<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058359c7e80680e0ce191jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Pheriche Aid Post where David Shlim lived in 1979 where it was just part of seasonal yak pastures, managed by the Himalayan Rescue Association</figcaption></figure>My first home in Kathmandu was a glass A-frame house nestled in a lychee and mango orchard, sheltered by a magnificent old fig tree in Bansbari. It was rented from Prem who lived with his young family in the same garden, rice fields stretching beyond the back wall with distant views of the northern hills. It was tiny, with seating on floor cushions and the bedroom a mattress on the mezzanine accessed by a precarious circular staircase, but that did not preclude large parties on the lawn and jolly meals around a polished table in the cramped dining alcove.As Dr David Shlim recounts in his memoir, A Gentle Rain of Compassion, it was here at dinner one evening that his life was profoundly changed by meeting Jane, a leggy blond Canadian who worked for us at Tiger Tops. This chance encounter led to a series of events (spoiler alert) that broke his pattern of ricocheting romances and obsessive despair which, in the mysterious way of this magical Valley, eventually catapulted him out of his misery and onto the healing path of spiritual awakening.That evening would lead to the transformation of David’s life through his discovery of Tibetan Buddhism, personal tuition by reincarnate lamas and an enduring friendship with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, whom he met when offering free healthcare in his Boudha monastery. But this journey towards enlightenment, compellingly written with David’s signature self-deprecating humour, encapsulates much, much more. In the words of Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air: ‘Dr. Shlim’s story is candid, wise, fascinating, funny, tragic, astonishing, hopeful, and wonderfully entertaining.’<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058399c7e80680e0ce192jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="844"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/6390583c9c7e80680e0ce193jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1384"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Today David is world renowned as a specialist physician in travel medicine and has pioneered the bringing together of Buddhist philosophical practice with modern medical theory. Based in Jackson Hole Wyoming, he has lectured around the world on travel medicine topics and spends his time coaching caregivers to apply compassion in their daily interactions with patients, teaching Buddhism, and directing the Medicine and Compassion Project (<a href="http://www.davidshlim.com/medicine-compassion-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.davidshlim.com/medicine-compassion-project&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1668505584783000&amp;usg=AOvVaw20UaHm5NlXkxsR3gmzaaPd">www.davidshlim.com/medicine-compassion-project</a>).Collaboration with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and others resulted in the first-ever book that provided authentic Tibetan Buddhist insights into altruism and compassion for Western medical professionals, Medicine and Compassion, published in 2004. Monk philanthropist Matthieu Ricard (who David’s son is named after) writes: ‘Uniting his medical vocation with the essence of Buddhism … led to his teaching physicians around the world on how to bring back compassion at the heart of their profession and day to day activities.’<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058409c7e80680e0ce194jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="957" height="820"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Dr Shlim, as he is known locally, was a popular guest and a well-known fixture in 1980s’ Kathmandu. Adept at tolerating local conditions, both personal and medical, he first worked in Nepal in 1979 as the volunteer doctor posted in the Pheriche aid post high in the eastern Himalaya, lured away from his lacklustre life and flailing medical career in the US by the peerless mountain doctor and climber, Dr Peter Hackett.