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what does it mean to be a woman?

to me, being a woman is to be divine,

to be the greatest embodiment of God's prolific powers.

to be a woman is to be it all, and more.

to be a woman is to be you, maa. 

most of what i’ve learned of the world

i’ve known from you, maa.

i’ve learned that knowledge is the greatest form of power one can acquire,

that to know is to be.

i’ve learned that freedom comes with boundaries, too,

that to be free is to be limited.

i’ve learned that faith should be bigger than fear,

that hope keeps us moving. 

i look at you everyday and,

everyday i find myself awestruck.

i look at you, maa.

i look at the courage in your beauty.

i look at the strength in your warmth.

i look at the force in your generosity.

i look at the zeal in your care. 

and i find myself everywhere.

you walk me through darkness,

while talking of light.

you push me down heights,

while talking of flight.

how do you do it, maa?

where did you learn?

how many courses did you take,

on how to be a mom. 

to be a woman is to be it all, and more.

to be a woman is to be you, maa.

Sadikshya Khadka

A-Level Graduate

Rato Bangala School

Internship in Nepal is gradually gaining recognition as a critical link that connects academic study and professional careers, offering practical experience to students and fresh graduates. However, the legal framework of internships remains largely undefined and hence marked by inconsistencies and exploitation. This is particularly evident in professions such as law, chartered accountancy, and architecture, where the internship is often carried out without any clear oversight, and its linkage with learning objectives is sacrificed. Instead of being seen as learning opportunities, internships are sometimes used as a way to justify paying lower wages.

Existing legal framework and shortcomings 

While the issues of internship indirectly come under the Labor Act 2017, Nepal’s main legislation regarding employment, it does not specify regulations relating to internships. The Act deals with ‘trainees’ and provides certain protections, such as limitation of working hours, safety measures, and compensation in case of injury. Although these may include internships related to academic courses, the ambiguity of definition creates legal ambiguity. They are allowed to work for eight hours daily or 48 hours in a week. They are also provided with medical support, compensation for injuries; however, many tasks which are beyond the training they mostly get transferred or change their status into ordinary laborers which complicates the legal situation. 

Due to this lack of clear regulation, there have been many abuses of internships as a labor law loophole. Interns are often overworked and underpaid, with basic employee protections denied. Minimum wage issues, work hours, safety standards, and compensation for injuries 

are frequently disregarded, which places interns in a precarious situation. Many work long hours with neither formal agreements nor contracts, with little to no financial compensation, and undefined roles. 

Liability and workplace protections 

As no particular legislation exists concerning the matter, liability for work performed by the student will be quite undetermined. Such a legal vacuum provides uncertainty to who would be liable for any damage or loss resulting from performance of the interns, which arises rather typically in cases of legal disputes, especially negligence or misfeasance. In most instances, little protection from workplace harassment, discrimination, and mistreatment can be accorded to interns and limited ways of appeal against those hostile environments. These requirements do not extend to employers who must provide structured learning, mentorship, or adequate training, which often reduces internships to poorly paid work rather than an educationally enriching experience. 

Need for comprehensive regulation 

The urgent need exists for comprehensive regulation through legislation that can provide a clear definition of internships and the difference between them and regular employment or traineeships. Such a framework must detail both the rights and responsibilities of the interns and the employers, providing minimum conditions for work, including reasonable hours, fair

compensation, and safe environments. Also, educational institutions bear the responsibility to guarantee the quality of internships, specify agreements with host organizations, and monitor placements for their adherence to educational and professional standards. 

Stronger protections with clear definitions of what constitutes a genuine learning experience would afford better protection for an internship, making the job market more transparent as a result. Thus, moving ahead in the Nepalese employment landscape, more elaborated regulation of internships will be required to accompany economic growth and ensure that internships provide an actual route into professional careers. 

Manish Khadka 

BA LLB 4th Year 

Kathmandu School of Law

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 44.45 points to close at 2,508.86 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 6.45 points to close at 451. 34 points.

A total of 9,717,959-unit shares of 319 companies were traded for Rs 3. 71 billion.

Meanwhile, CEDB Hydropower Development Company Limited (CHDC) was the top gainer today, with its price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Prabhu Select Fund (PSF) was the top loser as its price fell by 9.36 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 3. 98 trillion.

The number of people, who lost their lives in floods and landslides in Kavre, has reached 54.

Police Inspector Dinesh Bahadur Kunwar of the District Police Office, Kavre said that 54 people died in the floods and landslides in Temal, Roshi, Panauti and Banepa among other places of Kavre.

Among the deceased, the identities of 38 have been ascertained.

Police said that 337 people have been rescued by a Nepal Army helicopter from BP Highway and other places and 3, 226 by other means till this morning.

The government has decided to collect the details of losses caused by rain-induced disasters across the country within the next 15 days by forming a special task force.

The decision aims to assess the losses and ensure compensation to the affected people on time. Flooding and landslides caused by incessant rains on September 27-28 resulted in 192 deaths, 30 missing, and 194 injuries (as per the Home Minister's latest updates).

A meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Executive Committee held today under the Chair of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak formed the task force comprising under-secretaries from the Ministries of Home Affairs, Finance, Health and Population, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Agriculture and Livestock, Urban Development, Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation and Communications and Information Technology as well as experts from relevant areas.

As per the meeting decision, the relevant ministries will promptly commence reconstruction works of government and public buildings, transport infrastructures including roadways and bridges, in the drinking water sector, at schools and health institutions.

The meeting recommended that the Council of Ministers endorse the Disaster Sensitive Social Security Guidelines, 2081 BS. The Committee will seek the submission of the Law Ministry to this regard and propose the Council of Ministers to endorse it in accordance with Clause 39 of   Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act-2047 BS.

