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Hari, the mail boy

Thursday, August 22nd, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Amrit Bhadgaule, Nagarik, 17 August

Every morning Hari Bhujel from Chame, Manang district gets up at 5.30 and makes the long walk downhill to Timang carrying letters. The

ninth grader from Lokpriya Higher Secondary School is a mail boy and the proud owner of the keys of Chame. At Timang he picks up a

parcel brought to him by another employee. The two relay instructions to each other and head off in their own directions. He leaves the

parcel in the post office, goes back to his rented room, eats, and runs off to school.

Although the journey from Timang and back takes three and a half hours, Hari never misses classes. In the evenings, he does homework

and revises the days lessons. In winter, when it is bitterly cold and snow makes travelling arduous, Hari is up before everyone else. His

friends and teachers admire his hard work, good grades, and unfaltering postmans duty and have nicknamed dack boy. But he is also an

exceptional student who likes writing essays and is sharp at quiz competitions. His drawing won the second prize at a competition held onRepublic Day. With the Rs 2,200 prize, Hari says he bought a school dress

Its been a year since Hari started distributing mail. His father, who used to be the village post man, passed away last year and his mother

got the job as consolation. But Haris mother is a labourer and couldnt find time to carry mail, which is why the job was passed on to Hari.

When asked if it is difficult holding a job while being a full-time student, Hari replies: Ive gotten used to it now. If I dont work, we dont

get to eat.

Hari earns a monthly salary of Rs 4,300 that helps sustain his family of three. The young boy does not have big plans for the future. I

must become a good man, he says. But his family, who migrated from Pokhara, is poor and principal Krishna Das Koirala is worried that

the schools brightest student will be forced to abandon his education after his SLC exams.

Read the original Nepali here.

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A fistful of dollars

Wednesday, August 21st, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Two news items this week can have s ignificant impact on our economy. On Tuesday, the US dollar crossed the Rs 100 barrier with a

potentially huge impact on inflation and balance of payments. The same day, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal held a press conference in

which it announced an ill-timed and ill-thought ban on wide-body aircraft flying into Kathmandu airport.

Taken together, this is like kicking an economy that is already down. There is precious little Nepal can do about the surging dollar because

the INR peg. The USD has strengthened by 15 per cent in the last six months against the Indian rupee, and the Indian government and the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have been at loggerheads over the proper response, and have been slow to react.

Wednesdays decision by the RBI to buy back INR 80 billion in bonds to shore up money supply tackles the symptom and not the disease.

Liquidity had become tight after efforts to stem the INRs free-fall raised interest rates.

The real problem has been Indias chronic current account deficit, which used to be covered by foreign investors pouring money into the

country. But red-tape, corruption, and economic slowdown in the West has kept investors away. Meanwhile, Indias imports especially of oil,

coal and gold has surged, putting pressure on the exchange rate. With elections coming up, Indian leaders will be expected to take populist

li Times | The Brief http://nepalitimes.com.np/blogs/

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decisions rather than bite the bullet.

The 100:160 INR peg means that Indias woes have impacted directly on Nepal. The vast Indian economy can take knocks, but for Nepal

crossing the psychological NPR 100 threshold could make an already precarious situation perilous.

A falling domestic currency need not necessarily be bad news for a country as long as it has sizeable exports, but only 12 percent of

Nepals foreign trade is made up of exports. A strong dollar could also be hugely advantageous to a country so dependent on foreign

remittances and tourism.

Nepalis working abroad sent home USD 4 billion last year, and this amount will automatically increase by more than 20 per cent when

converted to NPR. Nearly 40 per cent of foreign remittances are sent home just before the holidays, so the benefit of a strong dollar will be

felt immediately in the next three months. Tourism pumped in an estimated Rs 32 billion last year, and with the stronger dollar this total will

also go up, even if the total number of visitors doesnt.

Most of the remittances, however, are used up by Nepalis to pay for imports of consumer items, energy and food. The dollar appreciation,

according to one estimate, will trigger 20-30 per cent inflation in a market dominated by imports.

So, to sum up, there is nothing we can do to stem the rupee slide because of the INR peg. And what we should have done to take

advantage of the strong dollar (boost exports, invest remittances in the productive sector) should have been done decades ago. Its too

late now.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepals ill-advised decision to issue a half-baked statement about a ban on widebody planes flying into

Kathmandu because of cracks on the runway could not have come at a worse time. To correct one mistake (shoddy construction during

asphalt overlay work two years ago allegedly due to corruption) CAAN made a blunder by announcing a ban that it couldnt enforce. A

decision of that magnitude should have been made in consultation with airlines and announced by the minister.

CAAN met with the airlines Wednesday and back-peddled lamely stating that it wasnt a ban per se, but just a suggestion. But the

damage has been done, the news has hit the international wires and social media, panicking tourism wholesalers and individual travelers.

Some of the economic challenges Nepal faces are beyond our control. But many of them are a direct result of our own incompetence.

Kunda Dixit

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Flight ban disastrous

Tuesday, August 20th, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The aviation and tourism sector in Nepal has reacted with dismay at the decision on Monday by the civil aviation authorities to ban

wide-body flights to and from Kathmandu, saying it would be disastrous for the economy.

The head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Ritesh Chandra Lal Suman told a press conference on Monday that his agency had

written to operators not to bring in wide-body aircraft with more than 250 seats because of the persistent problem with cracks on the only

runway at Nepals only international airport. We have informed the operators of the limitations of the runway, Suman said, we haveasked them to use smaller aircraft or reduce the payload on flights.

However, airlines using Kathmandu airport seemed confused about whether this was a complete ban or just a suggestion, from when it will

take effect, and for how long. In fact, many airlines said they had neverreceived the letter CAAN claims to have sent them. To us, it seems

that CAAN is trying to get off the hook by passing the buck and appearing to be doing something about the runway, said one operator on

condition of anonymity, and we havent been instructed to stop flying in wide-bodies.

Of the international airlines operating to Kathmandu, Thai Airways, Korean, Dragon Air and Air Asia regularly bring Boeing 777s or Airbus

330-300s. Other airlines like Qatar and Etihad fly in 330s in the peak tourist season. Most other airlines use smaller Being 737s and Airbus

320s.


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We have taken this as a request letter, not yet as a mandatory rule, said Joy Dewan, local representative for Turkish Airlines which is

launching a direct link to Istanbul from 2 September using Airbus 330 aircraft. Stopping long haul flights completely just when the tourist

season is about to start would be terrible. The timing is disastrous.

The runway at Kathmandu airport was built in 1968, although it has been extended and reinforced after that. The last asphalt overlay was

completed in 2011 and the contractor appears to have done shoddy work because the surface has developed cracks and peeled off along

the southern end of the runway. The airport has been closed several times in the past two weeks, forcing planes to burn fuel on long holds

while emergency crews repaired the cracks.

Some airline executives say CAAN and the airport management has faced criticism for not doing enough, and Mondays press conference

was to show that it is taking action. There are also reports that it is trying to deflect attention from a CIAA probe on alleged corruption in

the 2011 runway repair contract. They have passed the buck to us, so that they will not be blamed, one official said.

However, two representatives of international airlines that Nepali Times spoke to said the runway was in bad shape, and needed a major

overhaul if flight safety was not to be jeopardised. That would mean doing more than the piecemeal repairs that are going on now,

entailing closure of all international flights for an extended period.

One operator regularly using wide-bodies said its planes may be big, but they arrive in Kathmandu with nearly empty tanks after long

flights so the weight impact on the runway is not very big. The airline said it could also undertake a load penalty on takeoff so as to reduce

the strain in the runway. CAAN officials were unavailable for comment, and staff said they were at a meeting tore-evaluate the situation.

CAAN is also taking the advice of a Spanish contractor, Ayesa Ingenieria, which is said to be inspecting the runway and will be giving areport next month. If that is the case, argue airline operators, why did CAAN write to the airlines about a ban on wide-bodies before the

report comes out pinpointing the problem and laying out recommendations?

Said Bharat Kumar Shrestha of the Airlines Operating Committee (AOC) representing international airlines: All the airlines have already

made their bookings and it will be impossible for them to cancel reservations on wide-body aircraft without major disruptions to the airlines

and a loss to the national economy.

4 Comments

1 USD = NRs 100

Tuesday, August 20th, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For the first time ever, the Nepali rupee has plunged to over Rs 100 against the dollar.

On Tuesday, the states banking regulator Nepal Rastra Bank set the exchange rate at Rs 100.6 per USD.