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058439c7e80680e0ce195jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="948" height="1061"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Returning as director of CIWEC, Nepal’s first international clinic with which he remains associated, Dr Shlim was a lifesaver, literally. Prior to CIWEC’s establishment in 1982 with Canadian assistance, we all relied on the Shanta Bhawan Hospital in a former Rana palace, run by dedicated and hard-working missionaries. I would regularly invite David down to Chitwan and Bardia for the reassurance of his gentle medical expertise when we had celebrity guests such as Henry Kissinger, Ringo Starr and Robert Redford in our care.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058469c7e80680e0ce196jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1141" height="1261"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In a unique position to study medical conditions afflicting travellers, including diarrhoea, tropical diseases and travellers’ depression, the research that David led during his 15 years in Nepal made CIWEC the most famous travel clinic in the world. In addition, he served ten years as medical director of the Himalayan Rescue Association and became president of the International Society of Travel Medicine, an organization with 4,000 members in 100 countries. In 1998 Dr David Shlim was recognised by the Prime Minister of Nepal for his lifetime contribution to Himalayan rescue and mountain medicine.It was to CIWEC that Beck Weathers and Makalu Gau were brought after the epic 1996 high altitude flight by Madhan KC above the Everest icefall, at that time the highest ever helicopter rescue. I coordinated the rescue operation, manning the phones in Kathmandu with Rob Hall’s team at basecamp, the American Embassy and Adventure Consultants in Christchurch. Having been left for dead above Camp II after the storm, we held the phone to Beck Weathers’ ear as he called his wife from David’s consulting room to tell her that he was still alive, tears streaming down his face, his frostbitten nose treated and both hands bandaged by Dr Shlim.David is a good storyteller as this page-turner attests, and inevitably was at the centre of expat life in those early self-reliant days, with all their dramas, disasters, accidents and adventures. A sober physician by day, David let off steam as a rock and roll singer by night. The Fear of Heights band had us dancing late into the night, a precursor for another twist in his eclectic career as tour doctor travelling the world with the Rolling Stones for three years - David had originally met Mick Jagger and his family in 1990 at my house in Kathmandu.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/6390584b9c7e80680e0ce197jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1622" height="1160"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche writes in the Foreword: ‘Dr. Shlim’s life was filled with many challenges and many successes, both medically and personally. He tells these stories very well.’  Particularly remarkable is the way he shares the step by step progression of a Jewish American doctor’s skepticism that evolved from a growing spiritual awareness into a deep connection with Tibetan Buddhism.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058529c7e80680e0ce198jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1022"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>But this unputdownable book is about more than medical sagas and spiritual exploration, on which David clearly left his mark in Nepal and vise versa, gripping as they are. The narrative gallops along, featuring romances, travel and personal trauma, sweeping us through the delights and deprivations of Kathmandu life in the 1980s and the stark reality of Sherpa living in the high Khumbu with little health support. We follow David through the unsatisfactory dead ends of his early years in the US, settling into the beguiling rhythms of life in Nepal, then returning to the American Tetons having found the other Jane - another beautiful Canadian lady chanced upon in Kathmandu with whom he has shared his extraordinary life and two children.Recently released in the US and Kathmandu, it is fitting that A Gentle Rain of Compassion was selected as the best autobiography/memoir by International Book Awards 2022 - a great boost for Dr Shlim, and nice recognition for Nepal as the most rewarding of adventure and spiritual destinations.A Gentle Rain of Compassion by Dr David R Shlim Di Angelo Publications USA 2022Distributed in Nepal by Vajra Books362 pages $19.99<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058569c7e80680e0ce199jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1383">

