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Forty-eight rural municipalities in 37 dis­tricts remain unconnected by roads. As many as 259 Village Development Com­mittees (no longer administrative units after last year’s local level restructuring) are uncon­nected. (It’s from these VDCs that the centers of the 48 rural municipalities were fixed. The remaining VDCs were converted into 211 wards.) The government hopes to connect every ward at the local level with a road network. The government, through the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agri­cultural Roads (DoLIDAR) and the Department of Roads (DoR), has so far constructed roads spanning 70,000km throughout the country. Still, two north-eastern districts—Dolpa and Humla—are not connected by roads. Humla has seven rural municipalities; Dolpa has eight.

Altogether seven rural municipalities and 37 wards in Province 1, four rural municipal­ities and 17 wards in Province 3, 24 wards in Province 4, eight wards in Province 5, 26 rural municipalities and 107 wards in Province 6, and 11 rural municipalities and 66 wards in Province 7 are without a road connection. All the rural municipalities and wards in Province 2 are connected by roads.

Jeevan Guragain, chief of DoLIDAR’s Rural Agricultural Road Branch, informed that the government, with the aid of donors like the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the DFID, has been investing more and more in rural roads. “In the current fiscal, one billion rupees has been allocated for rural roads. Of this, Rs 550 million has been invested in roads constructed with public participation and the remaining Rs 450 million in roads built to con­nect rural municipalities and wards,” he said.

Dinesh Thapalia, a Secretary at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, said that in the past, the roads to connect rural municipalities and wards were not a priority as there would have been few users of these roads. “But the ministry is now strongly lobbying the government to connect each rural municipality and ward of the country to a road network,” he said.

Disconnected

According to a recent master plan that DoLIDAR took three years to prepare, in Province 1, three rural municipalities and 16 wards in the district of Taplejung, two wards in Bhojpur, four rural municipalities and 14 wards in Solukhumbu, and five wards in Khotang are not connected to a road network.

In Province 3, two wards in Ramechhap, one ward in Dolakha, two rural municipalities and seven wards in Kavre, one ward in Nuwakot, two wards in Rasuwa, one rural municipality and three wards in Dhading, and one rural municipality and one ward in Chitwan are not connected.

In the same vein, in Province 4, eight wards in Gorkha, three wards in Lamjung, one ward in Tanahun, two wards in Kaski, two wards in Manang, six wards in Myagdi and two wards in Baglung are not connected. Similarly, in Province 5, one ward in Pyuthan, one ward in Rolpa, and six wards in Rukum are not connected.

In Province 6, four wards in Salyan, three wards in Surkhet, three wards in Dailekh, two rural municipalities and 10 wards in Jajarkot are without road connections. In the same province, two wards in Jumla, eight rural municipalities and 21 wards in Dolpa, seven rural municipalities and 24 wards in Kalikot, two rural municipalities and 13 wards in Mugu, and seven rural municipalities and 27 wards in Humla are not connected.

And in Province 7, three rural municipalities and 10 wards in Bajura, one rural municipality and seven wards in Bajhang, five wards in Doti, four wards in Achham, one rural municipality and three wards in Kailali are sans road links. Besides these, four rural municipalities and 23 wards in Baitadi and two rural municipalities and 14 wards in Darchula are not connected.

By Gopi Krishna Dhungana | Kathmandu

A few incidents marred Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day Nepal visit. While welcoming Modi in Janakpur, Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut broke every rule in the diplomacy playbook by asking the Indian prime minister to help resolve a purely domestic issue. Later, while Indian journalists were allowed in a joint press meet between the two prime ministers, Nepali journalists were curiously barred. Then there was the unforgettable botch-job with the Nepali flag.

Yet it would be a stretch to say that the visit was fruit­less or that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli somehow ‘surrendered’ before Modi. While the Indian prime minister was in town, the hashtag #BlockadeWasCri­meMrModi was the number one trending theme on Twitter. The common feeling was that Modi should apologize for the five-month-long blockade. While that was understandable, given how much people suffered during those testing times, it was also an unrealistic expectation. Seldom in history have state or govern­ment heads formally apologized for the past misdeeds of their countries. The Americans, for instance, have never apologized for dropping nuclear bombs on Japan or, more recently, for needlessly invading Iraq.

Interestingly, this time too Modi fell short of welcom­ing the constitution. But he congratulated Nepalis for the three tiers of elections—held under the same consti­tution. Modi also unequivocally said India is in favor of an undivided and strong Nepal, dispelling doubts that it is supporting divisive forces here. Another important development has been India’s acceptance of the left merger, undoubtedly at Oli’s urging; until now there seemed to be a feeling in New Delhi that the alliance (and now a unified party) was a ‘Chinese construct’.

