Twitter denied in a court filing that it had deprived its would-be acquirer, billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, of necessary information or misrepresented details about its business. Musk originally made those charges to justify his attempt to back out of a $44 billion deal to buy the social platform, which he later claimed was infested with much larger numbers of “spam bots” and fake accounts than Twitter had disclosed.

After reading the learned comments by a legal expert of eminence on a wide-ranging area of international law, Professor Dr. Surya Prasad Subedi, to our rather cursory and humble observations made on June 21 to his inaugural address for Professor Yadunath Khanal Lecture delivered on June 7, 2022 in the prestigious Myrepublica on June 30, I am in the proverbial fix of what to say or respond to. Just days after the presentation and my layman's response to his stellar address, I was greatly honored to get his very kind and friendly email on June 23, the first such contact after years, in his typically beautiful English in response to my rather casual observations. I thank the prestigious Myrepublica for including my entirely personal observations in their issue.

KATHMANDU, Feb 20: In a pointed yet restrained statement to the comments and counter comments made recently by China and the US on MCC grant agreement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Sunday clarified hat any decision to accept development assistance is taken by Nepal on the basis of its national interests and priority.

International Budget Partnership calls for stronger oversight in ongoing response including in Nepal

Experts say the government has decided to shred the constitution

Experts say the government has decided to shred the constitution

WASHINGTON, DC – After ravaging the developed world, COVID-19 is now devastating developing and emerging-market countries, most of which lack the medical and financial capacity to combat the pandemic and its economic effects.

BRUSSELS, June 15: Far more people around the world think China has responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic than those who think the United States has done a good job, a poll by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation showed on Monday.

KATHMANDU, June: The government has already spent almost Rs 10 billion to prevent and contain the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

Responding to Time

May 26, 2020 08:51 am

Responding to Time The falling of leaves The shinning of stars The moon at its own place All are very perfect.

Slow, unsteady

April 7, 2020 08:51 am

Nepal’s response to the threat of coronavirus has been too slow from the very beginning. Come to think of it, the threat of alarm about this deadly virus was raised as early as late December, 2019 when cases appeared in China. By January, it was known to everyone in Nepal and the world about the rapidity of spread, the prospect of recovery and the fatality rate. Within this month, the first case was reported in the US as well as in other countries. By January end, the WHO had declared it a global public health emergency. Nepal too had the first coronavirus case this month. In February, the outbreak spread as far as Italy and Iran and the number of fatalities was fast increasing in these countries. And on March 8, the WHO declared it a global pandemic. What were Nepali authorities doing all this while?

Actor Anushka Sharma, her cricketer-husband Virat Kohli, Kartik Aaryan among others on Monday pledged money to various relief funds aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

NEW YORK – When interpreting the US Federal Reserve’s weekend announcement of new measures to mitigate the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important not to confuse motion with action.

BEIJING, Jan 21: Countries in Asia and elsewhere have begun body temperature checks at airports, railway stations and along highways in hopes of catching people carrying a new coronavirus that is believed to have spread from Wuhan in central China and sickened more than 290 people in that country. The recent confirmation that the disease can spread between humans has heightened fears as millions of Chinese travel during the annual Lunar New Year holiday.

SINGAPORE, Nov 30 : Facebook (FB.O) said on Saturday it had issued a correction notice on a user’s post at the request of the Singapore government, but called for a measured approach to the implementation of a new “fake news” law in the city-state.

KATHMANDU, June 25: With Kathmandu Metropolitan City introducing smart parking system at and around the New Road area since June 16, the management of parking areas and vehicular traffic in one of the busiest areas of Kathmandu has become effective.

KATHMANDU, May 26: Disaster preparedness and response initiative organized jointly by the Nepal Army and the United States Army Pacific here has concluded on Sunday.

KATHMANDU, July 31: Nepal Bank Ltd (NBL), the government-owned bank, is struggling to sell its shares offered through follow-on public offering (FPO). The FPO, which closed on Sunday, has drawn only 54 percent subscription.  As the stock price of the bank continues to plunge, general public have showed little interest over the offering that the bank launched to shore up its capital.

KATHMANDU, July 31: Nepal Bank Ltd (NBL), the government-owned bank, is struggling to sell its shares offered through follow-on public offering (FPO). The FPO, which closed on Sunday, has drawn only 54 percent subscription.

BERLIN, July 10: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang held talks on Monday in Berlin, and stressed their commitment to a multilateral trade system in the wake of trade disputes with Washington.

