Nowhere is the impact of the abrupt closure of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/how-usaid-cut-affects-nepal">USAID in Nepal</a> more symbolic than inside the Chobhar Dry Port. Hundreds of abandoned blue-plated SUVs and two-wheelers are parked like a car dealership in suburban America. Across Kathmandu, an estimated 600 homes, apartments and offices rented by USAID personnel, consultants and contractors are now vacant. It is a similar story in Surkhet, a hub for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-great-game-2nd-half">US-funded development projects</a> in far western Nepal. Some domestic airlines have cut daily flights between Kathmandu and Surkhet because there are fewer passengers flying for fieldwork.&nbsp; With so many cars and motorcycles off the roads, Nepal is actually saving an estimated 200,000 litres of petrol and diesel a month, worth nearly Rs30 million. The Dry Port itself is earning Rs100 per vehicle per day in parking fees. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-end-of-aid">impact of the USAID shutdown</a> has therefore reverberated not just across Nepal’s development agencies, but has hit the economy through downstream impact on the private sector. The United States was the second country to establish bilateral relations with Nepal in 1947, even before Nepal forged diplomatic ties with India and China. US development assistance to Nepal began with the Point Four Program in 1951, and early projects through USOM (US Operations Mission) which supported infrastructure, agriculture, and malaria eradication. Early US aid programs in Chitwan cleared the jungles so that once <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-insect-that-changed-nepal-s-history">malaria </a>was eradicated, it facilitated King Mahendra’s strategy of transmigration of entire mountain villages to the Inner Tarai valleys. The American-aided Rapti Project was so wasteful and the benefit to locals was so minimal that researchers and historians concluded in books and journal articles that it planted the seeds of<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ghosts-of-war"> the Maoist insurgency</a> in the mid-western mountains. Later, US aid was critical in linking Dadeldhura to the Tarai and connecting Chitwan to Hetauda, and also in the development of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-to-make-nepals-skies-safer">Nepal’s civil aviation </a>with the donation of World War II vintage DC-3s to Royal Nepal Airlines. Early American aid also focussed on higher education with teacher training, production of teaching materials, and scholarships for Nepali students to pursue university degrees in the US. In 2022, USAID and Nepal signed a five-year Development Objective Agreement worth $659 million for Direct Financing projects in four sectors: health, agriculture, education, and inclusive policy. But soon after Donald Trump was sworn in for his <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/trump-s-second-coming">second term earlier this year</a>, the USAID funding freeze left about 40 projects across the country in limbo. Many Nepali staff lost their jobs, while other partners scrambled to fulfil project goals. Much of the discussion surrounding development aid centred on how much money was actually spent in rural Nepal, and how much was recycled back to America through consultants, or was spent in Kathmandu by contractors.&nbsp; “A significant portion of funds from USAID went to American contractors, and there was a lack of transparency about how much of the budget actually trickled down to<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/ex-guerrilla-s-revolution-in-rural-nepal"> rural Nepal</a>,” says economist Sujeev Shakya. While the intended beneficiaries of US development assistance did not gain as much due to tied aid and leakage along the way, the funding cut has left Nepal’s underserved communities without access to basic services, as well as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/life-and-livelihood-in-remote-nepal">opportunities for livelihood and empowerment</a>.&nbsp; A retired Nepali diplomat posted in Washington DC told Nepali Times that although many have reason to be cynical about USAID work in Nepal, the closure of the agency is a “huge loss” for the development sector.&nbsp; America’s withdrawal from the global scene has also prompted other European countries to rethink development aid. Britain’s FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth &amp; Development Office) has drastically reduced its aid budget, impacting projects in Nepal. Germany has also cut development funding and diverted the money to defence.&nbsp; This has prompted Nepal’s development experts to advise reducing reliance on foreign aid, especially as the nation is also set to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/not-poor-but-not-rich">graduate from LDC status</a> next year. Indeed, total annual foreign aid to Nepal in grants and loans of about $1 billion a year compared to remittances of $12 billion last year. “Nepal has adequate resources, both financial and human, to fill the gap left by donors,” says Min Raj Gyawali, who was Deputy Chief of Party of USAID’s Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) program for Nepal. “What we need to do to implement our development projects successfully is better organisation, management, set achievable goals, have better coordination between local and federal authorities, and use our internal revenue more effectively.”&nbsp; To get out of its dependency syndrome, Nepal needs to look no further than its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/understanding-nepals-underspending">unspent annual development budget</a>. “It is is no use crying over the loss of American aid when we are unable to spend 70% of our own annual budget every year,” says Shakya.&nbsp; After shutting down USAID, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/trump-s-first-month">Trump administration</a> transferred the work of overseas development assistance to the State Department, and this could mean that it may rethink a scaled down and more selective aid program in future that aligns with strategic US foreign policy goals. The US is not unique in this. Australia’s foreign aid program AUSAID was integrated to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in 2014, while DFID, the UK department responsible for administering overseas aid until 2020, was merged with the foreign office to form the FCDO. “The US still needs to maintain and protect its strategic interests across the world,” says Shakya. “This means that the closure of USAID might not be permanent, and it may be integrated with other development programs in future.” Adds Gyawali: “One lesson to be learnt from the USAID closure is that we might be faced with a similar situation anytime in future, so we must always have a back-up plan in the event that any donor pulls out of ongoing development projects. We now need to focus on funding diversity rather than relying on any one donor, and we need multi-sectoral strategies to meet and manage funding for ongoing and future development programs.” <h2>USAID cut affects access to safe sex</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250904090924_61f40fb3e850ccc8a403a42283da74cd668bbd52a7c3f24966cb27ac2cdde4c8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250904090924_61f40fb3e850ccc8a403a42283da74cd668bbd52a7c3f24966cb27ac2cdde4c8" data-rendition-name="original" width="5184" height="3456" loading="lazy" alt="USNOAID"> <figcaption>Photo: USAID / FLICKR</figcaption> </figure>  The absence of USAID funds in the 10 months since its shutdown has hit Nepal’s health sector the most. The resource gap has affected crucial programs supporting nutrition, reproductive health, and tuberculosis prevention. As much as 60% of USAID funds were said to support health-related projects. &nbsp; Programs aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality, especially for neonatal care, have been seriously undermined. The impact on nutrition programs for schools could mean that childhood malnutrition in Nepal could see a surge. