- Friday, 30 January 2026
TRN Online
Leader Nepal emphasizes on socialism-based economic system
CPN (Unified Socialist) chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the goal of the communist movement is to maintain the prosperity of the people through a socialist system.
18 new cases, 17 recoveries in 24 hours
In 3,691 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in the past 24 hours, a total of 18 people were found infected with SARS-CoV-2, informed the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) in its regular update.
India logs 2,527 new COVID-19 cases, 33 death in last 24 hours
India reported 2,527 new COVID-19 infections and 33 fatalities in the last 24 hours informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.
Four children killed in an incident of fire
Four children have died in a fire that broke out in a residential house in Kudari Sarkiwada village in ward no 3 of Tila Municipality, Jumla. The incident took place last night.
No-ball incident: Pant fined 100% of match fee; Amre handed one-match ban
Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant and assistant coach Pravin Amre were both fined 100% of their match fees, with Amre also handed a one-match ban, following the team's defeat to Rajasthan Royals on Friday.
JEOC established at Election Commission
A joint election operation centre (JEOC) has been established at the Election Commission under the coordination of the joint secretary and spokesperson of the EC Salikram Sharma Paudel.
U.S. Congressional delegation meets PM Deuba
A United States high-ranking Congressional delegation met Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday.
Chimpanzee house opened at Central Zoo
Kathmandu, Apr. 23: Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment Dr. Pem Narayan Kandel and Member Secretary of the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) Sarad Chandra Adhikari jointly inaugurated the new chimpanzee house at the Central Zoo, Jawalakhel, on Friday.According to a press statement issued by the NTNC on the occasion, the house was constructed for two chimps named Chimpu (male) and Chimpa (female). The two had been illegally brought into Nepal and were rescued by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) on October 17, 2017.After the rescue, the CIB handed over the simians to the zoo. At the time of the handing over, the male chimp was three months old and the female was of six months. and weighed four kilograms. Since then though, the zoo staff cared for them and fed them fruits, vegetables, milk, bread and honey as per the season and the chimps’ health. As a result, the male today weighs 21 kilograms and the female weights 24 kilograms, NTNC informed.The two primates have been adopted by Razi Rana of the Prabhu Shumsher JBR and Razi Rana Trust under the Central Zoo’s ‘Adopt an Animal’ programme. Rana has provided Rs. 1 million for the care of the animals.
Trade deficit reaches Rs. 1,300 billion
BY LAXMAN KAFLE, Kathmandu, Apr. 23: The country’s trade deficit has reached a whopping Rs. 1,306.08 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2021/22. The trade deficit of the period is higher by 28.47 per cent than the deficit of the corresponding period last fiscal year.Trade deficit during the same period last year was Rs. 1,016.62 billion.Despite a significant increase in exports, the country’s trade deficit has widened further during the review period due to the low volume of exports compared to the imports.According to the Foreign Trade Statistics of the Department of Customs, export trade has increased by 69.44 per cent to Rs. 160.57 billion during the first nine months (mid-July 2021 to mid-April 2022) of the current fiscal year. Nepal had exported goods worth Rs. 94.76 billion in the same period last fiscal year. Meanwhile, imports increased by 31.97 per cent to Rs. 1,466.66 billion during the review period. In the same period last fiscal year, the country had imported goods worth Rs. 1,111.39 billion.With the increase in exports, its contribution to total trade also increased from 7.86 per cent to 9.87 per cent during the review period. The share of export in the total trade has decreased to 90.13 per cent from 92.14 per cent last year. According to the statistics, total foreign trade has also increased. The country’s foreign trade volume has reached Rs. 1,627.23 billion during the review period which is 34.91 per cent more than the previous year. Nepal Rastra Bank has already applied measures to tighten the imports of luxurious and non-essential items in an attempt to control the trade deficit. Petroleum products of over Rs. 219 billion imported According to the data released by the Department of Customs, Nepal has imported petroleum products worth Rs. 219 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.Diesel tops the lists of imported commodity in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Diesel worth Rs. 105.97 billion has been imported during the period.Meanwhile, petrol worth Rs. 47.23 billion, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) worth Rs. 45.34 billion, aviation fuel worth Rs. 9.30 billion, kerosene Rs. 1.07 million, lubricants worth Rs. 4.90 billion and petroleum bitumen worth Rs. 6.27 billion have been imported during the period.The country imported crude soybean oil worth Rs. 46.31 billion, crude palm oil worth Rs. 33.23 billion and crude sunflower worth Rs. 16.49 billion during the review period.Similarly, maize worth Rs. 12.14 billion, paddy and rice worth Rs. 50.7 billion and wheat worth Rs. 5.88 billion have been imported. Soybean, palm oil major export itemsMeanwhile, soybean oil had the largest share in export during the review period. Soybean oil worth Rs. 43.30 billion was exported in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.Similarly, palm oil has the second largest share after soybean oil. Palm oil worth Rs. 36.37 billion was exported during the review period.Cardamom worth Rs. 3.85 billion, yarns worth Rs. 9.13 billion, tea and coffee worth Rs. 3 billion, carpet worth Rs. 7 billion and felts worth Rs. 4 billion were exported during the review period.
