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Sitting me down, my father passionately recounts the story of his childhood—how he walked an hour up a steep-rugged road just to reach school. For him, receiving education at that time was a distant dream fraught with all sorts of hardships; an idea of a sense of fulfillment. Alien to such an experience, his story gives me a layered understanding of his world of the yore.  

Reflecting on his story, I am contrasted between his experiences of thought and mine. The world is shaped by the instant world of information bombarding today. The world we live in is “participatory culture” Henry Jenkins states in Convergence Culture: where old and new media collide (2006). Stalder (2006) writes about unlimited accessibility to information materials achieved with just one finger tip by referencing Manuel Castell, adding that youth culture develops in the spaces of flow.  

To read and write is no longer a confined dream now, but a hand to hand willing-reality that all of us can tap on anytime with virtual classrooms, webinars, youtube channels, podcasts and content creations awaiting us, eager to deliver information and knowledge.   

The digital space has brought everyone closer to reality and altered our lives. The more advanced technologies have become, the more of our identity sharing and building connections. Social media apps such as Tik Toks, Facebook, Instagram provide us with an opportunity to show and to be seen. Smartphones use advances more for our comfort. The sharing culture has made the world a global village (Easa, 2019) as we can connect with friends by sitting in opposite corners of the world and discussing similar contents. Yuval Noah Harari points out in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2015): For the first time in history, young people all over the world listen to the same music, watch the same movies and idolize the same celebrities. This reinforces the idea of a sharing culture that, according to Anthony Giddens  (Runaway World, 1999) fosters similar values that bind us with a single framework of aspiration.  

As people moved to online spaces, the concept of global consumer culture widened and things that were brands in the 60s or 70s remained no longer a brand. As many changes occurred including the choices and tastes of people, certain names like Nike, Apple, Netflix, k-pop became a global brand that established themselves with an identity. This “identity” as identified by Zygmunt Bauman in Liquid Modernity (2000) is constructed more from shared consumer cultures than inherited traditions.
Today’s youths are shaped more by smartphones, which makes them more inclusive, individualistic and anxious (Schmitt, 2023). They have started to become more vocal about contemporary issues as movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo have shown. 

At the same time, the Arab Spring is a testament showcasing the power of a globalized culture to come together for a purpose with social media acting as a fundamental tool for protests and advocacy.  

Moreover, this distinct psychological nature shaped by the media among youths has made them approach things in life flexibly. 

On certain aspects of the society such as marriage, gender issues and career choices, youths are more likely seen as liberalists. For them, finding love is important, daughters are not a burden and nor are family business responsibilities as they have the confidence to carve out their own life paths. 

Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology (1973) by Clifford Geertz emphasizes the importance of understanding culture through the lens of local, specific contexts, rather than relying on broad generalizations. The integration, therefore, implies intergenerational beliefs and thoughts. 

When I listen intuitively to my father’s story of what he used to do in the past, I only sense that I was born in a time when the internet was booming. I don’t decline his lived experiences but they don’t resonate with me because they seem distant to me at this time. Hence, I agree to disagree—not in the act of defiance but in the act of forging a networked co-existing path shaped by a dialogue, respect and discussion. Our world lenses are not much different but it’s just that we see the world differently.

Members of the Madhes Provincial Assembly have accused the government of allowing middlemen to dominate the fiscal year 2025/26 budget. Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties claim the budget was influenced by external forces and is not people-oriented, with excessive manipulation by intermediaries.

The assembly has not held proper discussions on the budget, as six opposition parties have continued to protest, demanding a rewrite. On Monday, lawmakers obstructed the session, forcing its adjournment to Tuesday. In June, a budget meeting was abruptly announced just an hour before it was to be held. After an 11-day break, a session was held on Sunday but again adjourned due to joint protests by Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSPN), CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), Nepal Sanghiya Samajbadi Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

“Looking at the budget book, it’s evident that the plans were prepared by middlemen,” said Ram Ashish Yadav, chief whip of JSPN. “This year’s budget is deliberately skewed, impractical, and guided by intermediaries. It offers no direction for the province. One example is a 20-year-old project listed in the red book under the name of the Chief Minister’s father, for which Rs 18m has been allocated.”