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump shock wave hits Nepal</a>, Sudiksha Tuladhar One of the programs affected was USAID-funded five-year Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) project led by CARE Nepal in partnership with the government and other non-profits to empower Nepalis aged 10-19 through behaviour change efforts, group-based interventions, and girl-led activism for reproductive health and social norms change.&nbsp; “All our plans had been made around the guarantee of external support, so training, exposure, and capacity enhancement programs were stopped,” explains Min Raj Gyawali, who was Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) for the ARH program. “The short-term, accelerated learning course to send out-of-school girls back to school was continued after reorganisation of funds from other partners, but the community adolescent forums made to facilitate discussions about their health have largely come to an end.”&nbsp; But among the hardest hit health programs in Nepal are ones aimed at<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12340"> HIV prevention</a>. Nepal’s progress over the past decades in addressing HIV and AIDS is now at serious risk since USAID involvement in HIV screening, preventative medication, and condom distribution has discontinued.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250905170924_9770df4ba9e7da64b118504833afc3726b7dce50d05f2bf2b8f6d26b29773e00.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250905170924_9770df4ba9e7da64b118504833afc3726b7dce50d05f2bf2b8f6d26b29773e00" data-rendition-name="original" width="1368" height="844" loading="lazy" alt="USNOAID NT"> </figure>  Key populations at risk of HIV including sex workers, their clients, women whose husbands and partners are living with HIV were supported with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Data from the NCASC shows there are 30,300 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Nepal as of 2024. Meanwhile, up to 86,809 cisgender female, 25,955 cisgender men who have sex with men, and 14,250 transgender women are involved in sex work across the country.&nbsp; HIV screening also came to a standstill following the funding freeze, but the government has restarted it with help from other development partners, says Lok Raj Pandey of the National Centre for AIDS and STI Control.&nbsp; Antiretroviral therapy services, which are provided for free for people with HIV by the government, have not been impacted, say officials. A total of 25, 728 infected people are currently on antiretroviral therapy.&nbsp; “<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4128">HIV testing and counselling services</a> have resumed at the 96 antiretroviral therapy treatment centres across Nepal,” adds Pandey, “But a shortage of PreP medication and condoms persists." Government officials say that they can not definitively say if HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases have increased in the last 10 months. But civil society organisations that support sex workers disagree. “We have have already begun to note a rise in sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhoea, and a rise in HIV infections in the last 10 months,” says Tulsi Gandhari, chair of the Janahit Mahila Mahasang, Nepal’s national federation of female sex workers. “The situation for people engaged is sex work has become increasingly dire, and a sustained lack of condoms is only going to make things worse.” “The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-far-from-hitting-contraceptive-target">shortage of condoms</a> has also meant that female sex workers have to use emergency contraceptives like pills after the fact, continued usage of which will have lasting damage on their general and reproductive health in the long run,” Gandhari adds.&nbsp; Experts are concerned about the rise of not just HIV, but other life-threatening sexually-transmitted diseases like cervical cancer and Hepatitis B.&nbsp; 95-95-95 Despite government assurance that testing for HIV and sexually-transmitted infections have resumed, non-profits point to the unavailability of large-scale, free-of-cost screening. Meanwhile, condoms have been distributed by organisations that support family planning and HIV prevention, but it is not nearly enough to meet daily needs for the sex worker community.&nbsp; “Sex workers face daily risks to their health and physical safety, and the funding gap has left them without essential services,” adds Rajan KC of Janahit Mahila Mahasang. “The lack of timely testing, contraceptives, outreach, and peer educators for moral support increases this risk.” The UNAIDS ’95-95-95’ target aims to ensure that 95% of people living with HIV are aware of their status, 95% of those diagnosed receive antiretroviral therapy, and 95% of those on treatment achieve viral suppression by 2030. Nepal’s National HIV Strategic Plan 2021-2026 outlines a fast track approach towards ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health by achieving the 95-95-95 targets by 2026.&nbsp; But with the lack of preventative support and robust screening services, experts are not so optimistic about Nepal’s HIV outcomes.&nbsp; The risk of exposure to HIV among sex workers and their clients brought about by the absence of essential services also increases the chances of exposure to pregnant women and the wider community. “If we continue on the same trajectory for another few months, we run the risk of rolling back our progress with HIV prevention,” cautions KC. “The government has not been serious enough to address this possibility.” The lack of counselling and peer support has also led to a rise in violence and social stigmatisation in vulnerable communities, note experts. The absence of free treatment centres and clinics mean that sex workers have to seek sexual and reproductive healthcare at public and private institutions, where they are often subject to hostile and discriminatory rhetoric from service providers and fellow patients. Trans sex workers are subject to even more scrutiny, ridicule, vitriol, and bigotry.&nbsp; This stigmatisation, in addition to the costs associated with repeated visits for HIV and STI-related health concerns, prevents sex workers from accessing essential healthcare. “We urgently need free clinics so that sex workers are not met with an unfriendly environment whenever they seek healthcare,” says Gandhari.&nbsp; Pandey of the NCASC says officials are looking into how they can resume the free-of-cost sexual health services that have stopped, noting that USAID was not Nepal’s only partner in HIV and STI preventative support. America has also not completely pulled out of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-lagging-in-safe-motherhood">sexual and reproductive health support</a>, he adds. Last week, the US embassy in Nepal met with partners in the health sector to maintain America’s commitment to health projects in Nepal, saying that regional officials would helm USAID’s legacy health programs.&nbsp; ‘Together, we will continue lifesaving work in HIV/AIDS, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/target-2030-for-maternal-and-newborn-health">maternal &amp; child health</a>, and global health security,’ the embassy wrote in a statement on social media. ‘Working closely with the Government of Nepal and donors, the United States is committed to strengthening health systems and promoting Nepal’s self-reliance in delivering quality services.’

