Huang Youyi serves as an expert at the Charhar Institute, a prominent Chinese think tank that gives the Chinese government inputs on China’s diplomacy and international relations, including in South Asia. A close student of Nepal-China relations, Youyi was recently in Kathmandu to take part in the ‘China Nepal Think Tank Conference’. Biswas Baral, Mahabir Paudyal and Kosh Raj Koirala met him at the sidelines of the conference to discuss Nepal-China relations and the rivalry between India and China in Nepal.  ​

Nepal an important partner country: KOICA veep

Published On: January 20, 2017 07:41 AM NPT By: Republica

Vice President for Projects and Regional Coordination of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Sungho Choi is currently in Nepal to assess the progress of projects run by KOICA, and forge new strategies for the development cooperation with Nepal. Choi spoke to Republica about KOICA activities and future plan for cooperation in Nepal. Excerpts:

Criminals have no land to hide

Published On: January 18, 2017 08:07 PM NPT By: Deepak Kharel

We are hopeful that the conference will be instrumental in crime controlling and a forum for dwelling on crimes and difficulties faced in the course of tackling them.  The central focus of the conference will be to develop a procedure so that criminals will get no space to hide in any corner of the world after they escape their countries.

An Efficient road network is a base for national unity

Published On: January 16, 2017 12:30 AM NPT By: Republica

Kathmandu is nearer to New Delhi than Dhangadi, the far-western city of Nepal, due to lack of proper connectivity. The remoteness has not only created trade and economic bottlenecks, but also created political gap between Kathmandu and the rest of the country which has, in some way, weakened national unity and sovereignty.

The Director of Center for South Asian Studies, Nischalnath Pandey, is a keen student of diplomacy in South Asia and of the strategic rivalry between India and China in Nepal. As Nepal and China prepare for a joint military drill, Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal caught up with him on Wednesday afternoon to get his views on China’s perceived assertiveness in Nepal, on Nepal-India ties and on Nepal’s foreign policy priorities.

Failure of amendment bill will have unimaginable consequences

Published On: January 5, 2017 12:15 AM NPT By: Republica

What do the Madheshi parties make of the Supreme Court verdict on constitution amendment? Do they in fact even support the amendment bill tabled by the ruling coalition? Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal talked to Sarbendranath Sukla, General Secretary of Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party, a key constituent of Madheshi Morcha.

The proposal to change Province-5 boundary is unconstitutional

Published On: December 29, 2016 12:15 AM NPT By: Republica

Chairman of Constitutional Committee of the first Constituent Assembly Nilamber Acharya has been a first-hand witness to the evolution of the constitutional process since the first CA elections in 2008. Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal wanted to know from the veteran constitutional expert what he made of the current disputes over the proposed second amendment of the new constitution. And how does he answer those who have questioned the legitimacy of the constitution?

It is not easy to federate a country as old as Nepal

Published On: December 22, 2016 12:15 AM NPT By: Republica

Senior Nepali Congress leader and former finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat is an advocate of fiscally strong federal units. He believes Nepal’s federal experiment has gone wrong because it became an emotive issue, and not one based on economic logic. So what does he make of the current disputes over the proposed break up of Province 5? And how do we break the current constitutional deadlock? Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal met with the veteran Congress leader on Wednesday.

Gulf Oil has seen a lot of opportunities in Nepal

Published On: December 20, 2016 01:40 AM NPT By: Republica

Ravi Chawla, the managing director of Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd, was recently in Nepal, along with former Manchester United footballer Quinton Fortune, for brand promotion of Gulf lubricants in Nepal.

We are supporting schools through test ride campaign

Published On: December 17, 2016 12:40 AM NPT By: Republica

Sipradi Trading Ltd, the authorized distributor of Tata Motors for Nepal, started its 'Test Drive for Education' campaign in September this year. Sipradi has been providing parents of students at various Kathmandu schools its vehicles for test driving and donates Rs 500 to that school for every test drive. The donation goes toward developing the schools infrastructure and providing scholarships to underprivileged students. Ashim Neupane of Republica talked to Hemant Puranik, the country manager for Tata Motors Ltd for Nepal, to know more about the campaign. Excerpts: