The Assassin’s False Creed

Published On: January 13, 2020 09:22 AM NPT By: Nina L Khrushcheva

MOSCOW – For an armchair warrior like US President Donald Trump, who received five deferments from serving in Vietnam, assassinations must look like a foreign-policy silver bullet. You take out your enemy’s leadership with a drone strike or a rifle shot and, presto, your problems are solved. In fact, there is no historical basis for believing that assassinations solve anything. But there are plenty of precedents that they make things far, far worse.

No city for disabled

Published On: January 13, 2020 09:11 AM NPT By: Amod Pyakuryal

Nepal celebrated 27th International Day of Persons with Disability (IDPD) on December 3, 2019 with much fanfare, public service announcements, and programs to mark the occasion in Kathmandu, which as a rapidly growing metropolitan city, has gravely failed those with disabilities to live as healthy and independent individuals.

On IPS and MCC

Published On: January 12, 2020 09:32 AM NPT By: Biranchi Poudyal/Kamal Khadk

The United States describes its Indo-Pacific strategy as “an ironclad and enduring commitment to” a region that spans from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian subcontinent. But while reading between the lines, the concept of Indo-Pacific gained momentum during 2000s when Chinese maritime expansion started to challenge United State’s primacy in the Western Pacific.

Why Morals Matter in Foreign Policy

Published On: January 12, 2020 08:15 AM NPT By: Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

CAMBRIDGE – When I told a friend I had just written a book on morality and foreign policy, she quipped: “It must be a very short book.” Such skepticism is common. An Internet search shows surprisingly few books on how US presidents’ moral views affected their foreign policies. As the eminent political theorist Michael Walzer once described American graduate training in international relations after 1945, “Moral argument was against the rules of the discipline as it was commonly practiced.”

Guilty pleasure

Published On: January 12, 2020 08:05 AM NPT By: Rishi Ram Paudyal

Can pleasures be guilty? Or can a pleasure make a person feel guilty? In an article published in The New York Times on July 1, 2019, Micaela Marini Higgs mentions Sami Schalk, an assistant professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as saying “guilty pleasure is something that we enjoy, but we know we’re either not supposed to like, or that liking it says something negative about us.”

The wildlife lesson

Published On: January 12, 2020 07:55 AM NPT By: Shreyashi Bista

Having been selected as one of the candidates in Wildlife Research Techniques Training (WRTT) 2019, I was immensely overwhelmed and excited to explore more about my interest. WRTT is a remarkable training platform for students who are willing to develop a career in wildlife sector. This training is organized annually by Friends of Nature (FON), Nepal which is a renowned organization in the field of wildlife in Nepal. It is youth-led non-governmental, non-profit making, non-political organization working in the field of wildlife, environment and conservation which. The office was registered in 2005 with main aim to conduct research whilst providing environmental education and capacity building programs for youth around country. Wildlife is one of the symbolic features of Nepal and preserving it is very important for overall well-being of the country.

Why IT Bill is flawed

Published On: January 11, 2020 08:57 AM NPT By: Dikchya Raut and Deepa Adhikari

Arresting for writing in social media platforms, forcing artists to delete their songs from the internet and filing court cases against comedians are some of the missiles launched by the authorities to curtail free speech in recent times. These trends suggest that the government authorities are determined to curtail freedom of expression in online and offline platforms. With the promulgation of regressive and restrictive laws one after another, the situation is getting worse.

In defense of social media regulation

Published On: January 11, 2020 08:30 AM NPT By: Atindra Dahal

Our socio-political situation always and noticeably remits one or another controversial issue to the people, who love to engage in an endless debate. MCC was the talk of the town, and still is. The proposed bill on information technology—mentioned as IT Bill—has hogged the media space and engaged the mass at mammoth scale. The provision that states anyone posting defamatory, blasphemous and disrespectfully vulgar or profane remarks against somebody on and through social media will be sentenced up to five year and fined up to one and half million rupees is the subject of intense criticism.

Legislature disbands in failure

Published On: January 11, 2020 07:50 AM NPT By: Kiran Chapagain and Jim Yardley

KATMANDU, Nepal — Nepal descended into a new crisis on Sunday after rival political parties in the Himalayan nation failed to reach an agreement on a new constitution before the national legislature’s term expired at midnight.

Tap into connectivity prospects

Published On: January 11, 2020 07:35 AM NPT By: Purushottam Ojha

The rising economic clout of China and India as the next door neighbors could be a blessing for socio-economic transformation of Nepal if Nepal can maintain a balanced foreign policy and constructive engagement. One of the major challenges faced in overall socio-economic development of the country is the modernization and expansion of physical infrastructures like energy, transport and border facilities which requires huge amount of financial resources and technologies suited to the fragile ecosystem and rugged terrain of the young mountains.