Interested in going white-water rafting, maybe just at beginner’s level, looking forward to cosy-glide down a calm stretch of Himalayan glacier water, or as an adrenalin-hungry paddler eager to wrestle head first with one of the fantastic rivers out there? Well, here’s a map of the best white-water in the country plus a great, easily […]
What’s the rap stage like in Hetauda? Well, we didn’t know there was one until Ashmin Parajuli – aka Inkie – told us about it. Just 15 years old, Ashmin has already recorded a few singles at his local favourite studio, HTD productions. “This year I have to focus on my SLC, so maybe I won’t be recording a lot of songs, but next year I will release my first album!” says Ashmin. Studio time…
Rare footage of Karoria tribesmen hunting for birds in southern Nepal.
It’s no surprise but now the numbers are out. This fiscal year was extremely tough on almost everybody! The earthquake aftermath, months of blockade, and widespread draught created the worst economic climate ever since the height of the Maoist conflict. The government spent a mere 20 percent of its capital budget, as against 60 percent in some previous years, and economic growth took a steep fall. Growth this fiscal year was below 1 percent, not least due to a staggering 10 percent drop in manufacturing, and in the agricultural and non-agro sectors the growth rate fell from 4.72 and 5.43 percent, respectively, to just 1.14 and 0.62 percent! Only fish farming and a few other sectors saw real growth. Can the economy rebounce? Well, recent data suggests it is already. But it is from a much lower level than before the downturn in 2015/16 began.
Here’s more:
Economic growth to slump to 14-year low at 0.77 pc.
IMF lowers Nepal’s economic growth
ADB report projects Nepal’s GDP growth lowest in South Asia
In Nepal’s hill and mountain communities, food insecurity and lack of income sources continue to drive thousands of young men abroad as migrant workers in low-paid and often dangerous jobs. Women and children are left behind in villages where vast areas of agricultural land are left fallow as nobody is home to farm it. Out-migration is transforming many hill and mountain villages into communities in gradual disintegration! But in recent years, TMI – the Mountain Institute – has succeeded in slowing down this process in some districts. Their recipe? Training farmers in production of medical and aromatic plants (MAPs) …
It is business as usual but stunning as always. Once again, a government leader has pledged to hold local elections “soon”. This time, it’s Deputy Prime Minister, Kamal Thapa, who just yesterday promised to hold local elections in November – and that promise can sound hollow considering that two months ago the same Thapa pledged to hold local elections in April! Indeed, since 2002 shifting governments have made the same type of promises at least once a year, only to postpone again and again. Will the government hold local elections…