Shristi Karki

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USNOAID

In the first 30 days of his <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/trump-s-second-coming">second presidential term</a>, Donald Trump and his associates have been engaged in what some have described as a slow-moving political coup. &nbsp;
The incoming president has undertaken what amounts to a full-scale attack on institutional checks and balances and on civil and political rights. He has launched sharp policy reversals in critical areas of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health">public health</a>, social services, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/don-t-fix-what-ain-t-broke">environmental protection</a>. And in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/at-home-and-abroad">foreign policy</a>, he has upended decades-old political and military alignments intended to defend against potential aggression by autocratic rivals such as Russia and China. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Elsewhere in the world, similar actions have led to the emergence of what political scientists have called “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/people-power-removes-bangladesh-leader">competitive authoritarian regimes</a>,” ones in which democratic institutions become facades that disguise the reality of autocratic control.&nbsp;
Although it is far too soon to say how Trump’s onslaught will end, it is very important to highlight the major differences between his current threats to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/is-democracy-too-expensive-for-nepal">democracy</a> and those posed <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-climate-stakes-of-the-us-election">during his first term</a>. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Trump 1.0 attacked deeply held norms of political discourse and practice, intensifying the social polarisation that had carried him to victory. But U.S. political and constitutional institutions remained more or less intact. Challenges to the democratic system—including on January 6—were contained by congressional opposition, by the courts, by the press, and by civil society. Even—or perhaps especially—resistance from within the Republican party itself also provided an important check on Trump’s abuses of power.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trumpet-call">Trumpet Call</a>, Shristi Karki&nbsp;
The threat that Trump currently poses to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/un-united-states-of-america">U.S. democracy</a> is far more profound, because it targets legal and constitutional institutions as well as norms. The Congress—currently under the control of now fully loyal Republican majorities—has failed to push back against attacks on independent agencies, the dismissal of Inspectors General, and efforts to weaken or eliminate congressionally mandated government agencies through mass firings and the freezing of funds, beginning with the virtual <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/how-usaid-cut-affects-nepal">dismantling of USAID</a>.&nbsp;
A supine Senate has acquiesced to the high-level political appointments of people once considered far outside the mainstream, and it is sitting quietly by while Elon Musk wields extraordinary power to “reform” the state bureaucracy. &nbsp;
Lower courts have moved to block some of these initiatives, but it remains to be seen whether their rulings will be backed by the highly conservative Supreme Court, or even whether Trump will abide by them if they are. Meanwhile, the press, popular movements, and big business—all important checks during the first Trump term—appear dazed, confused, and intimidated this time around. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
So far, the speed and volume of Trump’s actions has kept both supporters and opponents off-balance. Although some of his initiatives are transparently illegal, he has also exploited many gray areas of the law; and, as in other backsliding democracies, this makes it difficult for opponents to coalesce against such challenges.&nbsp;
Worse still, the damage done by some of Trump’s (and Musk’s) early initiatives—particularly to government agencies responsible for health, environment, education, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-links-in-nepal-s-mcc-debate">foreign assistance</a>, and other critical functions—may already be irreversible. The toll can be measured in lost expertise, interruption of crucial research, suspension of vital services, and increasing threats to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/food-security-is-national-security">national security</a>. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
To understand the magnitude of the threats we currently face in the United States, it is useful to place them in a comparative perspective. In a previous analysis of 16 cases of “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/stemming-asia-s-democratic-decay">democratic backsliding</a>,” Stephan Haggard and I distinguished between countries where would-be autocrats succeeded in consolidating authoritarian control over the system (“competitive authoritarian regimes”), and those in which they did not.&nbsp;
In both Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro and the United States under Trump 1.0, opposition groups retained critical institutional leverage in the courts, the legislature, and the states, and they were able to successfully contain autocratic initiatives. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump shock wave hits Nepal</a>, Sudiksha Tuladhar
Conversely, in countries such as Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, elected autocrats headed political movements that gained control of these constitutional institutions, and this control, in turn, provided a cover of legitimacy which allowed them to disempower the opposition and undermine their democratic systems. &nbsp;
Much more than Trump 1.0, the current incarnation of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/trump-s-diminishing-power-and-rising-rage">Trump presidency </a>bears a substantial resemblance to the democracies that devolved into competitive authoritarianism. Like other backsliders we have analysed, our Congress has enabled, rather than constrained, Trump’s attempts to expand his authority. The independence of the Supreme Court remains in doubt. And much of the opposition is divided and demoralised. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
We have not yet crossed the autocratic threshold, however. Trump’s bid to consolidate power continues to face important challenges that can become increasingly consequential over time. First, while constitutional institutions have been weakened, they remain alive. As noted above, lower courts have so far continued to provide important avenues for efforts to block or at least slow <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-world-should-prepare-for-trump">Trump’s destructive initiatives</a>.&nbsp;
Moreover, it is far from impossible for the opposition party to regain its footing. At the national level, to be sure, the Democrats have very little leverage, but their continued control of many state and city governments offers platforms for significant opposition.&nbsp;
Civil society organisations are also likely to find their voices as the initial shock of the Trump presidency diminishes. And despite the pressure that it is under, the media remains a far more robust forum of opposition and criticism than its counterparts in countries that have yielded to authoritarian takeovers.
As I have written elsewhere, there are also internal fissures within the Trump coalition that are likely to widen as the initial honeymoon fades. The corporate sector—especially the technology giants—have rushed to curry favour with the new administration, in the hope of benefitting from lower taxes and deregulation.But big business is also severely threatened by the disruption of supply chains, high tariffs on imports, attacks on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-truth-about-migration">immigrant labour force</a>, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-geopolitics-of-nepal-s-politics">geopolitical instability</a>. For example, the automotive sector, which is a major employer in the upper Midwest and in a number of red states, faces major challenges from tariffs on steel and restrictions on the imports of parts and materials. &nbsp;
Finally, Trump will face defections from his own voters as his trade and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/two-decades-of-debate-on-female-migration">immigration policies</a> begin to undermine their aspirations for stable prices and secure employment. And discontent will grow if the administration fails to fend off new public health crises or if it proves unable to manage international conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Asia. &nbsp;&nbsp;
To be sure, despite these problems, the MAGA base (about 30%of the electorate) is very likely to remain loyal; and in the current media environment, many other Trump voters might be confused about who is accountable for the difficulties they are experiencing. &nbsp;&nbsp;
But in contrast to elected autocrats such as Orban or Erdogan, Trump’s electoral support has been weak to begin with—less than 50% in the 2024 elections—and approval rates are already beginning to fall. In our polarised society, we cannot expect Trump’s electoral support to collapse entirely, but the defection of at least some of his voters is likely to provide some wind at the back of the Democratic opposition and to weaken the loyalty of some Republican political leaders. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
The launch of Trump 2.0 has been extremely frightening, and as noted, some of the damage it has already inflicted on the state’s capacity to provide public services and international security will be extremely difficult—or even impossible—to repair. &nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-great-game-2nd-half">The Great Game, 2nd Half</a>, Sonia Awale
Even if Trump’s initiatives are eventually blocked, moreover, the long-term health of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-s-illiberal-democracy">our democratic system</a> will remain precarious in the absence of new and innovative approaches to our long-standing social and political problems.&nbsp;
But whether or not such approaches succeed, preventing a descent into authoritarianism would be no small achievement. At the very least, it would leave the road open for the construction of a fairer and more robust democratic system after Trump leaves the scene. &nbsp;
Robert R. Kaufman is an Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University. &nbsp;He is co-author of Backsliding: Democratic Regress in the Contemporary World, Cambridge University Press, 2021.
This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished from <a href="https://toda.org/global-outlook/2025/trumps-first-month-flooding-the-zone.html">the original</a> with their permission.