The red book for 2025/26 shows that Chief Minister Satish Singh has allocated Rs 18m for an unfinished girls’ hostel initially funded by the Indian Embassy. The project, located at Mahendra Bindeshwari Multiple Campus in Rajbiraj, Saptari, was launched in 2005 under the chairmanship of Singh’s father, Shekhar Kumar Singh. Despite receiving Rs 19.6m from the Indian Embassy, the hostel remains incomplete two decades later.

“This budget lacks priorities, principles, and is entirely unprecedented,” said Ram Saroj Yadav, a Nepali Congress leader in the provincial government. “The Chief Minister publicly promised to exclude projects below Rs 10m, and the Finance Minister pledged not to include those below Rs 5m. Yet, the red book is full of such projects. It contradicts the very commitments made by our leadership. There’s no doubt the budget is influenced by middlemen.”

The provincial government has presented a budget of Rs 46.58bn for 2025/26. Notably, the Ministry of Sports and Social Welfare has allocated Rs 3m across two schemes named after Indian godman Asaram Bapu, who is serving a life sentence in India for raping a minor.

“There are serious disparities in project allocations,” said Sunita Yadav, a CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker. “If this is truly a provincial budget, all MPs should have ownership. But here, middlemen override the MPs’ recommendations. We demand a complete rewrite of the budget—otherwise, we will not allow the Assembly to function.”

This is not the first controversy surrounding the budget in Madhes. In July last year, the 2024/25 budget was mired in scandal after allegations surfaced that outsiders had obtained a secret Finance Ministry password and inserted unauthorized projects into the red book—ignoring MPs’ recommendations. A parliamentary committee was formed with a pledge to investigate the breach. However, no investigation has taken place, and the individual behind the password leak remains unidentified.

Chief Minister Singh has acknowledged some errors in the budget but denied the involvement of middlemen. “We’ve repeatedly invited opposition parties for dialogue,” he said. “I want to assure the public that this budget is transparent.”

The members of the House of Representatives (HoR) have expressed grief over the loss of lives and property from the devastating flood along the Nepal-China border in Rasuwa on Tuesday night. They urged the government to pursue diplomatic measures to address the growing risk of such disasters arising from transboundary situations.

Several lawmakers expressed concerns about the risk of glacier outbursts in various parts of China and urged the government to establish an information-sharing system and diplomatic cooperation. Lawmakers Rajendra Bajgain, Madhav Prasad Sapkota, and Sher Bahadur Kunwar were among those who raised an alarm by the damage caused by the Lende river, which merges with the Bhotekoshi river, along the Nepal-China border in Rasuwagadhi. They also called on the government to intensify search and rescue efforts for the missing persons.

At least 19 people, including two police personnel and six Chinese and 11 Nepali, remain missing. Nine bodies were recovered as of Wednesday. 

According to China’s state news agency, Xinhua, more than 300 people, including many Nepalis, were safely relocated after flash floods swept through Gyirong County on Tuesday. 

The flash floods struck the Gyirong Port area along the China-Nepal border, leaving 11 people missing on the Chinese side. 

Landslides and floods have disrupted key transport routes, including the Syafrubeshi-Timure road and Birgunj-Galchhi-Dewighat-Trishuli-Rasuwagadhi road. Work is underway to remove the landslide debris.  Similarly, the Dhunche-Syafrubeshi road section has also been blocked after a landslide at Thulo Bharkhu. 

Tuesday night’s flood and landslide have also blocked the Syafrubesi-Rasuwagadhi road section at various places, according to the District Administration Office, Rasuwa. 

As of late Wednesday afternoon, 57 people trapped in the flood and landslide have been rescued—30 of them by helicopter, according to the Nepali Army.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli inspected the flood and landslide-affected area on Tuesday, and directed the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority to expedite the search and rescue work.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to coordinate with China through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reopen the Kerung border crossing by rebuilding the damaged bridge and the road. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport will also work to open alternative border crossings with China. The Ministry of Home Affairs will lead the relief program for the affected families, while the Ministry of Health and Population will provide free treatment to the injured. 

