For the first time, Nepalis were given a chance to know that the King alone is unable to run the country smoothly. The news of the government issuing Peace Bond to raise Rs. 5.5 billion is a clear effect of the lack of fund for coming fiscal year as the international donor communities have shy away.
Despite stern warning to the press, some noted newspaper criticized the government’s latest decision saying ‘this would have a long term effect on Nepali economics.’ No wonder, it was a tested formula – by neighbors. India and Pakistan did the same after donors stepped back due to their nuclear test. Notable here is that the Indian were more successful in it than Pakistanis and that’s because Pakistan was being ruled by a man.
Nepali government has probably hopes that Nepalis living abroad would be interested in the bond – and for that reason, it could be bought in equivalent to dollars and named ‘Peace’ – a word that would attract anybody. Continue reading…
I attended the press conference of Ms Susmita Maskey, who will attempt to become the first woman from the Newar community to scale the world’s highest peak – Mount Everest in May, 2005. The most confusing thing in the conference, which started 45 minutes late than scheduled (we utilized the time to crack jokes), was the absence of Moni Mulepati, another girl who was earlier the member of the team. Even the brochure distributed in the program was printed with her photos and names (later covered up by other photos). 