Trump’s First Month

Everyone in the world is running some kind of race. Some chase recognition. Some chase money. Others run simply to stay ahead of others. But there are some who run for others. They are not trying to overtake anyone, they do not do it for fame, they are not getting paid to do it. But they run to pay for the upliftment of those less privileged. Bal Joshi, 41, is originally from Surkhet. His father was involved in the democratic movement during the days of absolute monarchy and he remembers frequent police searches of the house. And with his father in hiding, the young Joshi had to take care of the family. When the family’s small shop failed, his mother took the young Bal and his brother back to the village, and that is where he completed his education, walking four hours roundtrip every day between home and school. He ran most of the way, and without realising it he has been running ever since. Life was hard. Rent, food, education. His mother struggled constantly. There were days when there was no money even to buy kerosene for the stove. At one point, he sold his calculator, worth Rs 300, for just Rs 80 to get by.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251229031252_edb16b64a3d362a8dc86870bfa5deaad03a84e67d47f37cfd0bb5a8e584691fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251229031252_edb16b64a3d362a8dc86870bfa5deaad03a84e67d47f37cfd0bb5a8e584691fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Running for dear life NT"> </figure>  At 15, Joshi moved to Nepalganj to continue his education. He initially stayed with his uncles, but eventually began living on his own. The transition to city life was difficult, and he experienced significant economic hardship while trying to pursue his studies. There were times when he struggled to meet basic needs, and at one point he sold his calculator just to get by. When he was 17, after hearing that his father was seriously ill, Joshi travelled to Gujarat to bring him back home. His father died soon after, and Joshi took on responsibility for supporting his family. It was his mother who taught him that despite scarcity, life had to be lived with dignity. Joshi started working at a newspaper at the age of 16 as a proofreader, and later became a journalist. During the Maoist war when children were being orphaned as a result of violence by both sides, he became active in the Sahara Group, and at 19, he began managing an orphanage that took in conflict-affected children. In Bajhang, after the army killed a man on suspicion of being a Maoist, his wife jumped into the Seti River and ended her life. Their two children were taken into army custody. During the rescue process, Joshi met Sunaina Adhikari of the ICRC and back in Nepalganj they decided to get married. The conflict was still raging in western Nepal in 2005, when Joshi went to the United States. In Maryland, he initially worked at a Bengali-owned Subway outlet, spending long hours on his feet behind the counter. He changed jobs frequently, financing his education along the way, and ultimately graduated with a degree in finance in 2008. He joined Hancock Whitney Bank in Texas, and has risen up the ranks to be Senior Vice President. A colleague inspired him to run as a way to stay healthy. But it soon turned into something more meaningful — running more than a dozen 50km marathons for charity.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251229031252_165a6d935860cf6707178aa2ac7395733883158f425bbe0ebed125529d601f61.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251229031252_165a6d935860cf6707178aa2ac7395733883158f425bbe0ebed125529d601f61" data-rendition-name="original" width="999" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Running for dear life NT"> </figure>  Last year, Joshi returned to Nepal to run the Everest Marathon, and raised $42,000 which he donated to <a href="https://onestepfoundation.org/" target="_blank">One Step Foundation</a> which works on health care, child welfare and cultural preservation in Nepal and around the world. In June this year, Joshi and his family climbed Kilimanjaro, raising $19,000 for 80 HIV-affected orphaned children in Tanzania. During the Diwali festival he ran 220km in Nevada’s Red Canyon and raised $25,000 for cataract surgeries through the the <a href="https://www.theruitfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Ruit Foundation</a> in Nepal for cataract surgeries.&nbsp; Joshi does not run competitions, and is not trying to break any records. His motto is: “My race, my pace.”&nbsp; Turning his childhood scarcity into helping others, he says: “We all share sunlight, rain, air, and soil, nothing is truly just your own. I grew up without shoes, and I am fortunate to be able to distribute shoes to those who walk barefoot.” We ask Bal Joshi what (and where) next? His answer: the <a href="https://www.worldmarathonchallenge.com/" target="_blank">World Marathon Challenge</a> that will go around the world to run seven marathons in seven continents in seven days beginning in Antarctica at end-January.&nbsp; Joshi aims to run wearing the daura suruwal and Nepal’s flag as to show where he comes from, and how far in life he has come.

