Biranchi poydyal

    K athmandu has become a land of opportunity for many informal micro entrepreneurs. Even on rowdy walkways, vendors are seen selling goods ranging from foodstuff to clothes and electronic items. With cumulative urban migration and unemployment, selling goods on the streets has emerged as the best alternative means of earning a livelihood for many urban dwellers. Requirement of low skills and small financial input also makes it a superlative choice for entrepreneurs. Vendors play an important role in the urban economy, offering necessary items to average income-earning households. Moreover, they act as marketing agents for many small-scale industries that produce cheap consumer goods. However, the sustainable management of haphazard street vending is a concern. While street vending has given thousands of families access to economic opportunities, it also presents a problem of encroachment and congestion on the roads. Many pedestrians in Kathmandu hav...

I n the past few decades, the setting for international relations between states has transformed considerably at the regional and global levels. There has been a paradigm shift from Geo-political safety concerns to economic and social security concerns. The magnitude of economic inter-dependence between nations and associations based on a win-win position are becoming the new sustainable values in world politics. Nepal has been touched by the drastic surge in right-wing nationalism across Europe and America. Recently, China endorsed ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era’ as one of its guiding principles, and India’s orientation to restructure its ‘neighborhood first’ policy has appeared as a challenge for Nepal.  In accordance with the changing milieu, Kathmandu needs to carefully revaluate its bilateral, sub-regional and multilateral relations and review its current foreign policy. Last April, the government formed an exclu...

H ow can we provide better health for our children? This is the question every responsible parent wants to be answered. The importance of breastfeeding in rural areas and urban areas in Nepal is well identified, but least consensus exists about its practice in urban areas. A study entitled “Knowledge and Practice on Breastfeeding among Mothers of Infants” shows that in urban parts only 20.8% mothers exclusively breastfeed their infant compared to 52.6% in rural Nepal.        In last decades of 19 th century many research reveals the association of breastfeeding with child neurological health. Then, Doctors and health advisors began to emphasize a fact that parenthood can uplift infant physical as well as mental health and reduce infant mortality rate, if paid proper consideration on breast feeding. Though breastfeeding was traditionally grounded practice in Nepalese society it also got scientific base after such researches.   Consequently...

I t has been evidently proven that the frequency of thyroid cancer in women is considerably higher than that in men. In Nepal alone more than 1 million people are under threat of thyroid and its 3 to 8 times more common among women. Yet more than half of those with thyroid are unaware of it because of its complex indicators. The most common thyroid disorders are conditioned by uncontrolled emission of thyroid hormones. Too much production of thyroid hormones leads to hyperthyroidism whereas inadequate hormone production may cause hypothyroidism. Many medical experts propose that the thyroid hormone tends to be enormously reactive especially in case of rising levels of other hormones, excluding thyroid stimulating hormones. Nowadays why maximum women are being prone to the thyroid abnormalities? Among various reasons, one relevant answer can be ‘birth control pill’.   Study shows that mini-pills or presence of oestrogen level in contractive pills...

               I n month of July, this year, Nepal experienced the ‘vulnerability test hack’ of 58 government website slashed in just three minute, as claimed by hackers group. Same year the Department of passport was hacked, tailed by Nepal’s president official website hack in July 2015. This recent breaks indirectly challenge the cyber security system of Nepal’s Government, indicating large loopholes and cyber vulnerabilities of central agencies that handgrip information of National importance. Preventing such attacks seems possible in future but it demands excessive finance and complete revision on the way government as well as other technological firm handle software and primary websites. Cyber-security has now become a global problem with no country in exception, including third world and least developed nations. After land, sea, air and space, the pendulum of security threat has tilted to another domain:...

P ost 1950s, world has witnessed a new face of colonialism (neo-colonialism) in which powerful states systematically uses other countries at its expense for its own benefits. During Nepal Investment Summit 2017, Chinese partnerships had assured to finance $8.3 billion in different sectors, greater than the Indian pledge of $317 million.  Both India and China are strategically trying to influence Kathmandu in their unique ways. Constant diplomatic pressure by either side will only encourage Kathmandu to align with one Asian giant. Besides, the likelihood that Nepal may entirely side towards the one country remains great security threat that both giants will not be ready to stake.                        Nepal’s geographical standing as a landlocked country has turned itself into hostage land, ruthlessly off-putting its international opportunities in economic, politi...

K ids mature faster these days, not a big deal right? But many parents are concerned it's too fast when father’s pinkie needs training bra at age seven and Mama’s little boy would begin lustful stares at nine. The phenomenon is popularly known as precocious puberty. Much research shows its growth in rampant frequency since 1980s. As the matter of fact puberty is much easier to identify in girls – their first period – and, probably because of that, there have been various studies, mainly focusing on girls puberty. Those studies shows connection of multiple factors behind immature puberty like; unbalanced proportion of nutrition, genetic disorder, hormonal fluctuation, obesity and most surprisingly sexual contents in media.        Does watching sexual content on television triggers early puberty? Many Nepalese parents aren’t aware that overtly sexualized party songs and sex scenes or some carnal variety shows common on Indian channel could easily...

I n late 1980s, a person named Chandra committed suicide by hanging himself from Peepal  tree nearby  his house. It was an "ill-timed," "unnatural" or "bad omen" death. Consequently, his family and other close relatives frequently encountered problems of dealing with his spirit; they were uncertain that the appropriate performance of the morgue rituals would be effective in altering his bad spirit (kacho bayu) into good spirit (pako bayu). -—an expert in dealing with spirit was consulted by Chandra‟s brother. As many suspected, the incineration and morgue rituals had failed to alter his spirit into forefather soul and 'Bayu Utarnu' ritual should be carried out to sooth his upset spirit.       The "Bayu Utarnu" for Chandra‟s ghost began under the headship of a prominent spirit consultant. It comprised, nightly ritual during which the religious expert, using heavy mantras and chants, convinced the Bayu to possess intimate male allies,...

  M ahesh Chandra Regmi is eminent historian, researcher and scholar based in Nepal. He leaves behind a copious body of work which includes 14 books and scholarly works. Regmi’s Land Tenure and Taxation in Nepal was published in four volumes by UC Berkeley between 1963-68. A Study in Nepali Economic History 1768-1846, detailing the agrarian basis of Nepali society during unification, appeared in 1971. In 1976, Regmi published his seminal work, Landownership in Nepal. He also launched and successfully ran the weekly Nepal Press Digest, which became a journal of contemporary reporting. This book present chronological history as a study of change, the author claims that the impelling drive of change in socio-economic dynamics of the Gorkhali Empire of the eighteenth century is not wholly classified as triggered by the peasantry, conversely, the political tendency of the hill state of Gorkha to multiply its territories plays significant role. Then kings and some handful of reig...