Eminent Nepali writer and journalist Aswini Koirala has been honored in Japan for his contribution to Nepali literature and journal­ism. He was feted at the Inter­national Nepali Haiku Conven­tion 2018, jointly organized by the World Haiku Organization and the International Nepali Literary Society, Japan Chap­ter. The program was held in the premises of the Nepali Embassy in Japan. Eminent Japanese writer and director of World Haiku Association, Ban Ya Natu­ishi, honored Koirala with a certificate and cash. At the event, Koirala’s new book ‘Parijat’, a collection of Nepali haiku poems, was also launched. Koirala is the writer of bestselling Nepali novels Premalaya and Zukerberg’s Café.

“I am really happy to honor a celebrated Nepali writer in Japan. I hope this opens doors to a strong literary bond between Nepali and Japanese literature,” said Natuishi.

“This kind of program will strengthen cultural ties between Nepal and Japan,” said Krishna Chandra Aryal, First Secretary of Nepali Embassy in Japan.

Daraz’s “11.11” on cards  

 D a r a z — one of the b i g g e s t online mar­ketplaces in Nepal—is bringing 11.11, known as the ‘world’s biggest sale day’, to Nepal for the first time. 11.11 is the numeric short form for November 11 and hence the date will see Daraz’s online portal featuring massive deals, flash sales, brand vouchers, mystery boxes, give­aways and much more. The one-day sale event on the new Daraz App will be the biggest to date for the e-commerce company.

Handicraft Trade Fair from Nov 14  

 The 13th Handicraft Trade Fair and the 14th Hand­icraft Competition is scheduled to start at Bhri­kutimandap on November 14. Jointly organized by the Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply and Trade and the Export Promotion Center, the five-day event aims to develop and promote the domestic handicraft market.

The fair will have 200 stalls including those from district and commodity associations. Similarly, there will be around 20 stalls for international handicraft traders from India, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The slogan for this year’s trade fair is ‘Handicraft: Prospects for Prosperity’.

Q. Three words to describe yourself

A. I am a very simple person but I live for the arts. So I could probably describe myself as simple, creative and perhaps romantic.

Q. Your biggest source of inspiration

A. I was educated in Mirik, a beautiful small town in Darjeeling. There were forests all around and a beautiful lake. I grew up running around forests and eating wild berries. Nature was in abundance and that’s when I started painting and writ­ing poetry. So nature has to be my biggest inspiration.

Q. Three of your favorite possessions

A. I am very close to my mother and my brother. So my family has to be my most favorite possession. People say I sound good on the radio, so perhaps my voice could be another pos­session I should be proud of. Also, I play the guitar and have a small collection. I love my guitars.

Q. A common misconception about you

A. I am a visual artist. And there is a mis­conception about the arts in general. I would rather talk about this now, than just about myself. A lot of people think art is difficult to understand and it’s for a select audience. This is not the case. If you make a little effort, art can make you think and make you feel things that nothing else would.

Q. Three qualities you seek in your friends

A. I am a very simple person, so I like spending time with people who are simple and down to earth. I am a big foodie, so it would be nice to be with friends who enjoy food. I also love music and it’s always wonderful to spend time with musicians or people who appre­ciate good music.

Q. Most attractive quality in a person

A. I admire and respect honest people and people who have a sense of gratitude.

 Following the implemen­tation of the new Civil Code (2017), the number of men seeking to part ways with their wives has shot up. In a month and a half starting August 17, 98 men applied for divorce at the Kathmandu Dis­trict Court (KDC). During that time, 87 women did the same. Every day, the court gets 8-9 such applications. Its records show only 3-4 women sought divorce on a daily basis in the corresponding period last year.

Before the new code came into being, there was no legal basis for men to directly file for divorce. Under the old code, men first had to get the recommendation of ward offices, whereupon they could petition with the VDC, DDC or municipalities to have their case filed in a court of law. But women directly petition the courts.

A local of Manmaiju in Kath­mandu, who had gone to Doha for work, was recently at the Kathmandu District Court to file for divorce. According to his application, he had got­ten into a “love marriage” in 2003. The couple then had a daughter, who is now study­ing in class eight. He says he decided to file for divorce because he has ‘concrete evidence’ of his wife’s involve­ment with other men.

Compared to last year, the number of women seeking divorce has also increased. Husbands not fulfilling their wifes’ necessities such as food and clothing, domestic vio­lence, ignoring of wife after going to a foreign country, throwing her out of the house, and extra-marital affair are some cited reasons for filing for divorce. There are also cases of fake court marriages done solely for the purpose of going abroad.

Because of the high popu­lation density in Kathmandu, more divorce cases are reg­istered here compared to other districts. “There is no one reason for divorce”, says Tika Singh Khatri, an offi­cial at the case registration department at the KDC. “But in Kathmandu more men than women are filing for divorce.”

If husband and wife both agree to divorce each other, then there is provision to do so under Article 93. Under article 94, if the wife stays away from her husband for three or more years without his permission, does not give her husband food and clothing, keeps him out of the house, gives him mental or physical torture, or has extra-marital affair, a divorce case can be filed against her.

After an application is filed, the court tries to make peace between husband and wife. If they still want to divorce, then, according to the law, property is distributed and the two go separate ways.