Running for dear life

A day after Rabi Lamichhane and Balen Shah <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/old-vs-new-in-nepal-in-2026-z6l4fgrd">came together to form an electoral alliance</a>, Kulman Ghising has also joined forces with the two leaders, merging his Ujyalo Nepal Party with the RSP.&nbsp; Following last-minute negotiations before Monday’s midnight deadline for parties to file their list of candidates for the Proportional Representation (PR) seats, Lamichhane and Ujyalo Nepal chair Anup Kumar Upadhyay signed a seven-point agreement to unify the two parties, with Balen Shah as witness.&nbsp; Per the deal, Ghising will be the vice-chair of the RSP, joining DP Aryal and Swarnim Wagle as the party’s seconds-in-command. The earlier agreement between Lamichhane and Shah retained Lamichhane as RSP chief, and promised Shah prime ministership if the party wins a majority in Parliament in March.&nbsp; Ghising’s team reportedly has a 17% share on the list of PR candidates filed by the RSP at the Election Commission. Balen has also fielded his own picks, and together the party has the likes of cricketer Gyandenra Malla, actress Reema Biswokarma, rights activist Mohna Ansari, climate activist Tashi Lhazom, and singer Prakash Saput as PR candidates. Ghising had held multiple rounds of talks with the RSP chair and the Kathmandu Mayor to discuss possible collaborations, but had failed to reach a power-sharing agreement. On Monday, Ghising had met with Lamichhane heeding a last-ditch effort from GenZ leaders, in particular Sudan Gurung, as they tried for the final time to get the interim Minister on board with Lamichhane and Shah before the PR list submission deadline.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025123004128_99e23ae7b6a042e71d271e3e74f7527086a7bb55779e6781bc9e7b711c8303e7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025123004128_99e23ae7b6a042e71d271e3e74f7527086a7bb55779e6781bc9e7b711c8303e7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1595" height="1087" loading="lazy" alt="Sudan Kulman Balen"> <figcaption>Photo: SUDAN GURUNG / FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025123004128_d9f530704ab4c6e27eebf51f8e9fb55fed1d4281c99d089d06455cc7448bfda7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025123004128_d9f530704ab4c6e27eebf51f8e9fb55fed1d4281c99d089d06455cc7448bfda7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1026" height="1084" loading="lazy" alt="Balen and Sudan NT"> <figcaption>Photo: BALEN SHAH / FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  The three are now set to make a formidable team to challenge mainstream parties at the polls. News of this alliance has been welcome to Nepalis who are looking for any alternatives to break the stronghold of the Oli-Deuba-Dahal trio over Nepali politics in recent history.&nbsp; But they will also carry each other’s baggage.&nbsp; Lamichhane, who was jailed for defrauding cooperatives depositors last year, was welcomed back as RSP party chair with open arms after he was released on bail last week. And while he has maintained his base of loyal supporters, he was subject to widespread criticism after he walked out of detention amid the jailbreak during the September protests, prompting his eventual voluntary return to prison.&nbsp; His party’s silencing and expulsion of critics within the RSP has also drawn direct comparison with the leadership structure of Nepal’s mainstream parties. Prominent leaders like Sumana Shrestha have left the party over disagreements with leadership.&nbsp; Meanwhile, Balen’s impassioned campaign resonated with Nepalis disillusioned with establishment leaders during the 2022 election and made him mayor of Kathmandu. The mayor’s direct, no-holds-barred style of communication and commentary has attained him much support beyond his constituency.&nbsp; But his unyielding, often unempathetic leadership style and policies— like his dismissal of street vendors and informal businesses during his drive to free up Kathmandu’s footpaths— have also earned him detractors. His recent outburst on social media in November that included expletives against both of Nepal’s neighbours and the US, as well as Nepal’s three main parties and the RSP was also widely criticised.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251230041212_fc2088daf32bac93541ebf25ca07725d75a721ae83440749ac8fa09d8fe308f2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251230041212_fc2088daf32bac93541ebf25ca07725d75a721ae83440749ac8fa09d8fe308f2" data-rendition-name="original" width="890" height="1255" loading="lazy" alt="Agreement NT"> <figcaption>The seven-point agreement between RSP and Ujyalo Nepal Party.</figcaption> </figure>  Ghising, credited with ending Nepal’s prolonged load-shedding during his tenure as the chief of Nepal Electricity Authority, has a reputation of getting the job done. His public goodwill earned him a seat on Prime Minister Sushila Karki’s interim Cabinet following the youth protest.&nbsp; But he has also been under scrutiny for funds misappropriation as well as controversial power purchase agreements during his tenure as NEA chief. Ghising had foregone the leadership position at his Ujyalo party, preferring to play the role of patron until closer to the election date, but was nonetheless criticised for his political and electoral aspirations while being a member of the transitional government. It now remains to be seen if and when Ghising will step away from his position in the interim Cabinet and begin campaigning with his new partners.&nbsp; As it stands, the involvement of prominent GenZ figures in bringing together Ghising, Shah, and Lamichhane has established youth leaders as major players in Nepal’s post-September political landscape. These leaders will have significant pull with young and first-time voters. But not all young leaders are impressed with this new triumvirate. Some have pointed out that the unity between these three leaders is no different from the political opportunism and quid-pro-quo power-sharing culture established and followed by Nepal’s mainstream leadership for the last three decades which culminated into the GenZ movement of September.

