My Republica

Sukhdev Shah

The contributor for Republica.
news@myrepublica.com

One mistake of Nepali democracy: Oversized parliament

Published On: September 23, 2020 02:50 PM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

It is sad that despite all the political upheavals and fiery speeches delivered to the public, no serious case has been made to trim the size of parliament and the government.

What we gained, what we lost

Published On: April 16, 2020 09:40 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

It was early in the afternoon of April 9 30 years ago, when the news reached Washington that King Birendra had agreed to replace Panchayat with multi-party democracy, the long-held demand of democracy activists in the country. Prior to the King’s surrender of absolute authority, tens of thousands of demonstrators had converged in Durbar Marg in front of the royal palace. Nearby, in front of the Annapurna Hotel, some demonstrators climbed on the statue of King Mahendra, to hang a shoe garland. The military personnel standing nearby had earlier warned that they would shoot anyone engaging in such mischief and, surely, they shot a number of demonstrators while climbing the statue. In the evolving mêlée, the military fired on the crowd randomly, killing some 150 demonstrators.

Much ado about nothing

Published On: January 28, 2020 09:50 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

‘Much ado about nothing’ is the title of a play by William Shakespeare which he wrote toward the end of the 16th century to highlight disagreements and bad behavior of newlywed couples in most cases on trivial matters. More formally and generally, the phrase means ‘a great deal of fuss over a thing of little importance’.

Creating possibilities for Nepal

Published On: December 24, 2019 08:54 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Building Inter-country Water Supply Management System connecting Mechi and Mahakali rivers will help harness Nepal’s precious river resources

Where Nepal failed

Published On: November 27, 2019 09:28 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Nepal’s political map has never shown Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in the country’s map. This is an amusing omission by Nepali administration

In memoriam of my son

Published On: October 5, 2019 02:25 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Manu, my son, was born on December 31, 1975, in Alexandria, Virginia, and died on September 9, 2019, just a couple of miles away from the place of his birth. Manu was American by birth but he loved Nepal, in an immense and immeasurable manner, and love of his parents’ land grew overtime for reasons I didn’t ask and Manu never bragged about. I was pleased of him growing up in this way carrying Nepali pride and values and, of course, I felt good about it.

Salaries remain the same

Published On: September 25, 2019 01:50 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

In one early announcement of this year’s budget on May 30, Finance Minister Yuvraj Khatiwada said that growth target has been set at 8.5 percent for the year and it will ensue from a number of growth inducing schemes introduced with the new budget and will be supported by a record Rs.1.53 trillion spending allocation, which is one third of total economy.

Distancing India

Published On: September 4, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Nepal’s 50 years of effort at distancing ties with India has come at the cost of hurting its economy and creating a hurdle to connect the country to the world outside

Budget’s fake economics

Published On: August 7, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

How will Nepal achieve 8.5 percent growth? Likely sources of growth do not point to more than a mediocre performance, around four to five percent

Decoding budget

Published On: June 11, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

One striking feature of Nepal budgeting has been that almost the entire amount of revenue collected from domestic sources gets spent for recurrent expenditures

Primitive society

Published On: May 29, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Nepal’s primitiveness is starker in its villages, where public amenities such as drinking water supply, public sanitation, paved streets and improved housing are largely absent

Tough times for immigrants

Published On: May 16, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Tightening of US visa regulations will have severe impact on Nepal which receives the largest portion of remittance money from the US-based immigrants

Failing on water

Published On: April 30, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Has the water and sanitation situation in the country improved in comparison to what was promised and the amount of money spent for that purpose?

Developing Madhes

Published On: April 17, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

If Prime Minister Oli and Chairman Dahal are truly concerned about Madhesi welfare, they should work to tame Koshi floods and put in place a mechanism to harness Kosi water

Nepal as tax-free zone

Published On: March 30, 2019 12:25 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

It has been a long time when this historical event took place but the old timers among us may recall the sensation created in 1975 when late King Birendra announced to the international community his proposal of Nepal to be recognized as Zone of Peace. He asked the country’s foreign missions to work vigorously with their host countries to push the United Nations to declare Nepal a Zone of Peace country.

What next for CK Raut?

Published On: March 27, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

CK Raut’s party can take up irrigation as main agenda for ending extreme poverty in Madhesh and turning agriculture into the pivot for region’s growth and modernization

Agriculture in distress

Published On: March 19, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Is agriculture-led growth possible in Nepal? Only if we follow the Chinese experience of the reforms in agriculture through farmland consolidation

Why Nepal lags?

Published On: February 19, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Attracting foreign investors to Nepal will require a mapping out of competitive edge over other countries that compete with Nepal for the foreign money

Tax exploitation in Nepal

Published On: February 6, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

High taxation policy pursued by Nepal has worked as a powerful drag on the economy by hurting private sector incentive and discouraging foreign investment

Solar over hydro

Published On: January 22, 2019 01:30 AM NPT By: Sukhdev Shah

Without a massive and concerted effort to develop solar power, unmet electricity demand will continue to plague the energy sector, the economy, and the nation at large