From the time it hit an all-time low at Rs 93.5 per dollar on 12 June, Nepals currency depreciated further against the dollar, falling by 7.5

percent in just over two months. A year ago, 1 USD sold for Rs 88.8.

The Indian rupee, to which Nepals currency is pegged, performed badly in the last fiscal year, falling from Rs 55.5 to Rs 62.3 per dollar in

the last 12 months, and took the NRs down with it.

Read Nepali Times analysis of Nepals currency devaluation.

1 Comment

Back to square one

Monday, August 19th, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Talks between the government and CPN-M led fringe parties opposing CA elections in November ended without any agreement on Monday.

Pasang Sherpa of the Federal Socialist Party said they had demanded elections be postponed before proceeding to further discussions. But


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the government refused on the grounds that almost all preparations were nearing completion.

No date for further talks was announced.

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No room for love

Thursday, August 15th, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Binita Duwadi and Bhim Bahadur Bishwakarma from Dhading fell in love and got married. The only problem: they belonged todifferent castes. Binitas family disowned her and threatened to kill her for marrying a Dalit boy. The young couple then movedto Kathmandu and remained underground for their safety. Last Sunday Binita was abducted from her college. Excerpts fromBinitas diary which was found during police investigation:I was studying in 11th eleventh grade at Sidheshwor High School in Dhading when I first met Bhim. We became quick friends and fell

deeply in love. Life felt complete with Bhim by my side. But my family came to know about our relationship and my world came crashing

down.

They couldnt accept the fact that I was in love with a Dalit, someone they considered inferior to our caste. My relationship with Bhim

supposedly brought shame to our high caste family and they threatened to kill me if I didnt bow down to their wishes. But how could I

leave the love of my life for the sake of my familys honour? That too for something as superficial and outdated as the caste system. To me

all that mattered was that Bhim was a hard-working man and he loved me. I never thought my educated family would stoop so low. They

threatened to kill us and even said I should commit suicide rather than be with someone who did not have their consent. When I refused,

they planned to get me married to a high-caste boy.

So last month I left home and eloped to Kathmandu with Bhim. But even here the torment didnt end. The police arrested Bhims mother

and younger brother after my family alleged them of kidnapping me. When I told the police about my decision to marry Bhim they

pressurised me to change my statement. I stood my ground. My brother handed me a packet of poison and said I would be better off

dead.

In the days that followed my family continued to torture me, sending goons who made threats to kill us. So once again we had to change

location and go underground. Recently I came to find out that my parents are trying to find a husband for me from our caste and have

even agreed to give him Rs 400,000.

Am I a doll to be bought and sold in the market? Is it really such a big crime in this country to fall in love with someone from the wrong

caste? And what does it say about our society that tries to separate two people in love? I still stand by my decision and have embraced my

new world with Bhim happily. I hope my family will accept us , if not I sincerely hope that they stop bothering us and let us live peacefully.

Read the original Nepali.

4 Comments

Going, going

Thursday, August 15th, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Surendra Poudel, Nagarik, 14 August

The Nepal Embassy on 12A Kensington Palace Gardens in London is a national embarrassment. The walls of the magnificent building are

cracked and so are the pillars that keep it standing. Entering through the front door, one sees the wall paint and wallpaper are already

flaking off. Drainage pipes installed a century ago have holes in them because of the rust and everything spills onto the walls. The second

floor is shoddier. Rain seeps in through the roof and plaster on the ceiling inside has peeled off, leaving large brown patches in place of

white.


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The government in Nepal is least bothered about the embassys upkeep and is in fact

looking to sell the property in hopes of pocketing any windfall. Renovations will set back the state by Rs 630 million, but if it allocates Rs 50

million every year, repair work can be completed within 10 years. If sold now, however, Nepal stands to gain Rs 75 billion.

In the past decade, many high-level advisory committees have been formed and millions doled out to sponsor Nepali officials on junkets but

nothing concrete has happened yet. In April, a team of experts visited the UK and Germany for research and came up with a proposal. The

trip cost Rs 3.6 million, but not everyone signed on the document. It was submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May but, as with

the older agreements, it still hasnt been made public.

Read Nepali Times coverage of the sale of the embassy.

