Nepal has become self-reliant on poultry products. We no longer have to import eggs and chickens like in the past to fulfill the domestic needs. With this, vast majority of people have access to nutritious food like eggs and chickens. No doubt, this is the result of growing poultry industry in the country.  But at times, it seems, poultry industries and intermediaries have established such cartels and syndicates that they can raise the prices of the poultry products whenever they like. The rising price of poultry products in recent weeks is a case in point.

It has been as we feared. The authorities delegated to conduct screening of passengers entering Nepal at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) failed to screen the passengers coming to Nepal from China on Monday.  The passengers on board the Himalaya Airlines flight, which landed at TIA on Monday, were not screened. It has been learnt that there were no health officials present at the health desk set up there.

The constitution of Nepal promulgated in 2015 has been considered a promising document at home and abroad, in part, because it has enshrined 31 sets of fundamental rights of the citizens. Our list of fundamental rights is comprehensive. These rights—ranging from right to freedom to food security to right of children—can bear fruit only when necessary laws are enacted on time and the required regulations of those laws are put in place. In our case, however, it must be said that both law making and regulations drafting processes have been rather too slow.

While much of the focus of the central committee meeting of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) was centered on MCC grants of the US government and Indo Pacific Strategy, some of the leaders have voiced the concerns of the general public. They have raised the issue of corruption and accountability. They have concluded that many NCP leaders have amassed property illegally and demanded that all their leaders disclose their property details and party should form a powerful commission to probe their property.

Outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus has sent the whole world in near panic mood. The virus that originated in Wuhan of China, where it has claimed at least 259 lives and affected nearly 12 thousands, has now spread to as many as 25 countries. More than 6,000 cases have been reported with majority in China. The figure is increasing every other day. As you are reading this, many more countries and many more people may be affected.

It’s Martyrs’ Day today.  Martyrs evoke sense of sacrifice and the duty of the state to uphold the conviction and faith for which they fought. Nepal marks Martyrs’ Day every year to commemorate all known and unknown martyrs who sacrificed their lives for welfare of nation and people.

Media Council Bill registered in the parliament by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in May last year was flawed in many respects.  It had the provision of Media Council slapping journalists with a fine of up to one million rupees for “publishing content against the media code of ethics.”

Ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and opposition Nepali Congress made the biggest mistake on Sunday by electing Agni Prasad Sapkota to the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives. They turned deaf ears to all appeals from civil society leaders, media and conflict victims not to endorse a person accused of war crimes for the prestigious post.

Political parties make corruption control their main agenda during election times and it features in their pledges and election manifestoes too. But when these same parties are in power, they somehow happen to abet corruption rather than controlling it. Current government of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has been no different in this regard. While cabinet ministers, even the Prime Minister, reiterate zero-tolerance against corruption in public utterances, their words do not match with actions. Look at some of the high-profile graft scams of the last couple of years.

Two incidents of the past week in Nepal are deeply worrying for the prospects of tourism at a time when the country is celebrating Visit Nepal 2020 during which Nepal aims to bring in as many as two million tourists. Both incidents are related to death of tourists. On Friday, massive avalanche hit the Deurali area of Annapurna Rural Municipality-11 in Kaski leaving four South Korean nationals and three Nepalis missing.