As the world, including Nepal, progresses towards easing the lockdown, it is imperative for Nepal to find its way through this new world order post the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to the rising COVID-19 cases, there are various challenges in the forefront that need to be dealt with economic and political foresightedness. Especially for women in Nepal, easing of the lockdown has potential to further compound pre-existing gender inequalities based on caste, class, geographical location and various religious conventions and beliefs. There is a possibility that the current situation could be worsened by an inevitable economic crisis given the distinct lack of consideration by the state to accept women as equal citizens rather than a ‘category’ that needs to be considered while ticking a few boxes. A particular focus on women and their needs is crucial to ensure that we traverse to the second stage of this pandemic smoothly.

With the monsoon each year in South Asia comes the danger of floods. Communities in the Himalayan foothills brace for impact, with floods wiping away infrastructure, causing landslides, and resulting in loss of lives and livelihoods.

The world, it seems, is obsessed with China. President Trump is raging against China and until recently there was a call from some Western countries for compensation from China for the loss caused by the pandemic outbreak.

The very unruly, coincidental and downright comical nature of our reality is that we are living on a floating mass in the middle of a vast expanse of nothing; and yet we are alive, and a top dog in our niche.

World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year to raise awareness and to support action to protect and preserve our environment. With the decision of the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, the first World Environment Day was organized in 1974 with the theme: "Only One Earth". The theme for this year is "Biodiversity", the resources that support life on earth. Colombia will host the World Environment Day in partnership with Germany. The World Environment Day engages people, communities, private sector and governments around the world to take action on critical environmental challenges facing the planet.

At the end of an intensive two-day training on semester-based teaching organized by Tribhuvan University in Nagarkot last May, we asked the seventy or so university faculty members from around the country to pick between two groups. One group was asked to  strategize how to institutionalize the teaching excellence training, building on a few years of work done mainly online by a grassroots initiative. The other group would discuss a new topic: how to pursue and promote research and publication in the university. To our pleasant surprise, over two-thirds of the participants went to the research group. We had to come up with a quick way to better regroup the scholars.

As coronavirus continues to spread across the world, many countries have chosen to implement the Wuhan-style lockdown to slow down the spread of infection rates in the population. At the same time, many smart countries have decided to fight the coronavirus without putting in place such strict measures. South Korea did an excellent job of fighting the pandemic by finding a gentle balance between continuing economic activities and containing the epidemic outbreak. Japan declared a state of emergency in hard-hit areas without imposing lockdown. More interestingly, the economic powerhouse is also speeding up the process of transforming the country to “Society 5.0”—a noble idea that is well suited for the post-pandemic world.

Though Madheshi leaders are putting various conditions to vote for getting the new map, that includes Nepali territories of Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh-Kalapani (LLK) region of Nepal in it, endorsed through the parliament, here in Tarai Madhesh there is a huge resurgence of public support in favour of the government on this particular issue.

Even during the lockdown caused by Coronavirus, a small number of Nepalis representing different political parties gathered in South Harrow in London on May 22 with an enlarged new political map of Nepal.  Due to coronavirus situation, protest letters were sent to Indian High Commission in London by post, the process which was followed by the Nepali expatriates and diaspora communities in Cyprus, Qatar, Belgium, Portugal, and Spain. Irrespective of differences in their political stances, they came together. This indicates that whether or not they support the current government in Nepal on internal matters, they truly believe that historically the land included in the new map belongs to Nepal.

The e-inauguration of Darchula to Lipulekh road by India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on May 8 was a surprising move at a time when Nepal was offering to hold Foreign Secretary level talks to resolve outstanding disputes with India. Earlier, Nepal had sent two diplomatic notes to India protesting the new map published by India on November 2, 2019, and in 2015 when India and China signed an agreement in Beijing to make “Lipulekh pass” a trading route to increase their bilateral trade.