Prime Minister Oli has informed that he has requested the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal to immediately construct a bailey bridge on the washed away Friendship Bridge. He stressed the need for a systematic operation of alternative routes including the Korala border crossing in Mustang to link Nepal and China.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) reported that the flood entered the substation at the Trishuli-3B, taking 250 MW of electricity off the national grid.

In a separate incident, a flood in Upper Mustang on Tuesday evening destroyed six bridges, according to the District Police Office, Mustang. The Chumjung River in Chhoser, Lomanthang Rural Municipality-4, a village on the northern border of Nepal and China, experienced a heavy flood for about three hours. 

As local residents were given prior warning about the possible danger, there were no human casualties. The flooding in the area has subsided for now, but the local authorities have requested the locals to take necessary precautions 

It has been suspected that the Rasuwa landslide and flood may have been caused due to the burst of a glacial lake in the Tibetan region. Climate expert Ujjwal Upadhyaya in his social media said, “Looking at the weather activity satellite images of the past 12 hours, it does not appear that there has been such heavy rainfall in the Kerung watershed area in Tibet. Therefore, there could be three other reasons besides the rain—glacial lake eruption, avalanche or massive landslide that formed a natural dam and stopped the flow of the river for a while and then the dam burst and took the form of a massive flood.”

However, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said no conclusive evidence has been found so far. 

“Satellite images taken before the flood show a rise in glacial lakes, but cloud cover is obstructing confirmation of a lake breach or sudden volume change,” ICIMOD said in a statement.

“Preliminary reports and social media visuals indicate the floodwaters originated from Lende river, which flows into Nepal from the east of the Bhotekoshi in Kerung, Rasuwa. However, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM)’s water level data shows no signs of river damming or breach, such as sudden spikes in upstream levels—suggesting that temporary blockage is unlikely.”

Qianggong Zhang, head of Climate and Environmental Risk at ICIMOD, said it’s hard to understand the exact reason behind the hazards, and the scenarios need to be accounted for while planning for response, relief and reconstruction measures in mountain settings. 

Pema Gyamtsho, director general at ICIMOD, emphasized that disaster preparedness and management in our region needs major and urgent investment—of funds, talent, and tools. He reaffirmed that ICIMOD will continue to work closely with disaster risk reduction experts and agencies to accelerate the scaling up of the best approaches to monitoring, forecasting, and early-warning systems that this region so urgently needs.

Nepal is a landlocked country. While it lacks scenic sea beaches, it is rich in mighty, milky rivers with beautiful banks. Kathmandu, the capital and a cosmopolitan city, lies on the banks of the Bagmati River. The world-famous Pashupatinath Temple also stands alongside this river.

Tragically, this sacred river is now enormously polluted, and its natural beauty is rapidly disappearing. Soon, it may lose all aesthetic appeal. Some years ago, a green belt stretched along the Bagmati, but that now feels like a distant memory. There was once an ambitious plan to build a park, which failed before it could even begin. Today, the riverbank remains filthy. Few people choose to walk there due to the foul odor from the polluted water. The area is littered with dirt, dust, mud, cow dung, and even human waste.

The encroachment of riverbanks in Nepal poses a serious threat to the environment. Similarly, the beaches of SAARC countries, like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, also suffer from encroachment.

In India, some beaches, such as those in Mumbai, are fairly well maintained. Goa boasts particularly scenic shores, and Chennai has one of the world’s longest and most beautiful beaches. Still, problems are mounting alongside the growing number of visitors. The beaches of Kolkata and Karachi, by contrast, are poorly maintained. In both Sri Lanka and India, vendors selling food items line the shores, contributing to filth and mismanagement. Visitors, both locals and foreigners, frequently litter the coasts.

The Maldives has done well in maintaining many of its beaches, but the recent boom in seaside hotel and resort construction poses new threats to the marine environment.