Lisa Choegyal

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The good doctor

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb65c9c7e80680e07bc59jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1365"/><figcaption>Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>Last year this time, the Infectious and Tropical Disease Hospital in Teku would be filled with patients suffering from mosquito or dog bites. But for the past week, entire families are sleeping in the open overnight at the hospital gate waiting for their turn to get Covid-19 PCR tests in the morning.The novel coronavirus has overshadowed many prevalent diseases and their treatment in Nepal, and one of the deadliest among them is <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19652#.X3E9tS2B0b0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rabies</a>.Last month, on a day that saw six Covid-19 fatalities nationwide, at least three people died of rabies in Dolakha district after a dog bit 10 people. The three, aged 32, 14 and 8, died despite receiving anti-rabies vaccines.Their families filed police complaints against a local clinic for using faulty vaccine, but ward chair Raj Kusum Lama later said the three died because they did not go for the full treatment of three injections.In Kathmandu, the Teku hospital is the only one which administers free anti-rabies vaccines. It used to get as many as 150 dog bite cases a day, but the number dwindled to only about 30 daily cases in the past months – even though there is anecdotal evidence of hungry street dogs getting more aggressive during the lockdown.Surya Ghimire was recently walking from his home in Dhapakhel to a school in Patan where he is a security guard, when he was suddenly attacked by a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/woof-of-fresh-air-for-street-dogs-in-kathmandu,4132" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">canine pack</a>."There were no cars on Sat Dobato, and the dogs ruled the intersection. It was so dangerous, I started carrying a stick to protect myself,” he recalled. “The dogs were chasing people on motorcycles. They never did this before.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb65f9c7e80680e07bc5ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3264" height="2448"><figcaption>Photo: BASU PARAJULI/THE KAT CENTRE</figcaption></figure>The lockdown also meant that without transport, people could not travel to health facilities to access the vaccine on time. Even after travel restrictions were lifted, many dog bite victims are afraid to visit Teku because it is also where Covid-19 patients are tested and treated.“Rabies is a under-diagnosed and under-rated in Nepal,” explained Buddha Basnyat of Patan Academy of Health Sciences. “Rabies doesn’t take any prisoners, it kills. Good thing we have a set of highly effective preventive measures.”A post-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as anti-rabies vaccine, must be administered immediately after a dog bite, even if the dog may not be rabid. No one wants to take the chance. The vaccine takes about a week for the body to develop antibodies to fight the virus.While completely preventable, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17455#.X3E9tS2B0b0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rabies</a> is a disease with the highest documented case-fatality rate -- close to 100%. Globally, it is responsible for 59,000 deaths every year, and 40% of all human rabies deaths are of children under 15.While rabies occurs in more than 150 countries, it is endemic in South Asia and Africa. India alone accounts for 40% of all annual rabies deaths in the world.Nepal has an average of 125 cases a year, but experts say most of the cases in remote rural areas go unreported. In fact, given the uncontrolled and growing population of stray dogs in urban areas, rabies and its preventive measures deserve more attention.“Teku hospital is synonymous with dog bite treatment, but the anti-rabies vaccine should be made available across the country and not just in few government hospitals,” says Prativa Pandey of CIWEC Travel Medicine Centre in Kathmandu. “Widespread access to the vaccine also means cutting down on travel cost for patients seeking treatment.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb6629c7e80680e07bc5bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="530"><figcaption>Photo: KAT CENTRE</figcaption></figure>Indeed, if all major hospitals, health facilities and clinics had a stock of vaccines, many more lives would have been saved during the lockdown. Free anti-rabies vaccines are available only in Teku and limited district hospitals. Private hospitals stock the vaccine, but there is a hefty charge. Even then, most facilities are not equipped with immunoglobulin, which together with post-exposure prophylaxis is considered a complete treatment against rabies.An immunoglobulin shot is crucial in severe bite wounds, but both equine and human immunoglobulin can be found only in a select few clinics.“South India has made much progress in equine serum and we should invest on making it more widely available in Nepal,” says Basnyat. “It’s much cheaper than human immunoglobulin and doesn’t need a lot of maintenance, and the side effects are reduced.”Knowledge about immediate and thorough bite wound washing with soap and water is also crucial, and can save lives. But prevention by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17934#.X3E9xS2B0b0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">controlling the street dog population</a> and canine vaccination are equally important. Although bats and monkeys also carry the rabies virus, dog bites make up 99% of all transmission in Nepal.Animal welfare organisations such as Kathmandu Animal Treatment (KAT) Centre and Sneha’s Care have been immunising community dogs in the Valley. Along with individual initiatives, they have also been busy <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/singha-darbar-dogs-go-hungry-in-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">feeding and caring for stray animals during the lockdown</a> so they are not as aggressive.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb6649c7e80680e07bc5cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>On Monday, 28 September, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control is marking the 14th World Rabies Day with the slogan ‘End Rabies: Collaborate, Vaccinate’. Nepal and other endemic countries should renew their commitment to end rabies by prioritising and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bhaktapurs-dog-catchers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">investing on preventive measures</a> and meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of bringing down human deaths from dog-mediated rabies to zero by 2030.Elsewhere in the world, pre-exposure vaccines are readily available and most travellers to Nepal use one so that even in case of a dog bite, they can survive with only one booster dose of the anti-rabies vaccine.Says Prativa Pandey: “Ideally, immunisation against rabies like we have for polio is recommended for this part of the world even though it is expensive. Even so, we must make the vaccine available and invest on preventive measures to save lives.”

Dog bites man is still news in Nepal

Samsung Nepal has opened pre-orders for the Galaxy A57 5G and A37 5G. Both phones run Samsung’s One UI 8.5, featuring AI capabilities like voice transcription, Circle to Search, and photo editing. They feature a 50MP triple-camera system, a Super AMOLED display, and six years of OS and security updates.