In other words, there has been a marked thaw in Nepal-India relations since Oli became prime minister, and he must be given some credit for that. Following Modi’s departure from Nepal, Oli has, moreover, clar­ified that he is as keen on improving ties with China, where he is going soon. Notwithstanding the agree­ments that were (or were not) signed during Modi’s recent visit, his recent dealings with our two import­ant neighbors are marked by a level of finesse that has seldom been seen in Nepali leaders. Even his staunch critics grudgingly accept this. Oli may have more stra­tegic acumen than people give him credit for. Now that he is in charge of a strong, unified party, we may just get to witness that acumen put to even better use.

The formal unification of CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) had been stuck for the past seven months because the Maoists wanted a ‘respectable’ place in the new party, which the UML top brass was not ready to grant. As Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal would later clarify, this meant a near 50-50 division of office-bearers between UML and the Maoist Center in all the important decision-making bodies of the to-be-formed party. There were a few other (albeit less important) sticking points: whether to recognize the bloody ‘people’s war’ in the new party statute, and whether the ‘sun’ or the ‘hammer and sickle’ should be the new party symbol.

The Maoist party’s demand for more office-bearers was understandable. It would have had a tough time whittling down its 1,099-member central committee. The new party, as per an earlier understanding, would have just 299 central committee members, and many influential Maoist leaders feared being ‘demoted’. Dahal had his own calculations. Before he agreed to a formal merger, he wanted to make sure that he either got to become the prime minister after two and a half years or secured the post of chairman of the new party. And should Oli renege on his promise on these fronts, he wanted to keep open the option of breaking away from the unified party.

According to new electoral laws, Dahal would need the support of at least 40 percent central committee members to break away, and UML was not ready to give such a large share to the Maoists. Yet after holding out for so long, KP Oli and UML leadership seem to have decided that the risks associated with a breakdown of the left unity far outweighed the benefits of curbing Dahal’s ambitions.

Thus the two parties have formally united. The central committee of the new party has been expanded to 441 members, of which UML will get 221 (54.5 percent) while the Maoists will get 200 (45.5 percent). Likewise, the powerful Standing Committee will have 25 members from UML and 18 members from Maoist Center. Dahal and Oli will jointly chair the party. ‘Sun’ will be the party symbol and ‘people’s war’ will be recognized. All the remaining issues will be settled by the general convention that is to be held within two years.

With the formal merger, Oli, his health permitting, has all but guaranteed that he will serve a five-year term as prime minister, which would be the first time this has happened in the history of democratic Nepal. But it is the general conven­tion that will determine the party’s future. It is hard to see Dahal agreeing to play second fiddle to anyone for five long years should he not get to be the party chairman after the general convention.

Turkish Airlines brought its international even—Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup—to Gokarna Forest Resort Kathmandu this week.  The global event by Turkish Airline has more than 8,000 invited guests competing in more than 100 tournaments around the world.

“Turkish Airlines is firmly committed to the aspirational vision of sporting competition and trusts in its ability to unite people from different nations,” a press statement released by Turkish Airlines read, “That support extends from football, basketball, rugby and golf at all levels and the amateur series is a fine example of this from the carrier, which offers a multiple award-winning Business Class service and allows guests to take clubs for free.”

The Kathmandu event held on March 12 was supported by the local business community and leading businessmen were among the competitors at Gokarna Forest Resort. Among the competitors was Pratima Sherpa who recently put golf in Nepal on the map after Tiger Woods invited her to Florida for a private lesson in her quest to become Nepal’s first female professional golfer before traveling back to Kathmandu to compete in the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup.

 Madhav Acharya will represent Kathmandu in the international tournament after winning the competition with 43 points, while Madhav Simkhada was runner-up, Kishan Agrawal was third.

 “We would like to thank all of our guests who made the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup here in Kathmandu a huge success,” Abdullah Tuncer Kececı, General Manager for Turkish Airlines Kathmandu, said at the event.

Weekly Editorial Cartoon

Alexander McCall Smith

Born: 24 August 1948 (age 69)

Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)

Occupation: Writer, professor

Nationality: British

Alexander McCall Smith, 69 now, achieved worldwide fame only in his fifties with the debut of the highly acclaimed ‘The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’, a series of novels set in Botswana featuring Mma Precious Ramotswe, who feels compelled to ‘help peo­ple with problems in their lives’, as the protagonist. Altogether 18 novels have been published in the series between 1998 and 2017 and they have been translated into 40 languages and sold more than 20 million copies in English alone. The books in the series, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, aren’t your regular run-of-the-mill detective stories. Here Mma Ramotswe just happens to solve crimes as she goes about her life, all the while drinking copious amounts of tea. In the first book, she is hired to track down a miss­ing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. And then there is a missing 11-year-old boy, who seems to have been snatched by witchdoctors. The plots are usually simple and the solution simpler but the wit and wisdom with which Mma Ramotswe seems to solve the cases are delightful, to say the least.