Beaches in other parts of the world, like Port of Spain, are sunny, sandy, and serene. However, the growing influx of visitors from countries such as the US and EU is straining these environments as well.

Globally, similar patterns emerge: the condition of coastal and riverine environments depends heavily on how well they are managed. For instance, the coasts of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Singapore are clean and well-maintained. In contrast, the beaches of Hong Kong, Chittagong, and Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh are in disrepair. People sunbathe and celebrate freely along these beaches, while beautiful palm trees that once supported ecological balance now stand surrounded by waste.

In Nepal, river rafting is a booming business, yet little concern is shown for the deteriorating condition of riverbanks. The environment, after all, is what surrounds us. Aesthetics are closely tied to our surroundings. Environmental aesthetics refers to the study and appreciation of natural beauty.

Aesthetics has been defined as “the study of beauty in nature and art of its character, condition, and conformity to law.” Human beings have always been lovers of beauty, and nature is the storehouse of eternal beauty.

The Tarai-Madhes region of Nepal is home to a vast network of rivers. In Jhapa district, there are rivers such as Mawa, Ratua, Biring, Mechi, and Kankai. Morang district has a dozen rivers, including Bakraha, Chisang, Khadam, and Lohandra. Sunsari is home to rivers like the Koshi, Kokaha, and Budhi. Moving westward, Saptari’s rivers include Trijuga, Khando, Mahuli, and Balan. In Siraha, rivers such as Kamala, Ghurmi, Manbati, and Gagan flow across the land. Dhanusha features rivers like Kamala, Ratu, and Charnath, while Mahottari includes the Ratukhola and Marha.

Further west, Sarlahi has the Bagmati, Lakhandei, and Jhim rivers. Rautahat features rivers like Lalbakaiya and Anuwa, and Bara includes the Gangol and Tilawe. Chitwan is known for the Gandak, Rapti, and Kayar rivers. In Nawalparasi, rivers such as Turiya and Arnkhola flow, while Rupandehi is home to Tinau, Rohini, Danav, and Ghodaha, among many others. Kapilvastu has rivers like Banganga and Surai, and Dang district contains both the Rapti and Babai rivers.

In Banke, rivers like Maan, Duduwa, and Rohini are notable, while Bardiya features the Karnali, Babai, and Bheri. Kailali’s major rivers include the Karnali, Mohana, and Pathraiya, and in Kanchanpur, rivers such as Mahakali and Chaudhara define the landscape.

River pollution is becoming a global crisis. The international community must act urgently to protect these vital water bodies from pollution, neglect, and even acts of violence or terrorism. Rivers like the Tigris and Euphrates—cradles of human civilization—must be preserved. The Gangetic plain, too, holds immense cultural and historical significance.

It is the duty of institutions like the United Nations to safeguard such critical natural assets. In extreme cases, even deploying peacekeeping forces may be necessary. In Nepal, volunteers, civil society groups, the army, police, and concerned citizens clean the Bagmati every Saturday. Yet these efforts lack consistency and state support. Keeping the Bagmati clean is not just an environmental obligation; it is a civilizational responsibility. The river is sacred in every sense.

Encouragingly, there have been some positive developments. In New Zealand, the Whanganui River was declared a living entity, with two guardians appointed to protect its rights, making it the first river in the world to receive such legal status. Similarly, India’s High Court in Uttarakhand ruled that the Ganges and its tributary Yamuna, both deeply sacred, have legal rights to be protected and represented in court. They are now to be represented by key officials, including the Chief Secretary of the state and the head of the National Mission for Clean Ganga. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to restore the Ganges to its original glory.

Globally, oceans play a critical role. They contain 97 percent of the world’s water and support the livelihoods of over 3bn people. The estimated global market value of oceanic and coastal resources is $3trn. Oceans absorb around 30 percent of human-generated carbon dioxide, helping mitigate climate change. Oceanic fisheries employ more than 200m people, directly or indirectly. For many, oceans are also the main source of dietary protein.

Despite their importance, oceans face mounting threats. Around 8m metric tonnes of plastic enter the oceans every year. Their preservation must be a top global priority.