No change in voters’ list: EC
Kathmandu, Apr. 23: The Election Commission (EC) has requested the aspirant candidates of the upcoming local level election to remove their names from the closed list of the candidates to be elected under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system in the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assemblies.Issuing a statement on Thursday, the EC has asked the candidates of the local level poll, slated for May 13, to remove their names from the closed list before April 23. It has also clarified that as long as the names of the candidates are in the closed list, they will not be allowed to file their candidacy in the local poll. The EC is ready to remove the name of such persons from the closed list if the political party that nominated their names for the closed list sends a letter to it within the day before the date (April 23).Articles 84 and 176 of the Constitution have provision of electing members of House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly from the first-past-the-post system and proportional representation systemSimilarly, Sub-section (9) of Article 28 of the House of Representatives Election Act, 2074 BS has provision that the party has to submit the closed list of the candidates with the approval of the person concerned.The Sub-section (1) of section 30 of the same act has also mentioned that the final closed list published by the EC will be valid during the tenure of the HoR. In the restrictive phrase of the same sub-section of the Act has also mentioned that if the nominating party sends a letter to remove the name of a candidate from the close list after the formation of the HoR, the commission can remove the name of such candidate from the list.EC’s Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel said that sub-section (3) of the same section states that a person whose name is included in the closed list of the candidate for the House of Representatives cannot be a candidate in the National Assembly, Provincial Assembly or local level elections.Articles 28, 29 and 30 of the Provincial Assembly Member Election Act, 2074 BS have similar provisions, the EC said. According to the EC, it has been removing the names of the candidates from the closed lists after the concerned political parties decided to remove the names of the candidates from the closed list in accordance with the provisions of the House of Representatives Election Act and Provincial Assembly Member Election Act.Spokesperson Poudel said that the existing laws doesn’t allow EC to remove the name from the closed list on the basis of the person’s request. Voter’s list will not be changedMeanwhile, the EC has stated that there will be no alteration in the voter’s list now. The commission had published the final list of voters on March 27. Stating that the EC has been receiving requests to correct the list even now, Poudel said no amendment, modification or change could be made in the final voter list published on March 27.
From Parochial To Reflective Citizen
Dev Raj DahalA shift from ‘parochial,’ ‘apathetic’ to ‘reflective’ and ‘engaged citizens’ has become the order of the day. The central pillars of multiparty democracy -- political parties, cultural industries and educational institutions-- are given primary accountability for educating youths to become good, reflective and engaged citizens in their communities and do essential services in the entire life of the nation. Nepal’s general voting turnout stands around 70 per cent which is a good sign of public participation. But it has not made them fully conscious of their rights and duties, constitution and the operation of political power, political parties, leadership and interest groups and nurture civic competence to shape public policies. Plural media are, therefore, spreading information and knowledge about democratic principles, institutions and orientation and telling Nepali voters to seek the rationale of their vote in tangible terms. The average invalid voting turnout hovers about three per cent. This mass of populace does not know how to vote. Voters’ education can spur a patch of light in a vast darkness of ignorance and reduce invalid voting. A huge swath of migrant workers abroad also finds it expensive to return home just for voting. They and some others form “absentee voters” as they are dictated by the daily necessity to earn their living, not democratic choice. Apathetic votersThere are anti-system radical political parties whose revolutionary dream disenfranchises their members from voting. In Nepal, apathetic voters are huge as they do vote but do not know the weight of rational voting informed by critical knowledge of issues, candidates and shaping prudent opinion to influence public policies. As a crowd of innocents, they loiter in the fringe of politics and apply primitive criteria in voting.The soaring election costs in Nepal favour big parties with robust organisational muscle, business financiers, media control, large membership and muscular means prompted by the distorted notion of politics to get rich, not engage in constructive politics of public services. If voters are given civic education in no way they are prompted by short-term profit, impulse or bandwagon effects spurred by mass show of party’s power, media glittering image of personalised leaders and flood of unrealisable promises of moon and stars. In Nepal, this sort of education has to be ratcheted up by the cultural industries, educational