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The four astronauts on the Artemis II mission have now left the Earth's orbit, after their Orion spacecraft fired its main engine for a final push towards the Moon, BBC reported. 

The five minute and 55 second engine burn, known as the translunar injection (TLI), went "flawlessly", Nasa's Dr Lori Glaze said afterwards.

And from the Orion capsule, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said the crew was "feeling pretty good up here on our way to the Moon".

There was a time when the UK was an undisputed world super power, backed by an empire and navy that spanned the entire globe in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, particularly from 1945 to 1990, the world order boiled down to a bipolar structure, dominated by the USA and the USSR (present-day Russia) as the competing super powers. Since 1990, the USA has remained the only super power of the world. Nevertheless, the emergence of BRICS in the international arena as a major alliance for economic and social cooperation—grounded in the principles of the UN Charter and international law—signals the beginning of multipolarism. Russia regained its military strength, while China has taken the world by storm with its rapid economic rise within the period of 20 years, establishing itself as a formidable global power.

India with vast human and natural resources, along with a fast-growing economy and a strong push toward high-technology innovation, is playing a pivotal role not only in this region, but also on the global arena as an emerging power. The way the international economic and strategic powers are taking shapes in the global political economy signals the dawn of a new global order. The Russia-Ukraine war and the US, Israel-Iran war have shown how powerful nations play to achieve their own interests at the cost of human lives. The global scenario paints a gloomy and miserable picture that poorly affects small states with weak economies.

Balancing

Nepal’s geopolitical position, located between two major powers, remains inherently vulnerable despite efforts to maintain diplomacy in a balanced way. Prithvi Narayan Shah’s strategic assertion that ‘Nepal is a yam between two boulders’ continues to be equally important and relevant even after more than two centuries. Against this backdrop, neither the geography of Nepal can be altered nor its   neighbors chosen. Nepal must build its socio-economic strength in line with the ground realities of its geostrategic position. This means, drawing lessons from the past experiences, the government must read the writing on the wall and keep abreast of the shifting regional and global order to foster its development efforts and balance its delicate foreign policy. Nepal can neither bear the biting cold of the north nor the scorching heat of the south. Similarly, it cannot withstand the damaging storm from the west. It must, therefore, steer a middle path by developing strong institutional relations followed by the art of diplomatic balance.

In practice, previous governments have often been criticized for pursuing an unbalanced foreign policy. Ineffective handlings of policy across different governments has made neighboring and friendly countries skeptical of Nepal’s diplomatic governance. Weak institutional coordination and a lack of continuity in diplomatic initiatives have projected an image of naivety in the conduct of foreign policy.

Nepal’s geopolitical location is both a blessing and a burden. However, Nepal is a landlocked country, but it is not ‘mind locked’. The mind is a powerful source of action and innovation. Focusing on knowledge-based human resources, innovation, technology, digital connectivity and energy corridors is immensely important, as these elements significantly reduce the constraints imposed by physical boundaries. There is ample scope to develop Nepal through its enhanced economic connectivity between India and China, provided that the trust of its neighbors is secured. Over the past couple of decades, successive political governments have mainly centralized their actions to build ‘vote banks’, rather than steering national interests and development efforts in a way that ensures citizens’ satisfaction.

While dealing with its immediate neighbors, Nepal must not forget that the US as a super power is taking more interests here in recent years, primarily to counter China as its strategic competitor, and at times to balance its hidden agenda toward India. In view of this landscape, Nepal must remain vigilant in safeguarding its sovereignty and national interests by implementing its foreign policy principles into effective and consistent action. So long as the political leadership continues to adopt this reality in a sensitive manner and stays free from the pressure and influence of powerful countries, Nepal’s national interests will be definitely safeguarded.

Learning lessons

In international relations, there are no permanent friends or foes. It is national interest that ultimately determines who can be regarded as a real friend. The government of Nepal has no option left but to resolutely and rapidly strengthen its economy beyond its present condition. Otherwise, its voice in regional and global platforms will be marginalized and rendered inconsequential. Development is determined not only by its resources, it takes inspiring shape through committed will of the government and altruistic implementation of realistic policies.

One of the basic flaws of Nepal’s governance system is its persistent failure to learn from past experiences. It tends to forget even the gravest crises with alarming haste.