Kulman follows Balen to RSP

Koreana Coffee Guff begins with a scene where Narayan Wagle, the editor-turned-farmer, appears in reverse cameo, as a character in a novel. He has just landed at Incheon in the dead of winter.&nbsp; The opening premise reminds one of Tolstoy’s saying about how stories begin either when someone goes on a journey, or when a stranger comes to town. ‘The winds of each city are its original inheritance, shaped by its local language, its specific topography and the buffets of the airborne wings of birds and airplanes,’ Wagle writes.&nbsp; The author is both on a journey and a stranger to the town. The word ‘stranger’ might need to be redefined here, as he has visited Korea several times before. But if every journey is new, then he is a stranger of sorts — stranger to the people he meets for the first time in the book, stranger to the reader who will encounter him for the first time like I did in high school reading the English translation of his 2005 Madan Puraskar winning novel Palpasa Cafe.&nbsp; Koreana is non-fiction, and was first published in 2017 in Nepali, and recently rendered into English by Prawin Adhikari, who specialises in translating Nepali works into English in such a way that they do not read like translations at all.&nbsp; Even so, I turned to a few chapters from the original text, curious to see how ideas have morphed. Take Wagle’s journey to Ansan Mountain. It is the same mountain, but something different happens in the two languages. The inexplicable feeling is that the translation has to conquer the mountain itself. At its best, the book gives the reader a peek into Wagle’s mind, his internal monologues, his writing ideas, his thoughts on the people around him, his deep yearning and respect for nature, his exploration of Seoul and Korea, where he is attending the Asian Literary Creative Writing Workshop in 2017.&nbsp; BACK TO THE LAND ‘All cities appear the same everywhere,’ he writes of Seoul, speaking of how ‘development’ has masked the original charm of a city rebuilt after war. In recent years, Wagle has moved on from being the editor of Kantipur, to activism, and has now returned to his ancestral land in Tanahu to farm.&nbsp; Clues to this metamorphosis can be detected in this book, which was written nearly ten years ago and before his transition. Wagle used to write a column called Coffee Guff, and the book carries that conversational style.&nbsp; But not all monologues land. Thoughts rooted in a specific time and space like the hike to Ansan where the author reflects on buildings, birds, and trees feel connected with a context and background. Then there are those that bring in a new metaphor, a new reflection, a new connection in almost each new sentence which make it difficult to follow the author’s stream of consciousness.&nbsp; Halfway into the book, we finally meet the writers who have come from different parts of Asia for the workshop. Not speaking a common language, the writers have to rely on interpreters and Google, which turns their exchanges into quirky moments of laughter.&nbsp; Writers are an important part of the book, the lens through which Wagle invites us to see the world. Poets Manjul from Nepal and Shiva Ryu from Korea make guest appearances. Through two Korean writers who share the surname Kim, we get a glimpse into Korean history and society, and how writing is intertwined with politics.&nbsp; This Korea is different from the Kpop idols and skincare routine that has dominated recent imagination of the divided peninsular nation. Wagle writes, ‘Literature attempts to unite, politics impedes it. They are being continuously thwarted by the conflicts ongoing in the nation’s politics.’&nbsp; One of the Kims is Kim Min-jung (김민정), author of The World’s Most Expensive Novel, that explores what it means to be a writer in Korea.&nbsp; Reading Koreana feels like a hike through a jungle. If one is able to move past the tangled and stretched monologues, the book can hold moments of awe and wonder. But there is always a desire for a clearer trail to follow. &nbsp;&nbsp; Narayan Wagle’s characteristic witticism is there aplenty, his observations are astute. Writers exploring their craft and readers curious of what is churning inside Wagle’s mind will find treats -- sometimes well-crafted, other times to be searched between the lines. &nbsp; Alfa M Shakya is a writer, researcher, and podcaster. She runs and hosts ‘How’d You Create That?’, an art podcast about the creative process.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251230071252_5503c9fb08d62adb328d8f817b353604429559d3d9c6542edf3663c3f8c554e5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251230071252_5503c9fb08d62adb328d8f817b353604429559d3d9c6542edf3663c3f8c554e5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Korean coffee guff English translation review"> </figure>