institutions, party schools and even civil society. Otherwise, they do not care who rises to power and, thus, rejoice all regimes - democratic, authoritarian or totalitarian party control of polity and the state. Nepal’s raucous political evolution has seen party transformation into a catch-all type without renovation of the civic culture of leaders and their self-indulging bent to revise the rules of the game beyond constitutional imperative. The reasons include simulation of managerial form of politics that applies business logic of transactional leadership, not transformational and value-based ones, and the homogenisation of horizontal left-right-centre leadership culture and growth of a new frame of vertical top-down politics indivisible from a division of power.The fresh hope for democracy deepening lies in the growth of reflective, active and engaging citizens. They require gaining ample civic knowledge, thinking for selves, forming opinions and engaging in wise choices about leadership, organisation, policy, resources and action. This allows voters to control the leaders monopolising political and economic power and enforcing accountability to their promises and mandate. Reflective citizens require constant learning about the changing context and application of civic awareness, skills and temperament to improve participatory political process to safeguard the nation’s civic culture. They offer scope for critical judgment of leaders’ performance and contribute to political reform, participation and rational leadership growth reflecting rational pursuit of a balance between private interest and common good. Better informed Nepali voters know that they are entitled with constitutional rights, bear civic competence and think that their vote, voice and consent are required for the authority and legitimacy of rule. They even revoke their consent if they find their leaders withered from the sensitivity to general public and national interests.It is vital to awaken the large mass of apathetic Nepali citizens from their doctrinaire snooze, blind faith and conformity to every type of leader unresponsive to their own promises and enable them to judge what is right and good from their lived experience and normative and constitutional standards. The irony of Nepali politics is the formation of a series of odd electoral coalitions of unlike-minded political brands in power, opposition and resistance riddled with obdurate logic of left, right and centre contradictions, history of betrayal of each other’s trust and justification of their entrepreneurial action in the name of doctrine of necessity to save the status quo and secure gains made so far. This has turned many Nepali voters free-floating, not party or ideological curve and hollowed out the utility of multiparty-based democracy where parties become instruments of winning and governing power and shaping public policy outcome. Voters’ ultimate loyalty to leaders and their votes on the basis of primordial concerns, not partisan or ideological attachment of the values when the party was created can flag the basis of party politics and fertilise non-elected interest groups and social movements as leverage for power struggle.In a collusive nature of electoral strategy, Nepali voters’ dilemma is obvious: they detest voting candidates of other parties as per the direction of top leaders while non-voting weakens the stand of the parties they esteem. In a fissiparous political environment, Nepali voters thus face a paradox: the swelling cost of casting ballots outweighs the likely benefits where even the elected leaders find the execution of mandate difficult as political struggle is pivoted not between economic class or policy alternative but based on the fulfilment of emotional identity recognition of voters. The class approach of party struggle has virtually disappeared in Nepal thus radiating a shift of politics from ideology to sociology.In a nation of heterogeneous populace, the future electoral politics of Nepal will be marked by an oscillation from one phase of unstable equilibrium to another among the contending electoral coalitions, some even acting as free-riders and switching sides based on opportunity as past electoral behaviour eerily suggests. Only reflective and engaged citizens have the ability to act in accordance with their conviction and conscience as well as constitutional duty and personal will. The “categorical imperative” formulated by Immanuel Kant calls for leaders to treat citizens like themselves, not manipulate for instrumental purpose either through indoctrination, false promise, financial incentive, coercion, false media image, or anecdotes expressed in soundbites, not a clear vision of national building. The instrumental rationality rooted either in bureaucratic politics of status quo, electoral strategy of collusion, de-ideologised polarisation, power of money to influence politics or media culture of ideological conformity, etc. suppress democratic impulse of Nepalis for self-governance. Both leaders and voters require an understanding to use their freedom of choice and behave as per their reciprocal needs. Nepalis can come together to vote for self-rule if social good serves as an incentive for them granted by the state and constitutional bodies, the government controls the vices of electoral malpractices and civil society offers civic education to politicise them, provide social mobility and agency for collective action. Social inclusion, social justice and