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In 1956, Sunar Gurung was return­ing to his hometown of Ngawal in Manang after completing a year-long trading spree that spanned over Nepal, India, Burma and Thailand, among other countries. Although a citizen of Nepal, the government of Nepal hadn't yet allowed its citizens to travel abroad unless they were members of the royal family or of the British Gurkha regiment or were highly influential individuals with travel exemptions granted by the King. In the case of Gurung, he wasn’t any of the above. So the only way a Nepali like him could travel to distant countries was via an Indian passport.In the case of the people of Manang (Manange), there were many inhabitants who had settled in Shillong and parts of Assam in India. This allowed every Manange who visited India to get an Indi­an passport using the address and information of the other Mananges who were already living in India. Gurung was no different and now wielding an Indian passport, he traveled all over South Asia, which a common Nepali citizen in the 1940s could only dream about.

With his total earnings of approxi­mately INRs 2,500 in pocket (equiv­alent to US $625 then), a princely sum in those days, Gurung finally headed back to Ngawal, Manang after being away from home for over a year. While crossing Assam on his journey home, he was con­fronted by a group of traders from another large village of Manang who beat him black and blue and robbed him of everything. After weeks of negotiations and involvement of other parties (read: friends and fam­ily members of the perpetuators) the robber-traders agreed to return a paltry Rs 700!

Unable to come to terms with returning home with an amount that would not be nearly enough to pay off his debts nor to feed his fam­ily of six young children, Gurung made the decision to turn around and try his luck again: He would use that Rs 700 to get to Calcutta.

In Calcutta, Gurung would buy local products and seek arbitrage in selling them on the streets across other South-East Asian countries. This involved (and this was true of other traders from Manang as well) selling herbal products amassed in the hilly regions of Nepal and India. With the earnings, he went to Bur­ma to purchase cheap rubies, jade and other precious stones. He then took those stones across the border into Thailand where he would sell some and make the leftovers into jewelry. The finished products were taken to Hong Kong, Singapore and Brunei and sold at a premium.

As with every Manange of his time, Gurung's childhood was spent in abject poverty: No formal school­ing, one meal a day, one food-bowl, a dirty pair of shoes and ragged clothes on his back. With an infer­tile and rocky soil base where only potatoes and buck-wheat grew and with an inhospitable freezing cli­mate, the Mananges could care  less about education or schooling and focused mainly on taking care of their basic needs.

To provide for their families and secure a bright future for them, the Mananges had to indulge in risks larger than any other Nepali of that era could imagine! Based off that need for survival, the male members of the generation prior to Gurung's left Manang and headed to Kathmandu to seek trading and arbitrage opportunities. There they found a huge demand for products easily available in Manang: Tibetan mastiffs, the scent of musk deer and Himalayan herbs. Armed with these items the next time around, they flooded into Kathmandu and sold the goods for a handsome profit.

As time went by, they brain­stormed further and realized a great­er potential lay in doing the same in a large city like Calcutta. Later, they would spread over to Burma, Thai­land, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei and Malaysia, where they sold their Himalayan products, purchased the local products found in each coun­try, and then sold them in another. Incredibly, all this was happening in the 1940s when Nepal was officially a "closed" economy that didn't per­mit its masses to be educated nor allowed its citizens to travel abroad!

Gurung, still distraught over being robbed of his life savings in Assam, ended up in Brunei six months later. One warm evening in 1957, after hawking around his products all day, he and his other trader friends from Manang went to a local park where they partook in physical exercises. That very night, while sleeping on the street as every other Manange trader did in order to save money, Gurung suffered a massive heart attack due to health complications arising from his hard life. He passed away at the tender age of 39 in Band­er Seri Begawan, Brunei.

His body was left abandoned by his petrified friends and relatives who were conducting their business illegally without proper paperwork or visa. Worse, for his family back in Manang, it meant no goodbyes, no tears, and no blood money from the government. Only questions lingered on and so did the sad lives of his six children left to spiral deeper into the web of poverty.

Gurung was my grandfather.

BY KARMA TENZING

Kathmandu: The government is allocating Rs 250 million for the construction of a domes­tic airport at Nagidanda of Kavrepalanchowk district, at a distance of 24 kilometers from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu. The airport is being constructed in order to relieve the growing pressure on the TIA, which is so far the country’s only interna­tional conduit. The money will be spent by the Ministry for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on feasibility study and preparing a detained project report.

The new airport, which will handle only domestic flights, is expected to cut air traffic at TIA by up to 31 percent. When the new airport is complete, the bigger international airlines will dock at the TIA, while the smaller planes that ply the domestic routes will dock at the Nagidanda airport.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Avi­ation Rabindra Adhikari has been emphasiz­ing the urgent need for an airport that could take some pressure off the TIA ever since he assumed office four months ago. He had even set up a technical team to study the project. The team led by Engineer Kamal Kumar KC had concluded that the burden on the TIA would be significantly reduced with a second airport close by.

But yet another team that was set up by Adhikari to study what could be done to improve the overall civil aviation sector in Nepal had come to the conclusion that the country did not need any airport that catered exclusively to domestic passengers for another five years.

Nonetheless, the government is in a mood to endorse the report of KC’s technical team. According to this team, the construction cost of the Nagidanda airport, with a proposed run­away of 1,202 meters, will come to around Rs 8.5 billion. But if the runway is only 800 meters, the cost will drop to Rs 5.5 billion.

