The act of meditation precedes civilization. Our biggest enemy is said to live in our minds and meditation has always been heralded as the single most effective measure to conquer the enemy that lives within. Imagine having a total control over your thoughts and feelings? Life would be so much better, wouldn’t it? Our actions will be dictated by well thought decisions and we can even face an alien invasion without shaming our race’s intellect.

KATHMANDU, Aug 2:  Parliamentarian Hridayesh Tripathi flayed the government saying that it has not been doing dillydally in providing citizenship to many people.

Beauty is subjective. Its definition varies according to perception. Though the world has become more embracing of the varying ideas of beauty, Nepal has yet to catch up. Modeling has long been a profession for the ‘conventionally’ beautiful and plus size models aren’t really considered fit to walk the ramp.

KHOTANG, July 14: There are many cases where the officials of various consumers committee have been caught embezzling millions of rupees meant for development projects. Such irregularities have given a bad name to the consumers' committees.

BRUSSELS, July 10: European Council President Donald Tusk called on Donald Trump to be more respectful towards America’s allies ahead of a NATO summit, arguing that they are now in short supply.

MYAGDI, June 22: Beni Community Secondary School is turning out to be a hub for educational tour of late.

NEW YORK, June 8: Facebook said a software bug led some users to post publicly by default regardless of their previous settings. The bug affected as many as 14 million users over several days in May.

CHICAGO, June 4: Most women with the most common form of early-stage breast cancer can safely skip chemotherapy without hurting their chances of beating the disease, doctors are reporting from a landmark study that used genetic testing to gauge each patient’s risk.

BHAKTAPUR, May 21: While public schools across the nation are being forced to shut down or merge due to unavailability of students, a community school in Bhaktapur has closed its doors to admission requests after the number of new enrollments exceeded the capacity of the school.

SIRAHA, May 18: Only a Madhesi woman knows how challenging it is for women of her community to step out of their houses and explore the outer world. Earlier, engaging themselves in income-generating works by putting aside their stoves and shovels was something of a dream for a lot of women and it still is for many. But Ramjhari Yadav of Aurahi Rural Municipality-4, Khajanpur, has dared to make this dream come true. Today, she is attracting women into business through her Integrated Women Agriculture Farm.

UDAYAPUR, May 11: For years, private schools have been preferred to public or community schools for enrollment of children. But a community school in Udayapur has set a different example.

KATHMANDU, May 7: As the rift between the establishment and rival factions of the Nepali Congress (NC) deepens, senior leaders who had extended their support to elect Sher Bahadur Deuba to the post of party president in the last general convention have begun withdrawing their support to him one after another.

KATHMANDU, April 25: The devastating Gorkha-centered earthquake was three years ago, but the plight of many of the victims has remained largely unchanged. The government’s rescue, relief and reconstruction work has done little  to ease the plight of these  victims in various districts.

The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded annually by the American Economic Association (AEA) to “that American economist under the age of forty who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.”  Parag Pathak, 37, is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research proved that school choice can lead to improved student performance.

Rs 5 million spent in lavish program when target groups struggle with debt

KATHMANDU, Feb 20: Chief Minister of Province 4, Prithvi Subba Gurung is having tough time giving full shape to his cabinet as there are multiple aspirants for the remaining three ministerial posts.

KATHMANDU, Feb 13: Almost all parts of the country witnessed light rainfall today following a change in weather pattern nationwide due to influence of Westerly winds.

KATHMANDU, Feb 9: Women representation will be increased in the House of Representatives through the Proportional Representation electoral system.

KATHMANDU, Feb 7: At a time when reports coming in from the provinces say that the government employees deputed by the central government to the offices in the provinces are yet to reach their new offices, the Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) has no records of how many employees have reached their work stations.

Coming down heavily on the curriculum used by Nepali universities, Koirala said the Nepali universities failed to produce patriotic, humanitarian and thoughtful citizens could due to the influence of western philosophy and lack of proper knowledge of oriental philosophy in the curriculum designers.

KATHMANDU, Jan 6: In the run up to the local, parliamentary and provincial elections, UML leaders made relentless efforts to cash in on the support of voters in Butwal, Dang and Nepalgunj with a self-contradictory campaign promise: to make the cities the administrative capital of Province 5.

KATHMANDU, Nov 28: As many as three dozen political leaders from NC, UML and the CPN (Maoist Center) have presented themselves as chief ministerial hopefuls for the seven federal provinces although the political parties have refrained from naming their candidates.

ACHHAM, Nov 24: Ramita Saud, 16, was excited when her family recently started constructing a toilet at their house. But a few days after the construction was complete, she had her monthly period and was barred from using the toilet for five days.

One too many, Campaign bombings, editorial

BAITADI, Nov 6: The members of the general public in Baitadi district have shown disinclination to the appeal of the District Administration Office to turn in the legal firearms with them in view of the House of Representatives and State Assembly elections taking place in the district on November 26.

KASKI, Oct 30: Every year before the end of October, a majority of houses in Mustang are empty with most of the locals migrating temporarily to the 'plains' (Beni, Pokhara, Kushma) in order to escape extreme cold. Surprisingly, this year almost all Mustang locals are still in their homes waiting to take part in the upcoming federal and provincial polls slated for November 26.