BEIJING, April 2: China has slapped extra tariffs of up to 25 percent on 128 U.S. products including frozen pork, as well as on wine and certain fruits and nuts, in response to U.S. duties on imports of aluminum and steel, China’s finance ministry said.

Scientists have found that a conversation between an adult and a child may change the child’s brain, and this back-and-forth conversation can be more critical to language development. The researchers found that children from higher-income families hear about 30 million more words during their first three years of life than children from lower-income families.

KATHAMNDU, Feb 14: Contrary to the government's prediction, the voluntary retirement scheme announced by the government for civil servants on the brink of retirement has received a disappointing response so far.

KATHMANDU, Nov 26: The Home Ministry has assured security responses within 10 to 30 minutes in case of any threat to polling centers or voters during the first phase parliamentary and provincial assembly elections on Sunday.

Response to open letter

October 10, 2017 10:10 am

Dear Bishal Thapa, thank you for your open letter (Open letter to US envoy, Oct 4).

KATHMANDU, September 11:  The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has announced US$4.8 million new humanitarian funding to help address urgent needs amongst flood affected communities in the Terai.

HOUSTON, August 29: U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Texas on Tuesday to survey the response to Tropical Storm Harvey, the first major natural disaster of his White House tenure.

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea, August 22:  As North Korea vowed "merciless retaliation" against U.S.-South Korean military drills that it claims are an invasion rehearsal, senior U.S. military commanders on Tuesday dismissed calls to pause or downsize exercises they called crucial to countering a clear threat from Pyongyang.

Inclusive response

August 22, 2017 00:19 am

The government should ensure that at risk groups including people with disabilities are specific targets of disaster response.

JHAPA, Aug 16: Flood victims in the past would always lament sheer delays in relief distribution and rehabilitation efforts. They would infuriate against the government for neglecting their pathetic situations. On the other hand, the government would feel equally helpless in extending support to them in lack of local representatives. This is the reality, even now, in most of the flood hit areas in Madhes where over 100 have been killed and thousands have been displaced by floods on Saturday. However, the case is different in Jhapa. And they credit local level office bearers for it.

The massive disastrous events continually occur imposing a great threat to the present day human civilization, particularly on the aspects of development and socio-economic arena of people. The frequency and magnitude of the natural and human induced disasters are on the rise. When a disaster strikes, it hits hard and affects the low income countries where poverty, poor and inadequate infrastructure further make the situation worse.

A member of the six-member presidium of the newly formed Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN), Rajendra Mahato claims his party is still keen about taking part in the second phase of local election. Yet his party has just announced to actively disrupt the second phase. Many people are left wondering what exactly the RJPN wants. Why is it not taking part in the second phase even though the two biggest Madhes-based parties are already in? And is there still a possibility of a negotiated settlement in the next few days, clearing the way for the party to take part in the second phase? Thira L Bhusal and Mahabir Paudyal caught up with the veteran Madhesi leader.

BIRATNAGAR, May 23: Locals have been divided over the government’s decision to designate Biratnagar as a metropolitan city.

SEOUL, March 20: South Korea has complained to the World Trade Organization about Chinese retaliation against South Korean companies over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system in the South, the trade minister said on Monday.

KATHMANDU, Feb 22: A meeting of the opposition parties has decided to seek the clear-cut views from the major ruling parties on the constitution amendment bill and move ahead accordingly.

Over the years, the government and international agencies have incorporated cash transfer as one of the components of social protection programs.

KATHMANDU, Jan 7: Bank and financial institutions (BFIs), which have been seeking financing facility from the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to ease 'liquidity crunch' problem, have showed reluctance to receive funds from the central bank under repo having two-week maturity.

FAO’s response

November 15, 2016 00:12 am

FAO’s emergency response in Nepal is example of how relief and early recovery needs can be considered from the onset of a disaster

KATHMANDU, July 22: Kaancha Prasad Tiwari, a local of Lapsefedi in the eastern rim of Kathmandu district, reached Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) along with his wife Sarala on Thursday to show his solidarity with Dr Govinda KC, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since the last 12 days.

KATHMANDU, July 5: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Bhim Rawal has accused the Ministry of Finance of not releasing sufficient funds for the purchase of equipment required for search, rescue and relief operations during natural disasters such as landslides, floods and earthquakes.

KATHMANDU, April 25: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has criticized the government and the political parties for unnecessary delay in relief distribution, reconstruction and rehabilitation for earthquake victims, and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for lack of transparency and publicity stunts.