All the books in the series work wonderfully as stand-alone books, although you would do well to read them in order if you want to follow Mma Ramotswe’s life prop­erly. What’s also nice about the books is that the stories feel very real. There isn’t that thrill element in any of the books yet they man­age to hold your attention and you are, all the while, rooting for Mma Ramotswe who, with her self-righ­teous ways, makes you smile despite the ridiculousness of many of her actions. She also isn’t made out to be a typical heroine with no flaws and that is what is refreshing about the series.

Smith writes with a great deal of gentle wisdom and good cheer and his books make you happy and at ease while reading and that, we think, is one of the main attributes of a good author. Crime writer Ian Rankin claimed that as the world becomes more politically turbulent, it will find itself increasingly in need of Smith’s heart-warming novels and reading one of the books in this series, that marks its 20th anniver­sary this year, you will realize that perhaps truer words have never been spoken .

Written in 1900 and first debuting in 1901 at the Moscow Art Theatre, Three Sisters has since been performed in various coun­tries with local adaptations. Penned by the renowned Rus­sian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, Three Sis­ters is among his most famous plays along with the likes of The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya. ‘Tin Bahini’, the Nepali adaptation of the play, is scripted by Meghraj Adhikari and directed by Ghanshyam Shrestha.

Maya, Aabha and Rina are three sisters who leave the capital when their father, a military personnel, gets trans­ferred. The three sisters lead quiet, seemingly purpose­less lives. But their lives are thrown into disarray when their only brother Dipak Jung marries Nikita, a rural girl. Nitika, whose lifestyle and worldview are completely different from those of the sisters, disrupts the family dynamics with her bossy and manipulative character.

Although there are no dras­tic events in this play, the char­acters do have to endure many of the life’s more familiar vicis­situdes, making the play both poignant and relatable.

The cast includes Shanti Giri, Shushma Koirala, Sunisa Bajgai, Shyam Khadka, Shree Om Rodan, Ghimire Yuvaraj, Jiban Baral, Bikash Joshi, Arjun Neupane, Anna Deuja, Suresh GC, Asmita Khanal, Amul Shrestha and Shulabh Pandey.

The play is being staged at Shilpi Theater in Battisputali till May 26. The showtime is 5:30 pm every day of the week except on Tuesdays. There is an extra show on Saturdays at 1 pm. APEX BUREAU  

Nepal’s first international franchise singing reality show—Nepal Idol Sea­son 1—was a rollercoaster ride, from being everyone’s favorite one moment to being a topic of controversy in another. Nepal Idol is gearing up for the second season of its musi­cal journey. In fact, the audi­tion for Season 2 was com­pleted this month.

“Fewer people came to the audition this year compared to last year,” says Suresh Pau­del, the director and project head of Nepal Idol. “But those who did come were genuine singers,” he added. Suresh Paudel took up the direction of Season 2 after Laxman Pau­del decided to part ways with AP1 HD television.

Overall, various changes were made in this season of Nepal Idol.

“This season we decided to award talented signers a Golden Microphone during the audition itself. The con­testants the judges deemed competent enough to appear directly in the gala round were given the green light. Four contestants received the Golden Microphone in the audition round. Each of them is fantastic,” he shared.

Further, the judges’ author­ity was also changed. Last sea­son, only the voters had the right to decide a contestant’s fate, but from this season, there is an equal distribution of authority between the judges and the voters.

In the first season, a lawsuit was filed against Nepal Idol for airing a ‘No elimination’ episode in which the elimina­tion of a particular contestant was postponed for a week. Paudel attributes the error to many people not knowing the format, but he believes that the situation has changed now. As Freemantle Media has given various rights to Nepal Idol this year, the viewers will get to see new twists and turns such as ‘Double Elimination’, ‘No Elimination’ and a sur­prise wild card entry.

Talking about the contro­versy on social media last year when Nepal Idol failed to broadcast the live telecast of the Grand Finale in Qatar, Paudel accepts the mistake.

“We had planned every­thing but perhaps we weren’t professional enough,” says Paudel. Explaining the prob­lem, he says that the plan was to bring DSMG—Satellite broadcasting device for live transmission—via Dubai. But due to the Saudi-led blockade on Qatar, the Dubai authori­ties didn’t cooperate.

“So we decided to broadcast the event via the internet. But on the day, thousands of peo­ple came, and the signal of the tower was divided. It weak­ened the internet strength and caused a failure in live trans­mission.”

“We failed to anticipate the problem. Everything seemed to falling apart at the same time,” says Paudel. “The venue was miles away from the city. We tried getting a dedicated signal, but it just wasn’t possible in the short time we had.”

The Season 2 of Nepal Idol is set to air on July 26 with hosts Reema Bishwokarma and Asif Shah. The judge trio are Indira Joshi, Kali Prasad Baskota and Nhyoo Bajracharya.

“We will from now on hold the Grand Finale right here in Nepal,” says Paudel