Galaxy A series

Know your Ministers

‘One early morning, we heard the ambassador’s wife cry out, “Ram, Ram, Ram!” A disaster has befallen Nepal!” She had heard on the radio that a fire had consumed Singha Durbar." This is not about the arson attack on 9 September 2025, but the one on 8 July, 1973. It started in the South Wing of the then single-largest building in all of Nepal. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, requiring the use of explosives to demolish one wing to protect the imposing western facade. As Bhekh Bahadur Thapa recalls in the English translation of his memoir A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy, he was then on leave from the Nepal government serving with the IDRC in Ottawa.&nbsp; He had already served as Nepal’s Finance Secretary at age 25, went on to be Finance Minister and Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. He was already younger than some of the GenZ ministers in Nepal’s present RSP government. Thapa, now 89, was at the launch of the book in February which was attended by former diplomats and bureaucrats. After speeches by panelists, there was a question from the audience about how Thapa had managed to be the diplomat he was, managing Nepal’s international relations on the world stage.&nbsp; Writer and journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay, who was moderating the panel, responded by going into the section of the book where we see Thapa as an ambassador to the US, playing tennis with White House officials, cultivating a network of contacts to project the identity and welfare of Nepal, and making it possible for a state visit by King Birendra to Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is full of anecdotes that suggest Thapa was a clever and strategic diplomat, always calm and unruffled, easily making friends in high places with his maturity and engaging sense of humour. Thapa’s memoir is heavy on details about Nepal’s administrative history during the years he was active in public service, serving as minister and ambassador under three kings: Mahendra, Birendra and Gyanendra, and alongside five prime ministers.&nbsp; Aside from an insider look on how certain treaties, development deals and research projects in Nepal came into fruition, Thapa goes into great detail about his personal and professional relationships with the kings, ministers, ambassadors, foreign leaders and politicians.&nbsp; As a reader, one is struck by the level of detail around the events that unfolded in Nepal over the years during Thapa’s tenure. Was Thapa recording a journal over the years of the events and the conversations that transpired, or were they committed to his phenomenal memory? Either way, the reader gets a glimpse of Nepal’s recent history from the early days of the Panchayat, through the People’s Movement and the democracy period, the Maoist insurgency, Royal Palace massacre of 2001, and Gyanendra’s coup of 2005.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1584" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How to win friends and influence nations NT"> </figure>  Not enough is said about the political parties of the time whose presence led to the way Nepal’s multiparty democracy came to be shaped. The book keeps its focus on the administration and the key figures around it, mostly those in the Panchayat era. Towards the second half of the book, we do start to hear about political parties, but not in great depth. Another figure whose presence in the book is conspicuously less prominent is that of his wife, Rita Thapa — the person who seems to have rescued him every time financial quandary or family care became a challenge. Yet, we do not see her as a full person. Perhaps because of the personal tragedies in his life, the children are also barely mentioned.&nbsp; The book is therefore less personal and more technical. Throughout, we learn about Thapa’s thinking as he navigated the world of diplomacy to win him the trust of those who mattered. There are tips here for a new generation of Nepali officials and diplomats about how much commitment and focus is needed to be good at one’s job and serve the national interest. This book adds to tomes that have been written on Nepal’s fragile relationship with India. ‘India has always wished for Nepal to remain dependent on it,’ writes Thapa, who served as Nepal’s ambassador to India and later in the Eminent Persons Group &nbsp;on Indo-Nepal relations that has been allowed to languish. The book has several insights into the Indo-Nepal trysts with diplomacy and agency.&nbsp; China’s role is also recorded, viewed through conversations during a visit to Beijing, but all that was before Nepal’s neighbour to the north emerged as a world economic and military power. The book also has such sudden instances of quirkiness and humour. For instance, we see a young Thapa in America explaining to a government official why he would like to return to Nepal instead of settling down in the US. “Because, Nepal is beautiful,” he said. The text is immaculate and does not read much like a translation, credit for which clearly goes to the team that put the edition together: translator Prawin Adhikari, &nbsp;Anagha Neelakanthan and Bhekh Thapa’s daughter, Manjushree. As Nepal enters a new era of governance and diplomacy, A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy should be essential reading for students of political science, economics and foreign affairs who can gain a fresh perspective on the country’s trajectory.&nbsp; There are dozens of forgotten state secrets recorded in the book, but the reader must also remember this is a story told from one person’s perspective and there may be others.&nbsp; So, what really made Thapa the diplomat he was? I met him in 2004 at the Kantipur TV studio when he was serving as king Gyanendra’s foreign minister. He was there for a studio interview, and I was just done with my English newscast.&nbsp; He surprised me at the door: “Pratibha! I’ve been reading your articles in The Kathmandu Post. You must keep writing.” I thanked him, glad to have been noticed for my work by a stranger. That was perhaps one of the things that set Thapa apart — he excelled at staying close to those in power, while also noticing those who were not.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Book details"> </figure>