The Committee has planned to identify potential beneficiaries and grant assistance (first installment) for building temporary shelters within a week as per the Temporary Shelter Guideline-2081 BS. 

The meeting decided that the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Management is required to work instantly to restore the disrupted roadways so that the stranded passengers can reach their destination.

The concerned bodies will undertake managerial duties through a fast track to resume transport, and drinking water services among others amidst adversities caused by the flooding and landslides.

The process of distributing relief to those affected by weather-related disasters will be started immediately from one-door policy and relief will be provided to the families of the deceased persons as per the 'Disaster Rescue and Relief Standards, 2077' according to the decision of the Council of Ministers on June 15.

The meeting thanked the volunteers for the post-disaster search, rescue, relief, and removal of boulders, mud among other debris piled up by the flood. For restoration and reconstruction, the local level has established the Disaster Management Volunteer Bureau. And according to the mobilization procedure, 2078, national, province, district and municipality volunteer bureaus have been instructed to actively mobilize volunteers.

The Provincial Disaster Management Executive Committee and the Local Disaster Management Committee of the disaster-affected provinces have requested for post-disaster search and rescue, relief, treatment, rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery activities as per the responsibilities prescribed by the Act.

The Communication Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, 2081 will be approved with amendments within one week after taking opinions from the members of the committee.

The process of amending the Emergency Warehouse Operation Procedure, 2081 will also be carried forward.

After assessing the epidemic that might spread after the disaster, the Ministry of Health and Population will conduct programmes such as public awareness and health camps in potentially risky areas to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases.

Disaster-affected Private Housing Retrofitting, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Subsidy Procedure, 2081 will be amended and submitted to the Council of Ministers for necessary decisions.

Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions increased significantly in the first month of the current fiscal year 2024/25 (mid-July to mid-August), a recent study report of the Nepal Rastra Bank  (RRB) shows.

A total of 74,380 individuals conducted RTGS transactions worth Rs 1080.3bn during the review month. This is an increase of 65.13 percent compared to total RTGS transactions of Rs 654.11bn in the previous month (mid-June to mid-July). The number of transactions between mid-July to mid-August (2.86m), however, was lower compared to mid-June to mid-July when 2.98m RTGs transactions were conducted, Monthly Payment Systems Indicators Report of the central bank shows.

RTGS refers to a funds transfer system in which the transfer of funds between one bank and another takes place in ‘real time’ and on a ‘gross’—transaction by transaction—basis.

During the first month of 2024/25, people withdrew Rs 87.87bn from ATMs, a slight decrease compared to Rs 91.26bn withdrawn by 11.21m people in the previous month of mid-June to mid-July. 

Transactions through ConnectIPS saw a decline in both the number of users and transaction volumes during mid-July to mid-August. According to the report, 6.84m users processed total transactions worth Rs 525.33bn through connectIPS during the review month, down from Rs 666.58bn processed by 7.79m in the previous month. 

According to the report, transactions through internet banking saw an increase to Rs 22.49bn in the first month of the previous fiscal year (mid-July to mid-August), compared to Rs 17.73bn in mid-June to mid-July. The number of people doing internet banking transactions also increased to 409,065 from 351,301 transactions during the period. Mobile banking transactions also increased to Rs 377.63bn in the review month compared to Rs 373.97bn in the previous month.

Transaction through digital wallets increased by 14.55 percent to Rs 43.69bn during mid-July to mid-August compared to Rs 38.14bn. The number of transactions, however, fell to 30.87m, down from 32.1m in the previous month. 

QR-based payments increased to Rs 62.28bn during mid-July to mid-August compared to Rs 61.73bn in the previous month. Such transactions during the review month, however, recorded more than 100 percent growth compared to the last first month mid-July to mid-August of last year when QR-payments worth Rs 29.99bn were recorded.

The Madhes Province government has decided to allocate Rs 10 million each to the eight districts in the province for the emergency relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by the loss and damage caused by the relentless rain.

The provincial government has also decided to immediately allot Rs 50 million to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development for the reconstruction of roads damaged due to the flooding in the Madhes.

A meeting of the Madhes Province Government on Sunday took these decisions, Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh said.

"The meetings of the Provincial Security Committee has been ordered under the leadership of the Minister of Home, Communications and Law of the Madhes government and it has been urged to collect details of the damage at the ward-level," Chief Minister Singh said, adding that eight districts of the Madhes province have been affected by the floods and landslides.

According to the Chief Minister, the worst hit areas include Hanumannagar, Kankalani in Saptari by the swollen Koshi river, the Rajdevi Municipality in Rautahat by the Bagmati river, and various local levels including Balara Municipality in Sarlahi by the Bakaiya and Bafmati rivers.

Chief Minister Singh said the provincial government has made an open call to all the donor agencies for relief and a decision has been made to reach the affected areas. He also said that the bodies concerned have been directed to provide prompt health services in the affected areas in the Madhes.

The Lumbini Province government has put its subordinate bodies on standby to respond to potential risks from natural disasters.

The government has expressed sorrow over the loss of lives and properties in disasters caused by the continuous three-day rains in the province. 

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Monday has stressed the need to mobilize all mechanisms considering that greater cooperation is essential for effectively managing situations before, during, and after disasters, according to Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development, Bhumishwor Dhakal.

The meeting agreed to establish a road infrastructure development office in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East).  Eleven districts in the province already have such offices.

According to Minister Dhakal, the Cabinet decided to designate roles and responsibilities of the secretary recently transferred here.

As per the decision, Bhimarjun Pandey has been designated to the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Bhupendra Thapa to the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens, and Ishwor Raj Paudel has been assigned to oversee the Office of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.

It also endorsed the Province Gazette and Regulations on Editing and Publications of Laws – 2081 BS.