will also skyrocket.” Nepal has only one storage type dam <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/rivers-be-dammed">in Kulekhani</a> and another one is being built in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/missing-pieces-of-the-hydropower-jigsaw">Tanahu</a>, but they are also at risk. In September, the sluice gates of Kulekhani Dam had to be opened causing loss of life and destruction downstream. Nepal has to learn lessons from the deadly collapse of the $1 billion <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sikkim-flood-is-warning-to-nepal">Chungthang Dam in Sikkim</a> in October 2023 cause by a glacial lake burst. Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) in Nepal pose potentially catastrophic risk to infrastructure. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">Thame flood in August</a> was a relatively minor debris flow that damaged half of this village in the Everest region when <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">two glacial lakes at 4,760m burst</a>. Luckily there was no loss of life. Of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">47 high-risk glacial lakes</a> in the eastern Nepal Himalaya, 21 are in Nepal and the rest are in rivers in China that are tributaries of the Arun and Bhote Kosi where Nepal has major hydropower plants under construction, or planned.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241123021128_b596cd8520c57a6c5476031e7a3ea6510f26b464c4d5351d2bc10f6f7d6b70d8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20241123021128_b596cd8520c57a6c5476031e7a3ea6510f26b464c4d5351d2bc10f6f7d6b70d8" data-rendition-name="original" width="871" height="648" loading="lazy" alt="Page 10-11 map #1236 NT"> </figure>  Global temperature rise is accelerating the melting of Himalayan snow and ice, increasing the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/living-below-nepal-s-melting-mountains">number and size of glacial lakes</a> so that we do not even have names for them. Imja Tso did not even exist in the old trekking maps until 25 years ago, but is now a 2km long lake. “Natural moraine dams in the mountains are weak, and the projects downstream can face major destruction if they burst, and the risk will only increase in future,” warns climatologist Arun Bhakta Shrestha at the <a href="https://www.icimod.org/">International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)</a>. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/terrifying-assessment-of-a-himalayan-melting">An ICIMOD assessment in 2019</a> projected that if present heating trends continue, as they probably will, the Himalaya will lose two-thirds of our glaciers by the end of this century. “Generally speaking, hydropower developers hand over the project to the government after 30 years but by that time given the climate risks, they may not be an asset anymore,” says Manjeet Dhakal. Indeed, the cascade of expensive projects India is building on the Arun River are supposed to be handed back to Nepal in 25 years, but there is a big ‘if’ about whether they will survive that long. &nbsp;&nbsp; Planning of hydropower projects is still based on historical hydrological data, and does not take into account future temperature rise and its consequences. Investors, on the other hand, say that planning hydropower projects with climate components would make them even more expensive.&nbsp; “It’s not that we aren’t preparing for climate risk, we design keeping in mind the once-in-100-year flood,” says Blon of IPPAN. “But if we start designing based on once in 1,000 years flood, the cost would be so high that we won’t be able to build them at all.” Nonetheless, Subarna Das Shrestha of Sanima Mai Hydropower says that there is no option but to go for climate smart infrastructure despite the higher cost. Sanima Mai's powerhouse, for example, is completely underground. The strategy could also be to spread the risk by building less expensive plants located on rivers all over the country. Nepal is also diversifying away from its sole reliance on hydroelectricity, which at present supplies 92% of the power in the grid. Most of the rest comes from solar plants, where the total potential has not even been scratched. &nbsp; This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>  &nbsp;

1000th-issue