HELLO NEPAL

The Himalayan Times 31 March 2016 Publicity Fighting against corruption has been one of the cheapest slogans of all the political parties in Nepal . Likewise, wiping out corruption from the country used to be one of the main manifests of Prachanda led UCPN (Marxist) when they were outside the mainstream of politics. Soon after they joined the parliamentary system, curbing corruption for them remained to be merely a distant talk. Their influential leaders were found to be deeply involved in huge amounts of irregularities. However, none of them have been so far formally charged with corruption. Corruption has been very much institutionalized in Nepal . Even in the government and semi government organizations, service seekers are compelled to bribe the concerned officials while seeking their services. This is completely shame on the part of the government. No concrete measures are found to be in place to punish the culprits. Albeit, the CIAA seems to be doing its jobs, ...

The Kathmandu Post 22 March 2016 WORLD WATER DAY Here comes another World Water Day (WWD). This year too, many programmes are being planned by various organizations (“Programmes lined up for World Water Day” 16 March, Page 2). Many non- governmental organizations are involved in water related projects in Nepal . The government has its own machinery to look after the management of drinking water system all over the country. It is said that half of the world’s workforce (1.5 billion) is engaged in water related sectors. But the workers’ jobs are not fully recognized or protected by basic labour rights. In Nepal , most of the water related jobs are focussed in the urban areas where the availability of fresh water is shrinking due to heavy and haphazard urbanizations.   Nepal has also been unable to harness its water resources due to lack of political commitment and poor vision. Many promises were and are being made by the government for providing safe ...

Child marriage It is common in Nepal and other South Asian countries to hear about the child marriage that still takes place among the poor communities in the rural areas. However, the level of such marriage varies from one place to another place. Nepal ranks tenth in the world and third after Bangladesh and India in South Asia as claimed by C K Singh of Child Marriage and Dowry Elimination National Campaign Nepal . Saptari has outnumbered the other districts in child marriage according to the recent research findings of this organization “Child marriage rampant in Saptari” THT, March 13, Page 5).   More than 83 % marriages were held between the couples of under 18 years of age. The main reason behind this child marriage was found to be the increasing trend of dowry system which has been rampant in the Tarai districts. If the girl is educated, she has to find an educated groom for which her parents have to pay heavy dowries. Due this practice, most of the par...