KATHMANDU, Oct 28: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has extended deep sorrow over the death of many people in a bus accident in Dhading Saturday morning.

KATHMANDU, Oct 24: A majority government seems well within the reach of the newly-formed left alliance. It is something even the staunchest Nepali Congress supporter can't easily rule out, given the strong performance of the left parties in the recently held local polls.

ILAM, Oct 10: Instead of encouraging newcomers, most of the political parties have once again prioritized old faces in ticket distribution for  the upcoming parliamentary and provincial assembly elections, and this has raised fears that public enthusiasm for the polls could be slightly dampened.

POKHARA, Oct 8: Many in Province 4 had predicted that the main opposition CPN-UML would field its youth leader Rabindra Adhikari, the president of parliament's Development Committee, in the provincial assembly elections, projecting him as the party's candidate for the post of chief minister of the province. The party, however, has chosen to field him in the parliamentary elections from Kaski constituency no. 2.

Our electoral laws should reflect the realities of Nepali society rather than some hoped for ideal

MAHOTTARI, Sept 9: A large number of candidates in Mahottari switched their parties at the last moment after failing to persuade the party leaders for tickets. Some of them have even registered as independent candidates.

ROLPA, August 28: These days, a large number of women in Rolpa are into small-scale businesses. Earlier, most of these women were involved only in sewing and tailoring works. However, they have now changed their status and uplifted their living standards by switching to small-scale businesses. They have now changed their status from housewives to entrepreneurs. Many of them have started clothes business by utilizing the natural fiber called Allo which is widely produced in Rolpa.

KATHMANDU, Aug 14: Twenty flood-hit districts are facing crisis similar to the one created by the earthquakes of 2015. Some people are voluntarily collect relief materials in major cities and private sector also wants to provide relief materials promptly. But the absence of needs assessment and the direction to channel support through the government channel has created confusion among the good Samaritans.

KATHMANDU, August 14: Twenty flood-hit districts are facing crisis similar to the one created by the earthquakes of 2015. Some people are voluntarily collect relief materials in major cities and private sector also wants to provide relief materials promptly.

MUMBAI, July 25:  A four-storey building housing a nursing home in the suburbs of Mumbai collapsed on Tuesday, killing at least four people with more than 30 feared trapped, fire and police officials said.

KATHMANDU, July 17: As Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba plans to expand his cabinet within a few days, he is struggling to cope with the pressure from ministerial aspirants in his own his party.

BAJURA, July 7: Local elections have shattered the dreams of many candidates in Bajura district who had quit their government jobs to contest the polls.

BAGLUNG, June 21: Dan Bahadur Thapa of Rangkhani in Jaimini Municipality-10 has become a role model for youths in his locality.

AVELAR, June 18: Raging forest fires in central Portugal killed at least 57 people, many of them trapped in their cars as flames swept over a road, in what the prime minister on Sunday called “the biggest tragedy of human life that we have known in years.”

SINDHUPALCHOWK, May 23: Switching party during elections can be a risky decision for the cadres of any political party. But party-switching really worked for many candidates in the first phase of the local level election held on May 14, while for some it turned out to be a wrong idea.

Bikalpa Dhungana, 18, is a youth inventor of Nepal. Originally from Manpang, Tanahun, he is studying science at Pokhara Multimodal College, Pokhara.

BAGLUNG, April 25: Major political parties are having hard time to select their candidates from the pool of the aspirant candidates for the upcoming local elections. The aspirant candidates are lobbying within their party’s rank and files to clinch the party’s ticket. On the other hand, however, small political parties are struggling to find influential candidates to represent them in the elections.

Shyam Krishna Bhurtel served as a member of Local Level Restructuring Commission and has worked as an expert in Nepal’s recent efforts in decentralization. He was also involved in preparing the Local Self Governance Act (1999). Mahabir Paudyal caught up with veteran local government expert to discuss the prospects and challenges of local governance after the May 14 local election.

Prativa Pandey Malla, 31, is a research scientist who has a PhD in organic chemistry from Northwestern University, Illinois, USA. She is the founder and CEO of Catalyst Technology, a company that works for research and development in the field of science and technology. She does research consulting, and is now trying to research the scope of medicinal plants in Nepal. In conversation with Republica’s Prasansha Rimal she talks about her journey as research scientist.

Most Nepali migrant workers in Portugal don’t have legal papers or are working in precarious jobs

KATHMANDU, Jan 7: The government's decision to move the National Archives away from the premises of Singh Durbar has raised  serious concern over the fate of 50,000 historical documents that have been preserved there since 1967.

MUGU, Jan 3: Villages in the eastern part of Mugu district are considered rich in wildlife. However, of late, wildlife population, especially that of deer and tiger, is fast declining. Locals put the blame on poachers and lack of adequate security measures along the border.

LONDON, Jan 2: Singer George Michael had attempted suicide many a time, claimed posts from a Twitter account — in the name of his boyfriend Fadi Fawaz — which was later deleted.

Don’t count on smartphone health apps in an emergency. A review shows many don’t warn when you’re in danger.