Coffee guff from Korea

From stone spouts to cast-iron mains, Nepal’s water system and its struggle to provide safe water tells a larger story of power, disease, dependency — and lessons for the future. From 1823 to 1891, the Nepali state made just two notable interventions in Kathmandu’s drinking water system. The first was when Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa commissioned a stone pout (hiti) to tap groundwater within the valley’s traditional supply system. The second came nearly 70 years later with Nepal’s first industrial-era water system, the Bir Water Works in 1891 under Prime Minister Bir Shumsher Rana. Linking these two milestones was the spectre of cholera. From the 19th century on there were seven global cholera pandemics. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X19309995#bb0325" target="_blank">Originating in Asia</a>, the disease reached Europe and the Americas, the Vibrio cholera bacillus breeding in poor sanitation wherever it found it. The first wave erupted in 1817, followed by others in 1829, 1852, 1863, 1881, 1889 and, finally, in 1961, the seventh pandemic which still lingers on. London, the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution, was repeatedly stricken. In Britain ‘miasma’ foul air was blamed. &nbsp;In Nepal, cholera was seen as divine damnation. By the late 19th century, as Nepal’s relationship with Britain deepened, the Bir Water Works was inaugurated in 1891 as a defence against cholera. Whether cholera also shaped Bhimsen Thapa’s decision in 1823 is less clear. Contemporary records note the commissioning of Sundhara, but do not refer to the cholera epidemic raging at the time. The silence itself is telling: Nepal’s elites were ruling in the shadow of the disease. Bhimsen Thapa first resided in Thapathali Palace, which was built in 1802 by Nain Singh Thapa, father of Mathabarsingh Thapa, who would briefly become prime minister in the 1840s. In 1806, Bhimsen Thapa moved to Bagh Durbar, a new complex on the western edge of Tundikhel. Historians are vague about the water supply in the residences of the nobility, but wells and water hauled from rivers, ponds, canals, and other sources were likely the primary sources. A small hiti north of Bagh Durbar, near today’s Sun Dhara, may have supplied the palace. In 1823, Bhimsen Thapa had it enlarged, making it the last and largest state-built hiti in Kathmandu. Even as Bhimsen Thapa was involved in palace intrigues and border conflicts, Britain was engineering pipelines. By the late 18th century, Sir Thomas Simpson had invented the bell-and-spigot joint, making long-distance pipes viable. Fluid dynamics, dealing with pumps, pipes, and filters, was becoming a foundational discipline. In Kathmandu, the scourge continued. Cholera struck Kathmandu repeatedly, in 1862, 1867, 1872, 1874 and 1875. The 1872 epidemic, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-in-the-time-of-cholera" target="_blank">according to historian Tom Robertson</a>, claimed between 200 and 250 lives a day. On average, cholera killed between 1,200 and 1,500 people annually in Kathmandu Valley, an enormous toll for its small population. The summer of 1885 was especially calamitous: a cholera epidemic ravaged Kathmandu and its periphery from the beginning of June until late August. The disease even breached the royal palace, reportedly killing 23 people, mostly young girls. Records show that 909 people received treatment at the British Residency dispensary, and estimates suggest that as many as 10,000 people perished in a city of 50,000. In November that year, Bir Shumsher seized power in a coup. He inherited not only a premiership but a Valley ridden with disease. Cholera was endemic, and it was accompanied by typhoid, smallpox, goitre, syphilis, and chronic dyspepsia. The The British Residency dispensary at Lainchaur was inadequate. “In a poor country like ours, wealth means health,” Bir Shumsher remarked, an unusually pragmatic admission that epidemics were not divine punishment but structural afflictions of urban life. He soon pledged to expand health care. In 1889, he opened Bir Hospital and staffed it with Indian doctors to treat cholera, typhoid, smallpox, and other prevalent illnesses. PIPED WATER Bir Shumsher also recognised the need for safe drinking water. Between 1866 and 1872, he had served as Nepal’s ambassador in Calcutta, and he must have seen water mains already in operation there, and a filtration plant inaugurated in 1870. Madras had installed such a system as early as 1800, Bombay constructed the Vihar and Tulsi reservoirs in the mid-19th century. In Kathmandu British Residency personalities such as George Gimlette must have urged Bir’s government to quicken the construction of the hospital and water system, yet the archival traces of such exchanges still await historical scrutiny. By the late 19th century, the British had developed a technological ecosystem for water supply, intakes, pipes, fittings, reservoirs, and trained engineers. Bir Shumsher appealed to the British Government in India for engineering assistance. A British engineer named Mr Feigneur surveyed Kathmandu to prepare maps, and estimated the volume of water that could be brought from the Rudramati River. In 1889, a more experienced engineer, Lockhart Matthew Sinclair arrived. He was a Scotsman educated at Wellington College and the Royal Indian Engineering College, with prior experience in constructing waterworks in Jubbulpore and the Viceregal Palace in Shimla. Appointed State Engineer of Nepal (1889–1892), Sinclair reviewed Feigneur’s plans, updated them, and chose the Bishnumati River as the source of the city’s drinking water. Sinclair’s design included a reservoir at Panipokhari, at 1,330m elevation and 30m above &nbsp;Tundikhel, thereby enabling gravity-fed distribution in pipes. With a capacity of 7,327 cubic metres, the reservoir could store nine days of supply.