Economic Challenges

High prices in food are posing a serious challenge to Nepal's economy, according to the report, which warned of a serious risk of stagflation, where low growth (around 3.5 percent) is combined with rising prices.

Children in poor villages of the far west of the country are at risk of malnutritionThe country also just emerged from a decade-long armed conflict (1996-2006) and the government structures are very weak, said political analysts. "Improvements in living standards are urgently needed to avoid civil unrest that may threaten the new government," explained the report.

Fuel Shortage Threat To Food Security

KATHMANDU, 28 July 2008

Nepal's acute fuel shortage is causing serious concern among local food traders about its impact on food prices. "The shortage of fuel has been affecting the cost of our transportation. We can expect further increases in food prices which could heavily affect poor families," Ravi Sharma, a local food trader, who supplies rice and other food from the Terai region (fertile plains of southern Nepal) to the hill areas of the country, told IRIN in the capital. Many food traders explained that commodity supplies had seriously deteriorated and expected the situation to worsen. Transportation costs have increased by almost 27 percent over the past six months, in turn feeding into food prices, which have risen by 20-30 percent, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). People are buying smaller quantities and cheaper food items. Nepal depends on fuel imports from India and sells petrol, diesel and kerosene at highly subsidised rates, at huge financial cost to the government's Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). The cash-strapped NOC, which runs on a monthly loss of more than US$22 million, had no option but to increase fuel prices by 25 percent last month, resulting in nationwide protests.

Constituent Assembly passes the advance expenditure bill

The Constituent Assembly, Monday, unanimously, passed the advance expenditure bill presented by the government as it could not present the full-fledged budget. The passage of the bill now allows the government to carry on with routine financial activities beginning July 16 when the new fiscal year begins.

Finance minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat had presented the advance expenditure bill to act as an interim budget of Rs 73.5 billion for the new fiscal year 2065-66, which will be replaced by a full-fledged budget to be presented by new government later.
The interim arrangement about the budget allowing the government to collect revenue and spend its resources was presented at the constituent assembly Monday. The full-fledged budget could not be presented due to delay in formation of new government.
The tax plans, and economic policies of the budget presented last year will get continuity until a complete budget is presented by the new government.
According to Minister Mahat, current fiscal year recorded 5.6 percent GDP growth – highest in the last seven years. Agriculture sector registered 5.65 percent growth while non-agriculture sector registered 5.57 percent growth.
The gross domestic saving increased to 11.5 percent, up from 9.7 percent last year. The government hopes that revenue generation by the end of this fiscal year would increase by 22 percent more than initial estimation.
Likewise, the foreign assistance has substantially increased from Rs 37.2 billion in the last fiscal year to Rs 57.6 billion in the current fiscal year. The government debt, during this period, has decreased from Rs 329 billion to 324 billion.
During the current financial year, the general expenditure of the government increased by 24 percent and the capital expenditure by 31.6 percent.
Dr Mahat also expressed hope that the new government will take into consideration the demand raised by the government employees for salary increment.
The new government, possibly led by CPN (Maoist), will adjust the expenditure made during this period while tabling the full-fledged financial bill.

Sisdole locals vow never to obstruct garbage dumping again

If the Sisdole locals don't again go back on their words again and the government sincerely fulfills its promises, the perennial garbage problem of Kathmandu would soon be over for good and probably never return to haunt the denizens of the city again.
The agitating Sisdole locals in a meeting with concerned government agencies Thursday agreed not to block Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) from dumping solid waste at Sisdole Landfill Site, as they had been doing for the majority of the past two weeks and many times prior to that.
According to an independent report, Sisdole locals have obstructed KMC from dumping city's wastage at the landfill site more than 100 times in the past two years, leaving Kathmandu's streets and pavements littered with stinking garbage that cause serious eye sore and possible health hazards.
For the first time, the Sisdole locals have also signed a written agreement with the government expressing their commitment not to obstruct dumping work in the coming days. In a similar gesture, the government has assured that all the valid demands of the locals including infrastructure development in the locality would be solved through dialogue.
With the agreement, KMC and Lalitpur sub-metropolis have started collecting garbage from today morning and transporting it to the landfill site without any obstruction. KMC officials said that they would clear the garbage from the capital within a few days. According to KMC, the valley generates up to 350 metric tones of solid waste every day.
Due to the obstruction by the Sisdole locals, heaps of stinking garbage has littered the pavements of the capital's roads from the past two weeks.
Reports said that the meeting also decided to earmark a budget of more than Rs 10 million for developing infrastructure and meeting other needs of Sisdole. nepalnews.com ag June 27 08

Valley banda again affect Kathmandu

Only a day after transport entrepreneurs withdrew their 4-day long strike that brought the entire country into a standstill, normal life in Kathmandu has again been affected by a valley-wide banda called by four fringe parties led Communist Party of Nepal (United).
The organizers of the banda (shutdown strike) blocked traffic at various places of the capital from the morning protesting the government’s recent decision to hike the prices of petroleum products and transport fares and the rampant corruption in Nepal Oil Corruption, the state-owned oil monopoly in the country.
Although the effects of the banda was partial compared to the strike organized by transport entrepreneurs and street protests by student groups before that, it still brought the valley’s transportation system to a halt. Due to the strike, shops and offices in major parts of the city mostly remained closed fearing any untoward incidents, while schools also called it a day off for the students.
Public transport users who had heaved a sigh of relief after the transport entrepreneurs ended their 4-day long strike from yesterday were again forced to walk to their destinations due to very little number of public vehicles plying in the streets.
However, few private vehicles including cars, motorbikes and cycles were seen plying in the streets without any kind of obstruction, although there were reports about half a dozen or so vehicles being vandalized by protestors at Gongabu, Kalanki and various other parts of the city for violating the day long shutdown.
Additionally, due to the obstruction created by the protestors at Kalanki, the main point of entry in the capital, vehicles coming into the city have been stuck in a long jam in the highway.
Meanwhile, reports said that the police have held various leaders and activists of the four political parties - CPN-United, Tamsaling Nepal National Party, CPN (United Marxist) and Nepal Sukumbasi Loktantrik Party - under custody for imposing the shutdown strike.

