Handle with care

Published On: June 25, 2020 08:00 AM NPT By: Umesh K Bhattarai

King Prithvi Narayan Shah was a visionary to understand the sensitive geopolitics of Nepal. His Dibya Upadesh offers a prescription to carefully handle the relations with two neighbors. Geopolitics is a very sensitive issue in power dynamics. Prithvi Narayan had very clear understanding of it but his successors failed to understand the sensitivity of the matter and pushed the country into several problems.

What Xi Jinping Thought means for the world and Nepal

Published On: June 24, 2020 09:55 AM NPT By: Kaushal Ghimire

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union came as a knockout blow both to the socialist governments of the Eastern Bloc and the various forms of post-colonial governments around the world that had aspired to build a system different from that of the western capitalist countries.

Challenges of an interconnected grid

Published On: June 24, 2020 09:05 AM NPT By: Aashish Chalise

India’s total installed capacity stands at massive 368 GW, which is the third largest in the world after China and the US. India has more than 10 different generators in its energy mix. Majority of the generation is through coal plants, which are getting cleaner through integration of cleaner coal technologies and environmental controls.

Roadmap to re-set Nepal-India relations

Published On: June 23, 2020 07:00 PM NPT By: Shambhu Ram Simkhada

The Limpiadhura, Kalapani, Lipulekh border dispute has taken Nepal-India relation to one of its historic lows. In the immediate aftermath of changing maps and heated debates calling their own claims as based on historical evidence and questioning the motive of the other, a “cooling down” period to prevent relations from deteriorating further may be needed. But sooner than later both South Asian neighbors, interlinked with inextricable bonds of history, geography, politics, economics, culture and religion, must meet to resolve the problem through serious and friendly negotiations.

Humanizing pedagogy for social transformation

Published On: June 23, 2020 01:00 PM NPT By: Laxmi Prasad Ojha and Janak Raj Pant

In his seminal book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” the famous Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire states that education should be a means to "the practice of freedom”, suggesting that those engaged in education—both educators and students—should find critical and creative ways to participate in the process of transformation of their society. Although published more than 50 years ago, Freire’s ideas on the role of education and educators are equally relevant at present.

What on earth do we want on citizenship?

Published On: June 22, 2020 03:30 PM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Ill logic, emotion and sentimentality, name calling of nationalists and mocking of Nepal are back on citizenship debate. This time around too, like a year ago and years before that, a set of some same myths, lies and propaganda are being manufactured and spread as State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the parliament has proposed seven years’ residency for foreign women married to Nepali citizens as a criteria to obtain Nepali citizenships.

Desperate informal sector

Published On: June 22, 2020 01:00 PM NPT By: Suresh Pandit

Those in the informal sector have already been disproportionately harmed by the pandemic. They are the ones the governments struggle most to reach with targeted policies and relief.

China’s economic crossroads

Published On: June 21, 2020 03:00 PM NPT By: Kevin Rudd and Daniel Rosen

BRISBANE/NEW YORK – Back in 2013, the Chinese government laid out a policy agenda that promised real reforms to an economy laden with debt and distorted by the influence of the country’s large state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector. But instead of seeing that agenda through, China chose to dodge the risks entailed by marketization, and has since reverted to what it knows best: state control over the economy and the semblance of stability that comes with it.

Coping with anxiety disorder in children

Published On: June 21, 2020 12:00 PM NPT By: Grishma Paneru

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problems in children and adolescents. Children and adolescents experience fear, nervousness, shyness and avoidance of places and activities that persist at times despite the helpful efforts of parents, caretakers and teachers. Anxiety likes to box us into all or nothing thinking, overgeneralizing and jumping to conclusions. Anxiety can make kids sound argumentative, illogical and angry. Children who suffer with an anxiety disorder typically have impairment in multiple domains of daily functioning.

Anger management in children

Published On: June 21, 2020 10:41 AM NPT By: Usha Pokharel

Anger is usually a response to danger. It is also a form of self-expression, and sometimes, a way for children to show their independence. For little children, it is also a cry for help. During the lockdown, schools are closed and children are at home. They are not able to go out and play or interact with their friends. This causes frustration in children, resulting in aggressive behavior. There are plenty of other reasons for young children to be angry about it.