&nbsp; The system was designed to serve about 70,000 residents through both private connections and public standpipes. The reservoir was a single-compartment tank with an arched brick roof covered in earth and turf. Its brick walls were bonded with lime mortar and aggregate, and its floor was dressed with fly stone. Work on the valley’s water supply began in 1888, three years after Bir Shumsher seized power. The following year, Bir Hospital and the Bir Water Works took shape. The project involved some 40km of imported cast-iron pipes, weighing 1.866 million kg and inscribed with the marks of Scottish foundries ‘Ally and McLean’ and ‘Glasgow’. Construction required 620,000 man-days of labour and cost over Rs600,000. Transport costs inflated prices: <a href="https://commons-nepal.com/the-first-kaldhara-in-the-four-cities-of-the-valley/" target="_blank">a load of cement</a> costing Rs10 in Calcutta was worth Rs33 by the time it reached Kathmandu. Bir Water Works was inaugurated in September 1891, six years after the cholera epidemic. Water flowed out of 131 taps, including eight in Lainchaur, six in the royal palace, eleven in the prime minister’s palace, sixteen around Tundikhel, thirteen in Thapathali, seven in Thamel, and two in Naxal. The system’s designation, the term ‘works’ , echoes the Chelsea, Calcutta, and Glasgow Water Works, underlining its industrial pedigree. Water was also supplied to Phora Durbar, Bir Shumsher’s palace of music and dance whose fountains sprayed rose-scented water in a display of opulence. The <a href="https://commons-nepal.com/the-first-kaldhara-in-" target="_blank">Bir Dhara Works</a> was more than an engineering scheme: it was Nepal’s first modern public-health intervention. Safer drinking water curbed waterborne disease, and the number of cholera outbreaks declined, but were not eliminated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260103020144_d5c22de54c0eaab680a166c5a7482839fdc09b60679109021d0504252a810254.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260103020144_d5c22de54c0eaab680a166c5a7482839fdc09b60679109021d0504252a810254" data-rendition-name="original" width="865" height="535" loading="lazy" alt="Cholera and drinking water in Kathmandu"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260103020144_a46075b6d759585df56a2bb8e5a07d85de7d9a69406165c32784fe30012c9971.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260103020144_a46075b6d759585df56a2bb8e5a07d85de7d9a69406165c32784fe30012c9971" data-rendition-name="original" width="2791" height="3859" loading="lazy" alt="Cholera and drinking water in Kathmandu"> </figure>  “Now we have water to fight cholera, and I believe cholera will no longer prevail. After four years of piped water, the benefits have been greater than expected,” Bir Shumsher said in a proclamation. Despite this, the prevalence of poor sanitation, open defecation, cramped housing, and malnutrition meant that typhoid, smallpox, and dyspepsia remained endemic. The Bir Dhara system marked Kathmandu’s transition from reliance on wells, rivers, springs, and hiti to piped water, operating for several decades and laying the foundation for the expansion of drinking water services across the country in the late twentieth century. <a href="https://commons-nepal.com/the-first-kaldhara-in-the-four-cities-of-the-valley/" target="_blank">Extensions followed in Patan</a> under Chandra Shumsher, and Bhim Shumsher later added the Tri Bhim Dhara. Piped water systems were subsequently constructed in towns such as Kirtipur, Bhaktapur, Dhankuta, Pokhara, Dhulikhel, and Jajarkot which itself saw a deadly cholera outbreak in 2009.&nbsp; CHOLERA METAPHOR In 1933, Nepal’s first water bureaucracy, the Pani Goswara, was established, formalising state involvement in urban water supply. Yet even till the late 20th century, households continue to rely on a mix of sources, including public water networks, private vendors, rooftop storage tanks, borewells, wells, hiti, and household filtration. The lack of reliable water supply places disproportionate financial, physical, and psychological burdens on low-income households, underscoring how decades of infrastructure expansion have not translated into universal, reliable service. during challenges in governance, investment priorities, and regulation. Bir Shumsher also attempted to introduce <a href="https://www.ukaalo.com/news/cholera-in-kathmandu-1958/" target="_blank">basic hygiene measures</a>, such as pit latrines with squatting slabs. However, there is no record of these facilities being built in his palaces, later built palaces, or elsewhere. Sanitation conditions remained poor for both the elite and the general population. Open defecation or the use of crude pit latrines without proper waste disposal was common. With no drainage or sewer systems, human waste accumulated near homes, contributing to the spread of waterborne diseases. In 2019, Nepal declared itself ‘open defecation free’, a policy milestone, but this achievement masks the persistence of deeper problems. Urban areas generate some 867 million litres of wastewater daily, yet only 7% of it is treated before being discharged. Sewage flows untreated into rivers and streams, spreading cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and other diseases, particularly among children and vulnerable communities. Safe disposal of faecal sludge continues to be a major struggle for many communities and local governments. Besides Jajarkot, Godavari in Kathmandu Valley had a localised outbreak in 2024. This year, Birganj was struck by a cholera outbreak caused by a lethal combination of unreliable water supply, groundwater overpumping, poor drainage and hygiene, and unsafe waste disposal. And Nepal’s peacekeepers deployed after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 were blamed for spreading cholera that ultimately killed 30,000 people in the Caribbean nation. The Bir Water Works was more than a reservoir and pipes. It was Nepal’s first brush with modernity, mediated through engineering and haunted by cholera. More than 134 years on, cholera remains a threat and a reminder of Nepal’s challenges in water and sanitation governance. The issue is not merely ensuring access to safe water but also building public trust that quality essential services can be delivered equitably, sustainably, and with resilience. Ajaya Dixit is a Kathmandu-based researcher exploring Nepal’s water history since the mid-eighteenth century to inform ethical water and river management in a changing climate.

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Trump’s First Month

Running for dear life

Kulman follows Balen to RSP

Coffee guff from Korea

Life in a time of cholera