How to win friends and influence nations

Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Wednesday broke tradition and met with 17 foreign envoys collectively, a move that was a notable departure from how his predecessors operated.&nbsp;
Shah had already set himself apart by talking less, listening more, and delegating to trusted friends. But by meeting all ambassadors at one go in the presence of the Foreign Ministry, he signalled a paradigm shift in how he wants Nepal to be seen: no longer just balancing India and China, but as a country confident about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/tripolar-contestation-over-nepal">strategic importance and place in the world</a>.
In just two weeks, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rsp-dos-and-don-ts">RSP has sprung into action </a>on multiple fronts to implement its ambitious 100-point, 100-days action plan. It has taken short-term measures to mitigate the impact of the Gulf war, as well as medium- and long- term measures to streamline the bureaucracy. A few high-profile figures have been made examples of to drive the message home.
Earlier this week, the government recalled six politically appointed ambassadors, the most notable being long-serving Shankar Sharma from New Delhi. The Kathmandu District Court issued arrest warrants against former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his former foreign minister wife Arzu Rana on charges of money laundering and corruption.
Each ministry has been trying to clean up the accumulated rot from the past three decades: regulatory overhaul of microfinance, education, health and service delivery.&nbsp;
These actions widely disseminated campaign-style on YouTube and TikTok have made most Nepalis hopeful that the party they installed in power means business.
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BACKLASH
But such attempts to overhaul a long-entrenched political culture were bound to face backlash. In their impatience and enthusiasm to get things done, some of Prime Minister Shah’s ministers have over-reached.
It was common knowledge that government-paid advertising in the mainstream press was kickback-driven, but the PMO’s directive that official notices be published or broadcast only on state-run media has been denounced — especially as the media industry struggles to stay afloat.
More serious are some recent appointments by ministers of relatives and figures closely associated with the RSP to key positions. This has rankled because this party built its political plank on ending nepotism and graft.&nbsp;
News that Home Minister Sudan Gurung allegedly had not paid rent on leased land, which illegally encroached on the lake in Pokhara did not help. &nbsp;
Prime Minister Shah himself has come under scrutiny for appointing a kitchen cabinet full of male buddies from his time as Kathmandu mayor. To douse criticism he brought in as adviser investigative journalist Deepa Dahal, who has exposed corruption in high places of the previous coalitions.&nbsp;
Shah’s appointment of another political adviser Asim Shah to the head Constitution Amendment Task Force, is also seen as problematic. He is a filmmaker and former lawmaker, but does not have a background in constitutional law.&nbsp;
Even more controversial is the Cabinet’s decision to appoint RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane’s legal counsel, Narayan Kandel, as Attorney General. Kandel used to be a UK permanent resident, and does not have as much experience practicing law in Nepal.&nbsp;
Kandel’s appointment drew flak and raised eyebrows, and with the pending legal cases against Lamichhane this appointment represents a flagrant conflict of interest.
Health Minister Nisha Mehta was also accused of favouritism after reappointing Junu Shrestha, wife of Labour Minister Dipak Kumar Shah, as member of the Health Insurance Board which had earlier suspended her. The Labour Minister’s rambling rant at the Board’s meeting on Tuesday has not helped the RSP’s image.&nbsp;
(UPDATE: On Thursday, Prime Minister Shah sacked the Labour Minister after the RSP found him in breach of the party's code of conduct and discipline. He served 14 days in the Cabinet, one of the shortest tenures for a minister in Nepal )
It is hard to know what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ball-in-balen-s-court">Balendra Shah is thinking</a>, and how Rabi Lamichhane is going to justify some of these moves. After all, making politics, governance, and bureaucracy a meritocracy has been the core tenet of the RSP, and it risks alienating its mainly youth base if these missteps persist.
But at least for now, most RSP supporters seem to be giving the party the benefit of doubt.

travel-medicine

The good doctor

Dog bites man is still news in Nepal

Galaxy A series

Know your Ministers

How to win friends and influence nations

Nepal’s new government springs into action