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In the 16th century, maize entered the Indian Subcontinent with the Portuguese, and it became a staple grain for us. Along with maize, the Portuguese brought corn from South America to South Asia, but they failed to introduce us to the technology to make corn flour. Without that technology our corn flatbreads are hard and thus not easy to eat. If you are familiar with corn tacos from the Americas, it’s soft and flexible like our flatbreads made from wheat flour. The technology we are missing is called ‘nixtamalization’.

Some context

Rice, maize, and wheat are important crops for food security in Nepal. Paddy and wheat are grown in plains of Tarai, valleys, and irrigated lands in the mountains while maize is cultivated in mid-hills of the country. Maize is one of the major crops of Nepal. Maize cultivation is an important farm cultivation among Nepali farmers. Basically, in the rural hills of Nepal like Okhaldhunga, it dominates any other type of crop production. The United States is the largest producer of corn in the world followed by China, Brazil and Argentina. Eight countries and four states in the US produce over one billion bushels of corn. Most scientists agree that corn and maize originated in central Mexico and was domesticated 7000 to 9000 years ago from a wild grass plant called teosinte. Teosinte looked nothing like modern maize, in particular due smaller, fewer and more spaced-out kernels, each surrounded by a tough casing. Teosinte still grows in Mexico today.

Native Americans brought corn up the Mississippi River to North America. The earliest corn plant was very small, but after periods of breeding by Native Americans, pilgrims, and scientists, the corn plant has changed into the corn that we know of today. The Portuguese introduced it to India in the 16th century, and then it came to Nepal. When corn came to India, an important step of corn flour production didn’t arrive. It was lost on the way. So, corn delicacies and food varieties made here aren’t soft or chewy enough. South Asian corn flatbreads break easily and are difficult to digest and chew. Children and old people can’t have these rotis easily. This is because the outer shell of corn is made of cellulose, an insoluble fiber, which human bodies are unable to digest, unless broken down before entering the digestive system. However, chewing kernels for longer makes it easier for the body to access the additional nutrients from the cellulose walls, adding to its nutritional value. This can be made simpler by a process called nixtamalization which normally makes cornbread and rotis soft instead of brittle. With the introduction of this process, we can make soft corn rotis and even stuff them or make rolls with them.

What is nixtamalization?

Nixtamalization is a process involving cooking and soaking dried corn kernels with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) or another alkali. In it, there is preparation of maize (corn), or other grain where the corn is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually lime water but sometimes in wood ash, which is then washed and hulled. This removes much of the grain’s bran which significantly increases the availability of niacin in the corn. It also delivers other nutritional benefits. The detail that fascinates me is that nixtamalization of corn was invented by Meso-Americans thousands of years ago. I wonder how they ever figured out that they needed to cook the corn with cal, as lime is called in Spanish. Corn flour made by this process has many health benefits, including the fact that it’s naturally gluten free. Flour made from corn is also higher in fiber, vitamin A, zinc and iron than wheat flour. The combination of fiber and carbohydrates makes it a bit more filling as well. It’s also a good thing gastronomically as nixtamalization changes the flavor of corn in amazing ways and, by removing the bran, makes it much easier to grind and make dough. This was especially useful in ancient times when this was all done by hand. The result is a corn dough, called ‘masa’ in Spanish, that’s responsible for much of the Mexican food we love today, from tacos to tamales, quesadillas to sopes, and gorditas to atoles.

Nixtamalization in Nepal

In 2021, maize imports for Nepal totalled to $158,273. The import is growing at an average annual rate of 331.27 percent. I believe the process of nixtamalization can bring a food revolution in Nepal. Through nixtamalization, we can cook corn with wood ash (kharani) until it goes soft. This means all husk will be removed and drained. We could use baking soda as the alkaline material. This could be done by filling a large pot with a ratio of two parts water for every one part of dried corn. We can also sprinkle in baking soda at a rate of two tablespoons for every one quart of dried corn. This is a traditional and standard household process in South America and Mexico for generations. We could use this technique to make dough pliable. The bread made with such dough will be very soft, nutritious, healthy, and easy to digest.

The author is a London-based Nepali R&D chef  

A popular student hangout spot in Kathmandu, XYZ restaurant, is seeing an increase in the number of young customers, who frequent the place to smoke hookah. Among them is Subhasish (name changed), 24, a college student who visits the restaurant regularly to enjoy the ambiance and the company of his friend Ananta (name changed), 25, while smoking hookah. For Subhasish and Ananta, smoking hookah is a way to escape from the stress and pressures of college life. They find the experience calming and relaxing, and enjoy the flavors and aromas of different tobacco blends at the restaurant. Over time, Subhasish and his companion find themselves increasingly dependent on hookah to cope with stress and anxiety, and the habit begins to take a toll on their physical health. They experience respiratory problems and coughing, and are unable to quit even when they try. This is not just the story of the two but of a huge number of youths who have become addicted to tobacco products like hookah. What is a matter of serious concern for the youths, parents and law enforcement is that Nepal’s Tobacco Products (Control and Regulatory) Act (2011) has no provision on controlling the import, production and distribution of such products. A team from AMN’s No Tobacco Campaign interviewed some of the regular consumers and visitors of the XYZ restaurant, including students, teachers and corporate to get their perspectives on “hookah, vape and/or e –cigarettes”. Cool or poisonous? Romit (name changed), 23, says he enjoys vaping because his friends also consider it cool and trendy. “Everyone is doing it, so I wanted to give it a try,” he said. “I like different flavors and the fact that it doesn’t smell like cigarettes.” Shreya (name changed), 22, says she too enjoys hookah with friends because it is “a social activity”. “It’s something we can do together and try new flavors,” she said, describing it as a ‘fun thing to do.’ However, not all customers agreed with the two. Sudarshan (name changed), 26, was concerned about the potential health risks associated with hookah, vapes, and e-cigarettes. “I’ve heard that they can cause lung problems and other health issues,” he said. “I’m not sure it’s worth the risk.” Some customers appeared quite cautious about the addictive nature of these products, pointing that they had seen people ‘who can’t go a day without vaping’. Like them, an increasing number of people, including health experts, aware of health risks that these products pose, are raising awareness on the issue. The experts warn that products like e-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals and are addictive. Smoking hookah has been associated with increased risk of lung cancer, heart diseases and other health problems. Findings of a new research from the Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI) also suggest that increase in hookah use may be behind a growing number of young people in Nepal who are using tobacco products—up from 11.4 percent of 15 to 24-year-olds in 2013 to over 15 percent in 2019. That in turn explains the growing epidemic of smoking-related deaths in Nepal. One in five deaths in the country is attributed to tobacco. Worryingly, the youths account for an increasing number of deaths, including the use of tobacco products, including hookah.   Don’t go after flavors Hookah is taxed at a much lower rate than cigarettes, meaning companies are incentivized to invest in promoting it and young people find it more affordable. It does not have to carry visible health warnings on its packaging, meaning many young people are under the mistaken impression that it won’t harm them. And the tobacco firms, of course, know all this. That’s why hookah is marketed as fun, colorful, and cool in a way that’s just not possible with the much more familiar danger of cigarettes. Young people are tempted by flavors, including watermelon, tropical fruit, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The way we handle hookah in this country is killing young people. The international evidence is clear that hookah can have serious and negative health impacts. In hookah smoke, at least 82 harmful substances and carcinogens have been found. Smoking tobacco with a water pipe for an hour emits the same amount of smoke as 100–200 cigarettes. Studies have shown that users can expose themselves to up to 1.7 times as much nicotine and up to nine times as much carbon monoxide in a normal hookah session as they would in a single cigarette. Hookah smokers are 2.2 times more likely than non-smokers to experience long-term cardiovascular consequences, and it has been shown that hookah smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop oesophageal cancer. Smoking a hookah is associated with many of the same harmful health effects as smoking cigarettes, including heart disease, lung, bladder, and oral malignancies.   Time for urgent action It’s time to end this hookah epidemic and address the wider problem of increasing tobacco use in Nepal, particularly among the youths. NDRI, along with the Nepal Cancer Relief Society, are urging the government to take urgent action to protect the health of Nepal’s youth. They are asking the government to ensure that hookah products are treated with the same level of severity as other tobacco products through measures like these:

• Extending existing tobacco control regulations to explicitly apply to hookah. For example, requiring that hookah products carry health warnings and banning sales to minors.
• Introducing regulations that limit marketing tactics, which specifically target young people.
• Increasing tax on hookah products to help make hookah products less affordable to youth.

The upcoming budget is a perfect opportunity for the government to take a first step toward better protecting young people from the harms of tobacco. By increasing tobacco tax, the government can reduce the affordability of these dangerous products, and at the same time generate much-needed revenue. It is the responsibility of the government to protect our young from all forms of tobacco, including new products such as hookah. As the Constitution of Nepal, 2072 has stipulated the right to health as a fundamental right, federal, state and local governments should guarantee a healthier life for all the citizens. A nation can develop only if it has healthy citizens.

In what can be seen as an indicator of the country's economic downturn, the import of 24 items out of the 27 major items that Nepal imports, has declined in the nine months of the current fiscal year. The Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC) has listed 27 items as the major importable items of the country. Of them, there has been a sharp decline in the imports of capital goods which include machinery, equipment, steel & iron, and vehicles. Only the imports of petroleum products, fertilizers and gold increased marginally in the current fiscal year. The latest economic growth data of the government also points to the decline in demand for such goods in the domestic market. The National Statistics Office on Tuesday projected that Nepal’s economy is expected to grow by 2.16 percent in FY 2022/23, a four-year low since the negative growth of 2.4 percent in the fiscal year 2019/20. Nepal is a heavily import-dependent country with the share of imports compared to export has been growing over the years. Nepal has been importing consumer, capital, and intermediary goods from abroad. The import of capital goods such as machinery, vehicles, iron, and steel among others are considered vital to the economy as such goods are used to increase production. But declining imports of capital goods means there will be little capital formation in the current fiscal year. According to the TEPC, the import of machinery slumped by 33 percent; iron and steel by 17 percent, and transport vehicles by 63.4 percent. While import restrictions imposed till December last year greatly contributed to a decrease in overall imports, there has not been a recovery in imports even after the import restriction measures were lifted. In December last year, the government lifted the ban on the import of vehicles, alcohol, and expensive mobile sets, and subsequently, Nepal Rastra Bank also removed the provisions that the importers need to deposit a cash margin of up to 100 percent to open a letter of credit. As of the first nine months of the current fiscal year, Nepal’s overall imports declined by 18.1 percent, according to the TEPC. Though the decrease in imports helped to increase the foreign exchange reserves, it also badly affected the government’s revenue. The federal government’s half of the total revenue depends on imports. Amid reduced revenue collection, the government has been forced to cut spending on development projects and has also been struggling to distribute salaries and pensions to government employees and retired employees on a timely basis. Economists say Nepal's economy is currently in dire need of structural reforms. "Nepal could turn the current crisis into an opportunity for becoming a self-reliant economy with the right policies and actions in place," said Keshav Acharya. According to him, there are lessons to be learned from past mistakes in this regard. "In 2049 BS, the government introduced policies for the country's economic liberalization. The move aimed at creating an export-oriented economy. Ironically, imports began to replace domestic products in the years that followed," he said, adding, "It is because foreign goods became cheaper than domestic products." Acharya observes that the government is losing an opportunity for structural reform of the economy as its focus is on raising revenue by increasing imports. "Over the past year, the restrictive measures of the central bank have helped to boost our foreign exchange reserve and maintain a good balance of payment. In this situation, the government should launch a campaign to increase production. Ironically, the political leadership lacks such a vision," he said. He cited the example of the government scrapping the land use policy. "The strict implementation of the policy could have resulted in increased agriculture and industrial productivity as the land prices would have come down after the categorization," he mentioned. Acharya thinks that provincial and local governments should be given more authority and encouraged to increase production.  Major Imports Items

Items	% Change
Petroleum Products	5.8
Iron & Steel	-17.0
Machinery	-33.0
Electronic & Electrical Equipments	-11.0
Cereals	-29.4
Gold	11.0
Transport Vehicles	-63.4
Pharmaceutical products	-40.5
Fertilizers	118.8
Crude soyabean oil	-34.2
Telecom Equipment	-39.0
Crude palm Oil	-31.2
Apparel and clothing	-28.1
Polythene Granules	-18.1
Man-made staple fibers	-5.4
Chemicals	-9.7
Crude sunflower oil	-19.4
Aluminum and articles	-5.1
Rubber and articles	-29.6
Low erucic acid rape	-25.5
Cotton ( Yarn and Fabrics)	-16.6
Copper and articles	-25.9
Aircraft and parts	-21.7
Zinc and articles	-4.9
Wool	-9.0
Silver	-89.2
Others	-14.4
Total	-18.1

Bodies of three people who died in an avalanche that occurred at Bolin in Byas Rural Municipality of Darchula are being brought to Khalanga, district headquarters, via Indian roads. Since there is no road facility to Nepal, the bodies are being brought to Darchula by using Indian roads, Chief District Officer Kiran Joshi said. Armed Police Force DSP Ishwori Dutta Bhatta said that the bodies of Kamala Kunwar (38), Prabin Kunwar (18) of Duhun Rural Municipality, Darchula and Chimi Somo of Joyoral Rural Municipality, Doti, who lost their lives on Tuesday’s avalanche, are being sent to the district headquarters. “It is raining continuously. It is not possible to send the bodies to Khalanga by using our own land,” he said. Two persons are still missing in the avalanche. The District Police Office, Darchula identified the missing persons as Nakni Dolma Thapa (45) and Ishwori Thapa (28) of Joyaral, Doti. A team of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force are searching for them.  

The mandatory opening of branches of insurance companies in rural areas, expansion of the National Health Insurance Program across 77 districts, and mandatory life insurance for people going to foreign employment alongside third-party liability vehicle insurance have played a role in the growth in insurance penetration and usage in the past decade. The new report titled "Nepal Financial Inclusion Report 2023" published jointly by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) shows the uptake of insurance has seen a notable growth from 11 percent in 2014 to 29 percent in 2022. "With banks starting cross-selling insurance products post-2014, 7 percent of adults have accessed insurance services via banks in 2022, and 22 percent of adults accessed insurance through other formal sources which are primarily insurance companies," reads the report. The usage of formal insurance has increased in both rural and urban areas, while rural areas have seen a significant increment from 8 percent in 2014 to 26 percent in 2022. The report has attributed various government-driven social security/insurance schemes as the primary reason driving insurance usage in rural areas. There has been a significant rise in access to insurance among female adults, from 7 percent in 2014 to 28 percent in 2022. Among the target groups, salaried workers have the highest access to formal insurance services at 44 percent which was 29 percent in 2014, followed by remittance receivers, up to 34 percent from 9 percent in 2014. The contribution-based social security scheme that includes insurance introduced by the government mandates salaried workers to enroll in the scheme. The implementation of the Agricultural and Cattle Insurance Directive 2020 has been a catalyst in the growth of agri-insurance. "The access to insurance by farmers increased to 23 percent in 2022 from 8 percent in 2014, which can be attributed to the increase in uptake of agriculture insurance driven by the implementation of the Agricultural and Cattle Insurance Directive 2020, which requires non-life insurance companies to allocate 5 percent of their insurance portfolio to agriculture and cattle insurance products, says the report. The government has increased the subsidy on agriculture insurance premiums from 50 percent in 2014 to 75 percent in 2019. According to the report, the overall increased access to insurance is primarily driven by the expansion of life insurance services. In the last four years, the number of life insurance policies sold has increased by a whopping 413.4 percent, from 2.73 million in FY 2016/17 to 13.09 million in FY 2021/22. The life insurance sector is primarily driven by endowment products which are with-profit policies where the net surplus received by the insurers determines the amount of bonus payable to the insured. At the same time, the non-life insurance sector is mainly driven by mandatory motor insurance followed by property insurance. "The bundling of insurance products with banking products has also resulted in increased insurance uptake," says the report. CEOs of insurance companies attribute the growth to increased awareness about insurance among the common public. The Nepal Insurance Authority has been conducting insurance awareness programs at the local level. Union Life Insurance CEO Manoj Kumar Lal Karn said that insurance access has increased as people have now started to understand that insurance is a basic need. "Insurance companies have also emphasized business expansion, which has helped to increase the access," he said.