Coming days will be more critical and perilous due to the covert and overt power struggles among global powers that will directly affect vulnerable nations like ours. How the present government calibrates its tactical moves in foreign policy is a matter of serious and sensitive consideration. Nepal’s strategic situation demands greater cooperation with its immediate neighbors rather than distant power, maintaining a balanced approach. Unless Nepal’s diplomacy ensures that its foreign policy is strategic, coherent, focused on national interests, balanced in engagement and proactive, frequent critiques of its implementation will continue.

Official development assistance (ODA) disbursements expanded by 15.5 percent to reach $1.6bn in the fiscal year 2024/25, according to the Development Cooperation Report 2024/25 unveiled by the Ministry of Finance earlier this week. Such disbursements stood at $1.39bn in the previous fiscal year.

According to the report, disbursement in 2024/25 is also significantly higher than the ten-year average, indicating a normalization of development finance flows following recent fluctuations. During the review period, the government signed 33 ODA agreements with 12 development partners, amounting to a total commitment of $1.98bn. Of this, debt financing accounted for $1.57bn, or 79.1 percent, while grants made up the remaining 20.9 percent equivalent to $413.1m.

Loans continued to be the primary mode of assistance in 2024/25, comprising 66.9 percent of total disbursements at $1.07bn. Grant disbursements stood at $344.4m, representing 21.4 percent, while technical assistance contributed $187.2m, or 11.6 percent of the total.

Among multilateral development partners, the World Bank emerged as the largest contributor, disbursing $541m during the fiscal year. The Asian Development Bank was next with $443.2m. Other key multilateral contributors included the International Monetary Fund, which disbursed $41.8m, the European Union with $37.7m, and the Green Climate Fund contributing $15.8m. The United Nations system collectively mobilized $64.5m during the period.

Among bilateral partners, India topped the list with disbursements totaling $107.8m. The United Kingdom was next with disbursements of $84.2m, followed by the USAID at $67.1m, Japan with $58.3m, Switzerland at $30.1m, and Norway contributing $26.6m. Overall, multilateral partners accounted for the bulk of ODA disbursements, contributing $1.09bn, or 68.1 percent. Bilateral partners made up 27.9 percent percent with $448.4m, while the UN system contributed the remaining four percent.

According to the report, on-budget disbursements rose sharply by 23.5 percent to $1.36bn. This indicates improved alignment with national priorities and systems. Similarly, on-treasury disbursements surged by 63.3 percent to $847.5m. In contrast, off-budget support declined by 15.1 percent to $242m, suggesting a gradual move toward greater transparency and government ownership of development spending.

Despite the increase in absolute disbursement, ODA’s share in the national budget declined to 14.5 percent in 2024/25, down from 15 percent in the previous fiscal year. It marked the lowest level in a decade, according to the report. Sector-wise, the transport sector received the largest share of ODA, with disbursements totaling $252.8m, or 15.7 percent of the total. Next were economic affairs at $204.5m (12.7 percent), agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting at $188.5m (11.7 percent), education at $184m (11.5 percent), and public order and safety at $170.3m (10.6 percent).

The contribution from international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) also also increased during the review year. Although the number of reporting INGOs declined to 49, total disbursements increased to $90m, up from $63.1m in the previous fiscal year. The report underscores broader shifts in Nepal’s development finance landscape. While public development finance, including government revenue and foreign aid, has nearly doubled over the past decade—from $4.8bn in 2015 to around $9.1bn in 2024—private financial flows have grown even more rapidly.

Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Vice Chairman Dol Prasad Aryal has filed his candidacy for the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Aryal filed his nomination paper at 11 am in Singha Durbar-based Federal parliament Secretariat.

RSP Chairperson and lawmaker Rabi Lamichhane proposed the candidacy of Aryal while lawmakers Swarnim Wagle, Sobita Gautam and Sunil Lamsal seconded it. 

Candidates can file their nominations to the post of Speaker from 11 am to 2 pm today. 

Secretary-General of the Federal Parliament Secretariat, Padma Prasad Pandeya, shared that the names of candidates would be published at 2:30 pm in the order of registration of candidacies.  

A proposal seeking election of the Speaker might be presented in the meeting of the House of Representatives scheduled for April 5 for a decision.