My Republica

Bishal Thapa

The contributor for Republica.
news@myrepublica.com

Death of Nepali Hydro

Published On: November 12, 2019 02:59 PM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

There was much euphoria after India and Nepal reached an agreement on the new 400 kV Butwal-Gorakhpur cross-border transmission line.

Forgotten farmers

Published On: September 24, 2019 01:25 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

For the first time in its history, Nepal looks poised to realize its famed hydro power potential.  Load shedding [grid blackouts] has ended. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the national power utility, is profitable. There is a strong pipeline of new hydropower plants. Rural electrification is expanding rapidly. This newfound confidence has led Government to double its generation plans for the next decade from 10,000 MW to 20,000 MW.

When generosity kills

Published On: September 10, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Nepal’s young democracy requires Nepalis to demand more from themselves and their government instead of falling victim to the allure of progress that foreign aid promises

Lessons from India

Published On: August 13, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Does the change of status for Jammu and Kashmir and the search for a Congress leader tell us something about the nature of political leadership in India?

Rear view imagination

Published On: July 30, 2019 02:00 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

The little tricks and technologies we used to manage through the darkest days of load-shedding has set us up for the future, if only we had the courage to look forward

Open letter to Finance Minister

Published On: July 16, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Dear Finance Minister, you may choose not to believe in the future as you did by rejecting digital financial technologies, but in the process please don’t block our future

Let the government govern

Published On: July 2, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Opposition to the Guthi Bill challenged the legitimacy of the government but could it be a watershed moment that breaks Kathmandu’s domination over Nepal?

Corruption and citizens

Published On: June 18, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

A lone protester staging a hunger strike against corruption provides an illuminating view on how the absence of individual responsibility in Nepal’s civil society is fuelling corruption

Playing God

Published On: June 4, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

For government to promote private sector, it must learn to play like God, which provides destinies and allows humans to fulfill them while remaining invisible

Disintegration of business

Published On: May 21, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Efforts by industries to contest the retroactive electricity bills raised by Nepal Electricity Authority illustrates how businesses have lost control of their narrative

Why corruption endures

Published On: April 23, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Failure to secure justice through the transitional peace process provides the moral justification that sustains corruption in Nepal

Whose Investment Summit?

Published On: April 9, 2019 01:25 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Nepal Investment Summit 2019, held in Kathmandu on 29-30 March, was so well attended that the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies couldn’t even find a vacant seat in the opening session of the conference.

All hail CK Raut

Published On: March 26, 2019 01:25 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

What CK Raut couldn’t achieve with years of protests and agitation, he secured with the stroke of a pen. Earlier this month, the government signed a peace pact with the Alliance for Independent Madhesh (AIM), a largely peaceful but secessionist movement that seeks to break out an independent Madhes from Nepal. Raut, the coordinator for AIM, signed the peace pact.

Lighting rural future

Published On: March 12, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Nepal must adopt new approaches to rural electrification that delivers electricity and simultaneously improves the prospects for economic growth in the rural areas

Aiding socialist movement

Published On: February 12, 2019 03:26 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Foreign aid is helping to accelerate Nepal’s transition to a socialist State. By working largely through government systems, foreign aid has magnified the dependency on the State, stunted the maturity of civilian non-State institutions and nullified change agents.

Confessions of a socialist

Published On: January 29, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

We march on steadily toward a socialist nation that offers a brighter and better future than anything we have seen before

Fall of private schools

Published On: January 15, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Private schools missed an opportunity to demonstrate that “private” and “school” could go together in socially responsible ways

Legacy of Bhawani Rana

Published On: January 1, 2019 12:25 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

The first female President of Nepal’s largest business organization must somehow find the courage to reverse the decline of the private sector

Reforming Planning Commission

Published On: December 18, 2018 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

Development planning is a political process. National Planning Commission, as part of that machinery, belongs in the Prime Minister’s Office

Aid is failing Nepal

Published On: December 4, 2018 01:30 AM NPT By: Bishal Thapa

The delivery mechanisms for development aid are financing the monopoly of the state and crowding out change agents