Royal Family Death History

Late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev ruled Nepal for 30 years from January 30, 1971 to June 1, 2001. His son Crown Prince Dipendra was named King on June 2, 2001, after the unfaithful Royal family massacre of June 1, 2001 that took the lives of the King, Queen, Prince, Princess and five other Royal family members. But King Dipendra soon died in hospital on June 4, 2001. The younger brother of late King Birendra, His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was accessioned to throne on June 4, 2001 and currently rules the country. He is the twelfth King in the Shah dynasty.During a regular gathering at Narayanhity Royal Palace on the Friday night of June 1, 2001, the gathered Royal family members were shot dead and some were injured within a few minutes of time by Crown Prince Dipendra, who was heavily under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Crown Prince Dipendra also shot himself in an attempt of suicide over an argument he had with his parents about the woman he wanted to marry. Crown Prince Dipendra was admitted to hospital in a coma and critically wounded condition, but still was named the King. The King in Nepal is seen as a Living God, the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. Late King Birendra was very popular and deeply loved by the people of Nepal who were greatly shocked and saddened by the news and it took quite a long time for the countrymen to come out from their self mourning.
The King, Queen and other members of the Royal family were carried to Pashupati Aryaghat, next to the Holy Bagmati River, for their last rites. Desperate to know the truth, people blocked traffic in protest and riots began in the streets of Kathmandu and even curfew had to be imposed to disperse the restless crowd which just could not believe what had happened inside the highly guarded Royal Palace.
People shaved their heads as a sign of respect for their beloved King as they would have done in the demise of their family members as per Hinduism and a 5 day closure of government offices and 13 days of official mourning was announced. Just after 48 hours of the title “King”, King Dipendra died in the hospital and the younger brother of late King Birendra, Prince Gyanendra became the new King of Nepal - three Kings in 4 days.
The murder of Royals inside Narayanhity Royal Palace is said to be the second worst mass killing of royalty in the world after the Romanovs, who were killed back in 1918 during the Russian civil war.

General Historical Information on Nepal

Nepal has a long glorious history. Its civilization can be traced back to thousands of years before the birth of Christ. History reveals dynasties of Ahirs and Gopalas, Kirants, Licchavis and Thakuris ruling the country before the Malla period began. Modern Nepal is an amalgamation of a number of principalities which had independent entities in the past. Before the campaign of national integration launched by King Prithivi Narayan Shah – the first Shah King of Nepal, Kathmandu valley was ruled by the Malla Kings, whose contribution to arts and culture are indeed great and the Malla era is considered to be the golden age of Nepal. In 1768 A.D., the Shah King defeated the Malla Kings and unified the country that was divided into small independent Kingdoms.
The revolution of November 1950 brought an end to autocratic Rana regime that ruled the country for 104 years since 1846 A.D. The Ranas seized all the power from the Shahs but revered the existence of King in Nepal. After the fall of Ranas in February 1951, Nepal first saw a dawn of democracy. The parliamentary government under the multi-party system was adopted for some years which was later followed by Panchayat System in 1960. The popular people’s movement of 1990 reinstated the multi party democratic system and the new democratic constitution of the Kingdom was promulgated on November 9, 1990. Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev became the king of Nepal on June 4, 2001, following the death of his elder brother late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev.
This was not the first time for Gyanendra to have been crowned as the King of Nepal. He was declared king during a political plot on November 7, 1950 when both his father King Mahendra and his grandfather King Tribhuvan along with other royals fled to India. In January 1951, his grandfather King Tribhuvan returned to Nepal and resumed the throne.After ascending the throne, Gyanendra dismissed the parliament in October 2002 and declared a state of emergency in the country. He also dismissed a series of prime ministers and by February 2005, took complete control.
In April 2006, King Gyanendra was forced to give up his absolute rule following wide spread protests. He was stripped from all his political and cultural rights.
On May 28, 2008, Nepal was declared a federal democratic republic by the newly elected Constituent Assembly. The Nepali government then sent a letter to King Gyanendra to vacate the Narayanhiti palace within the 15-day deadline given by the Constituent Assembly. With the new Constituent Assembly in effect, Gyanendra and his family now assume their roles as general citizens of Nepal, with Gyanendra being the last in the line of the Shah Dynasty.May 29 and 30, 2008 was declared as national holidays in the new republic. People throughout the country welcomed the dawn of republic with great jubilation.
The government has decided to convert the Naranyanhiti palace into a museum. A government appointed panel has also been formed to prepare details of artifacts and other precious belongings of the palace to be displayed in the museum. Meanwhile, the Nepal's national flag in front of the palace has replaced the royal flag.
Gyanendra was born on July 7, 1947. He is the second son of late King Mahendra and his wife Indira. On May 1, 1970, Gyanendra married Komal Rajya Laxmi Shah. They have two children; Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev and daughter Prerana Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah.Nepal is one of the founding members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which was formed in December 1985. The SAARC Secretariat was set up in Kathmandu in January 1987 and later in the same year in November, third SAARC summit was held in Kathmandu.