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Recent Comments

Gobinda Khatiwada: | | |

anonymous: Yes the damage is done, but the industry this year is going to be tremendous. Just a opinion as I havent studied the

market, but tourism will deem positive outlook on spending this year, which looks even better for next few years total turnout

Though we need to let go off our petty feelings of incompetence and welcome the new stoutier faces with open hearts. We will buy

bigger planes, even strenghten land transportation on border entries. CAAN can do better once let loose of politics and maybe rich

people together oughta start investing in major industries.. n may be make some law on keepin the foreign reserves intact to ou

own national and capable bank. .. we ..need to keep a positive outlook


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Radha Krishna Deo: Many features and criteria of Runway Design advanced through these decades, Nepal has to build up their own

capacity to review design,construction and maintenance with latest quality control System. It is open secrete in Nepal concerns

evolve in malpractices

Radha Krishna Deo: This will affect the lives of common people and market.Price hike in transportation and commodities wil

increase.Where is provision in GON current budget?

Basanta: Even though they trying to impose a ban on wide-body aircrafts to land on the airport, most airlines wont be able to do so

as many flights are already booked, most probably till the end of this year. Unless each airlines flying 2 or more narrow-body at the

same time, this is not so possible on the view

Nyaya Bahadur: Safety of the passengers crews and aircrafts should come first before any other considerations such as airlines

profit/loss, passengers comfort and conveniences. A stitch in time saves nine; and saves many lives. However, the concerned

authorities need to look deeper into the underlying cause that caused this problem. How is the constuction of the runway

constructed? Did the contractors and the authorities follow the standards prescribed by civil engineering professionnals and

international civil aviation organization? Or the corruption in granting contracts and construction has been spilled over from the highe

authorities which seems to have become norm with the culture of division inherited from the four big parties style of work. Sincere

investigation is needed to correct the mistakes and insure that the culprits, if any, do not have chance to run away.

flexible1: Shiv, how do you educate a murderer?

luv nepal: Shiv, how do you know they belong to Aryan race? Unless you are an expert in the field, dont make yourself fool claiming

who is Aryan, who is Mongolian, who is what and what not? Caste system itself has its root in skin color as in Varna in case you

dont know about it

calix: it should be auctioned off as soon as nepali goverment is deemed more transparent and accountable in its finances. otherwise

we the people will not see even a single penny. you know what could be great they auctioned it off and with that money build a

decent airport in pokhara

calix: i hope she is alright. this is so normal its everyday life in nepal. at least they had the courage to run away. the laws need to be

enforced more striclty and mentalities need to change. i faced somewhat same situation, and life is not easy and biggest irony of this

is that maybe if i had the freedom and space to choose, i would have chosen differently. the external pressure made me rush in

making a decision that has been a part of my life ever since. nobody wins in this situation. education is the key. the fact that they

met in high school reinforce my belief

Shiv: Education is key to defeating ignorance and age old discriminatory practices. The hindu priest help propogate it so they should

be the ones to refute such ideas. Caste system should be banned and surnames changed to end discrimination. Bauns a nd Dalits are

also from the aryan race. It is a case of one group exploiting the other for generations and keeping them supressed free labor

Radha krishna: Riots are due to failure of social consolation, created by crude leaders .At least Nepal is far better place for every

one.Muslim Community should note the status of other community as directed in Hadish.No violence will occur when he respect the

same

Radha krishna: This is not the first time,in many cases people expect investigations in depth but concerned leadership failed .Justice

Bom killed in day light and no report come yet.This is case of commoner how far possible!! Justices work in system but Nepali

system is paralyzed since two decades.Let us pray to lord Pashupatinath !!!

Nyaya Bahadur: Why the maoist leaders are not denouncing heinous crimes; does not matter in so called revolution time or other

times? This means the dangerous elements among the comerades including BRB is in support of cruel mode of conduct to get what

they wrongly aspired for grab power, get rich by any means, supress justice etc. One wonder when they will change their wrong

attitudes? It is a big problem for the country the revolution time leaders who are handling power, dont want to change thei

attitude of aggresive behavour, they do not know how to run a government in a disciplined way and they do not want other leadersto come forward and navigate the country out of trouble to safe, normal life. Cruelty should be denounced by everyone at any time.

Come leaders denounce cruelty, corruption, these are some of the biggest obstacles and enemy of the people, parties and the

country. We need to beat the real enemy by our joint effor, whatever the position of the..

Anima Pant: Ghimire would have taken action if it was his own son.This is a shame on the Government.We need justice no matter

who the culprit is linked too. There is no security in Nepal.What are our govt doing?


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