social security are precisely designed to rectify the historical injustices by compensatory redistributive measures so that reflective, active and engaged citizens can regularly socialise, articulate demand and mobilise other types of voters for democratic dividends to enrich the quality of democracy.Each of Nepali leaders, elevated into iconic status by their media and cadres, preach party’s separate manifestoes even in a condition of electoral alignments, gather followers and disagree with each other on ideology, sociology and history of party formation. The supporters split from each other and indulge in quarrel and mutual accusation, endorsing their leaders’ differing versions of ideas about formulating electoral strategy and help them monopolise leadership in each election, despite the temptation of Nepali voters to defeat the incumbent party in power on each occasion. HiatusIn Nepal, the old system of politics has not been able to manage the influence of media, money and technology thus revealing a hiatus between what voters want, what they think about politics and how it operates to keep the status quo tether. This hiatus is prompting them to actualise constitutional possibilities for a shared form of democratic public life, not a zero-sum game. This, however, demands a fair equality of opportunity in elections so that political leaders can be smoothly circulated in the infrastructures of democracy and the political system, each pins faith in the values, principles and institutions of constitution and abides by its rules as a highest average utility to them. The parochial, apathetic and alienated voters must be educated about the principles and practices of democracy, opportunities and political choices so that they become stakeholders and find a reason to be committed to participate in electoral politics.(Former Reader at the Department of Political Science, TU, Dahal writes on political and social issues.)
Three killed in road accident
Three persons died on the spot when two motorcycles met with an accident at Malekpur of Rajgadh Rural Municipality-5 of Saptari today.
First international flight to Bhairahawa by Jazeera Air
Jazeera Airlines will be the airline's company to make the debut international flight to the newly opened Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa.
NC Central Work Performance Committee meeting tomorrow
The meeting of the Nepali Congress Central Work Performance Committee is scheduled to be held on Saturday.
Film Southasia kicks off
By Aashish MishraLalitpur, Apr. 23: South Asia is an incredibly diverse region. It is home to eight countries, one-fourth of the world’s population, many religions, countless cultures and an incomprehensibly large number of languages. But from this diversity stems a unique unity – a Nepali looks no different from a Bangladeshi, an Indian will be able to convey himself quite understandably to his Pakistani peers and hardly will there be a South Asian ear that will not relate to the experiences an Afghan may share.South Asia is united in its diversity and diverse through its unity – an abstract concept at the first glance but one evidenced by the stories being screened at the Film Southasia (FSA), the biennial festival of documentaries that opened in Lalitpur on Thursday. The four-day festival is scheduled to showcase 71 films from eight countries of the subcontinent at Yala Maya Kendra and Patan Secondary School, Patan Dhoka.The festival, which is celebrating its silver jubilee this year, is an important platform that highlights the importance of documentaries in the sphere of public media, said Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, during the formal opening of Film Southasia at Kamalmani Theatre on Thursday. “Documentaries provide a window into the challenges of society and by showing them to an audience, FSA offers us all a chance to understand South Asia,” he said.Minister Karki hoped the festival would convey a message to the region that Nepal was open for tourists and reiterated the government’s unequivocal commitment to democracy and the freedom of expression. “The Government of Nepal is committed to maintain Nepal as an open society where ideas are not bound and expressions are not restricted,” he said to a room that rung out in applause.Nepal has hosted all 13 iterations of the festival over its 25-year history. This year, in the words of FSA director Mitu Varma, the festival brings forth a vast range of stories and subjects to celebrate the fact that we all have lived to tell the tale of the perilous peak of the pandemic, to bear witness to the extraordinary times and retained in the vast diverse population of the region, the empathy to tell stories with optimism and faith in the essential humanity inherent in all.FSA Chairman Kanak Mani Dixit also spoke on the occasion and exclaimed dissatisfaction with the fact that the term ‘South Asia’ did not make anybody nervous. “This is a failure on our part,” he said. “Because South Asia is not a romantic notion, it is a notion for social justice, for inclusion. It is a concept that transcends the nation state.”Dixit also called Kathmandu the present capital of South Asia and building on Minister Karki’s point about open society he stressed, “Nepal must remain open, not just for the sake of Nepalis but for all of South Asia.”During his remark, Dixit noted that “South Asia is here.” Looking at the filmmakers and audience gathered at Kamalmani Theatre on Thursday, one would certainly agree with Dixit.