But women’s rights activist Meera Kumari Dhungana says the changed law has loopholes that could allow men not to give anything to their wives. “If men now file for divorce, they can now easily get rid of their old wives and get new ones,” Dhungana says.

In the Nepali context, the new Civil Code could further entrench old discriminations against women, she fears.

But, she adds, “a lot also depends on how our courts interpret the new law.”

The Asian Development Bank’s latest Nepal Macroeconomic Update is reflective of the fears surrounding the implementation of fed­eralism and operationalization of the three tiers of government. It projects the national economy to grow by 5.5 percent in 2018/19, well below the gov­ernment target of 8 percent, but still respectable con­sidering an average of 4.3 percent growth over the past one decade.

Boosting growth this year will be expectation of political stability, as well as normal monsoon and implementation of mega-infrastructure projects, says the report. But it then points out limited capacity of sub-national government units and complications in implementation of federalism as the biggest obstacles to growth. “Slow progress in requisite legislation and deployment of staff, the need for further clarification of mandates and responsibilities of the three tiers of government, and inconsistencies in revenue mobiliza­tion regarding fees and taxes at local levels” could all hinder smooth operationalization of fiscal federalism.

Clearly, for Nepal to prosper there should be a high level of coordination between the three tiers of gov­ernment, and a level of agreement on resource mobi­lization and spending. Yet what we see is the opposite. Local units complain that even though they have been saddled with many responsibilities, the center has been miserly about giving them the needed money and manpower. Likewise, the seven provincial gov­ernments are unhappy that between them ‘the center and the local units have appropriated all vital powers’ and the province-level governments as such have been made redundant. The federal government for its part says these are birth pangs of federalism and things will be sorted out in due course.

In other words, there is currently little trust between the different tiers, which in turn is crimping their growth prospects. If the ruling coalition under Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is serious about honoring its promise of all-round prosperity, it will have to start trusting the lower tiers more, and not hesitate to del­egate vital powers and resources. In a federal system, the center acts not so much as guardians of lower tiers but more as facilitators of their aspirations for devel­opment. Yes, there is room for abuse of such delegat­ed powers. But then the old unitary dispensation was hardly a model of economic rectitude. The onus is on the all-powerful federal government to honor the let­ter and spirit of federalism.

OYO now has 500 rooms in Pokhara

 OYO, South Asia’s largest and one of the world’s fastest growing chain of hotels, has inau­gurated its 500th exclusive room in the city of Pokhara, with the induction in its ranks of the 42-room, OYO 151 Hotel Snowland. Dhan Bahadur Nepali, Honorable Speaker of Pokhara Metropolitan City, inaugurated the property, which will host hundreds of guests during the Pokhara Premier League, for which OYO is the official hospitality partner. The expansion is in line with OYO’s mission of creating beautiful living spaces, powered by technology at an affordable cost. Across Nepal, OYO has partnered with over 80 hotels offering 1,400+ OYO branded, comfortably furnished rooms, which include mod­ern amenities including complimentary breakfast, spotless linen, free WiFi, television and 24/7 sup­port with rates starting as low as Rs 999 per night and averaging at Rs 2,000 per night.

OPPOx Nepal Idol surprise with WildCard entry

OPPOxNe­pal Idol, the first-ever inter­national fran­chised televi­sion singing reality show in Nepal has entered its gala rounds. The show this week surprised its viewers with wild card entry announcement. The top-most voted contestant from the wild card entries will join the remaining nine contestants to complete the ‘Top 10’ lineup. In response to the overwhelming interest of its consumers, OPPO has also announced its “Passes to Nepal Idol-2” contest. The weekly contest run by OPPO via its official Facebook account will allow three contestants to win two passes each. To take part and win, all that OPPO fans need to do is to like and share the contest video with a specified hashtag.

Bangladeshis got a rare taste of Nepali culture and heritage with the screen­ing of the play “Naugedi” at the BHUMIZ International Theater Festival at Panchagarh District in northern part of Bangladesh. The play won the hearts of even those who did not understand Nepali. The audience clapped at the end of every scene. Encour­aged by the positive energy of the audience, Nepali actors did really well on stage. The play showcases Nuwakot’s yearly Dupcheswor Mela and the lives surrounding it. Puru Lamsal, who penned and directed the play, says there is a belief that if you visit this Mela you will be blessed with good luck. Childless couples would be blessed with a child, couples’ love would be success­ful and those who are single would find a good life-part­ner. And the play revolves around this belief. Lamsal adds that the play also deals with the issues of untouchabil­ity and sex trafficking.

The eight-day festival from October 9-16 had fea­tured plays from Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

 Classic Mo:Mo is not just your regular mo:mo joint. Its serves delicious varieties of scrump­tious momos with no MSG, no added fats, no preservatives, no artificial coloring and no flavor enhancers.

Located on the north-west side of Narayan chaur, Naxal (RR Building), at Classic Mo:Mo customers can choose their own unique fillings and style of cooking. Besides the regular chicken and veggie options, Clas­sic offers fish, ostrich, banana and spinach fillings, to name a few, which the customers can have steamed, fried, in soup or even as “MoBurgers.”

Affordable and hygienic (all the momos are made with employees wearing gloves and with exclusive use of olive oil), Classic Mo:Mo also offers frozen takeaways so that you also have a stock of tasty momos handy for just about any occasion.

Photo by Pritam Chhetri