The government has brought an ordinance to take action against loan sharks. President Ram Chandra Paudel issued the ordinance presented by the government on Wednesday. The President’s Office said that Paudel issued the Ordinance to Amend Some Nepal Acts Related to the Civil Code 2080. A cabinet meeting on Tuesday had decided to send the ordinance to the president to resolve the problems of loan shark victims. The government has introduced an ordinance to criminalize loan sharking and make it legally punishable. Bringing the ordinance, the government is amending the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Civil Code, and Civil Procedure Code. The government has already formed a commission to address the loan sharking issue. A cabinet meeting on April 3 had formed the commission under the leadership of the former Chairman of the Special Court, Gauri Bahadur Karki. Former Assistant Inspector General of Nepal Police Uttam Bahadur Subedi and former Deputy Attorney General Ganesh Babu Aryal are the other members of the commission. The Karki-led commission has recently requested that loan shark victims submit their applications to the commission. Issuing a notice last Thursday, the commission requested the victims of predatory lending to file their applications within 15 days starting from Sunday. The commission has said that victims can register their applications online or through district administration offices with the necessary proof. The commission, formed as per a five-point agreement reached with loan shark victims on April 1, has been given three months to prepare a report and recommend solutions to resolve the problems of loan shark victims. The commission has opened its office in Janakpur, the capital of Madhesh Province, as it will be easier for the victims to share their problems. Most of the loan shark victims are from districts of the Terai region. The government and the victims on April 1, had also reached an agreement to expedite the process to amend the laws to criminalize unscrupulous lending. Currently, loan sharking is essentially categorized as an offense under the civil code. In this condition, the victims have to fight the deep-pocketed loan sharks alone. However, the acts of blackmailing, extortion, and other exploitations in the guise of loan sharking fall under criminal offenses. A report prepared by a task force formed by the government last year after a similar agitation launched by loan shark victims pointed out how the case filed by the loan sharks against the borrowers put the borrowers at a disadvantage.  

The price of gold has increased by Rs 1, 200 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 111, 800 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 110, 600 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 250 per tola. It was traded at Rs 110, 050. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1,445 per tola today.

Newly appointed Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Surendra Raj Pandey is seeking a vote of confidence on Thursday. He is scheduled to seek a vote of confidence in the Province Assembly at 2 pm today, according to Spokesperson at Province Assembly Secretariat, Prem Prasad Subedi. Province Chief Prithvi Man Gurung, on Monday, had called the Province Assembly session upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers for today. Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Pandey was appointed as the chief minister on April 27 with the support of 35 lawmakers- 27 from Nepali Congress, seven from CPN (Maoist Centre), and one from CPN (Unified Socialist). He is the fourth chief Minister of Gandaki Province.