Nepal

There are tussles over power as provincial and local governments are seeking to carve out space and define themselves under the new constitution…

Halfway through the fiscal year, the seven provincial governments have spent a mere fraction of their otherwise sizeable budgets due to one main reason: lack of staff.

The federal government just handed down more programmes for the local bodies to implement while the staff crunch at local level remains unresolved. Cause for concern?

Nijgadh airport is already underway. But is this future “hub” with a 15 million passenger capacity, involving massive jungle clearing and relocation of local communities, needed in a country that barely has one million tourists?