The technical team has said that works can begin, at the earliest, only a year after the formal announcement of airport construction; the airport is expected to take around 4-5 years to compete. When it is ready, small aircraft, aircraft flying to Lukla and helicopters will be directed to this new airport.

By Uttam Kapri

 If there is one thing China looks for while dealing with foreign countries, it is stability. In the under­standing of the Chinese leadership, countries, including China, can progress only if it has a stable polity. This can in turn be guaranteed only by strong national leaders, which partly explains President Xi Jin­ping’s centralization of powers in China; and it explains why the Chinese are so optimistic about the future of Nepal-China relations. President Xi and the Chinese leadership are ready to do business with perhaps the strongest prime minister in Nepal’s democratic history, who promises five years of uninterrupted reign.

Chinese scholars and diplomats alike were frustrat­ed by the constantly changing cast of characters in Singadurbar, with the Nepali government on average changing every nine months. Earlier, China used to see the monarchy as the guarantor of stability, but after its removal, it had been on a lookout for another depend­able ally in Nepal. And it has found one in KP Sharma Oli. This is what makes us optimistic that the agree­ments that PM Oli has signed with China, both during his first state visit in 2016 and during his second one in 2018, will be implemented.

Most significantly, President Xi expressed his confi­dence that the “rail network that runs through Shang­hai, Lhasa and Shigatse will reach Kathmandu, helping Nepal’s quest for development and prosperity.” Never before had the Chinese leadership expressed such faith in the cross-border rail network. Other bilateral agreements are aimed at increasing people-to-people and trade connectivity and helping the Nepali govern­ment achieve its dream of ‘prosperous Nepal, happy Nepalis’. There is one on development of cross-border power transmission lines, which, if realized, would reduce Nepal’s dependence on India both for the development and market-access for its electricity. An oversight mechanism has been established to ensure the Chinese projects in Nepal are completed on time.

These are all vital developments. Even as he increas­es his outreach to China, PM Oli has also been able to take his Indian counterpart into confidence. He must be given credit for this deft balancing act. Even if the record of his government on the domestic front is mixed, on foreign policy, it passes with flying colors so far. Perhaps the biggest test of his foreign policy will come via the Kerung-Kathmandu rail-link project, with its attendant geopolitical and economic implications, when the feasibility study is complete in August.

The ease with which Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been dealing with Nepal’s two all-important neighbors in recent times is indicative of two things. One, it sug­gests a level of diplomatic acumen and strategic vision that is rarely seen in a Nepali prime minister. Oli has been able to take both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping into confidence, a gargantuan achieve­ment for the prime minister of a country that has always felt itself stretched in that age-old geopolitical tug-of-war. Part of this confidence must come from Oli’s command of a government with a two-thirds majority. Partly, it can be argued, one thing Oli has never lacked is confidence, which he has now carried over in his foreign policy dealings.

Two, PM Oli’s relatively smooth foreign policy ride is also reflective of the recent thawing of relations between India and China. Modi and Xi seems to have developed a rare camaraderie as they see the rationale for greater cooperation in light of the increasingly protectionist tendencies of the US. India is far from assured that the mercantilist America under Donald Trump can be relied on to safeguard its stra­tegic interests, which in turn has brought it closer to China. Perhaps, then, India and China have agreed on greater coop­eration in South Asia, including in Nepal?

On June 20, Chinese President Xi, in his meeting with PM Oli in Beijing, said he was confident the Chinese rail would soon come to Kathmandu. (The feasibility study for the Kath­mandu-Kerung section of the proposed Nepal-China railway is to be completed by August.) On being invited by Oli to come visit Nepal, Xi accepted the invitation, saying that the exact dates would be decided on the basis of bilateral consul­tations. A host of other long-term bilateral agreements were also signed during Oli’s Beijing stay.

And yet the Indian media, which used to blow hot and cold over any kind of rapprochement between Nepal and China, has this time mostly chosen to stay quiet on Oli’s China visit. The Indian media seems to have internalized the not-so-sub­tle message from the South Block that the old anti-China bias be set aside for time being.

Perhaps PM Oli deems himself capable of extracting bene­fits from the recent thaw in India-China ties. He just might but he should tread carefully. Historically, in a battle among big powers for geopolitical supremacy, the interests of smaller countries are often ignored, or badly trampled upon. This has been as true in South Asia as it has been in the South China Sea.

Those planning to stay home and watch the World Cup may not like this section. But for those who like a little company to egg their team on, or those who fancy a match-time drink (or two) but don’t store beers in their refrigerators in lieu of their bulging tummies, APEX brings to you a select list of places in the K-town where you can watch the beautiful game—and have some fun while you are at it.

Yak and Yeti, Durbarmarg

Perhaps the most exciting offers come via Hotel Yak & Yeti, which is airing the FIFA World Cup 2018 live at Piano Bar. There are various customer engaging promotions, offers as well as a lucky draw to boot.
Special engaging activity includes ‘GET LUCKY WITH HOTEL YAK & YETI SUPER FAN CLUB’, where one can win various original FIFA merchandise by predicting the winning team. Also following prizes are up for grabs. If you guess three matches right, you get a dinner voucher for two.
Moreover, spend over Rs 2,000 and you will enter a lucky draw for a free round trip ticket to ‘anywhere in the world’ within Qatar Airways’ destinations. There are also special offers on drinks and beverages. Why better way to revive the flagging
Spanish spirits?

Amuse Café & Restro, Boudha

Easily the best place to hang-out in the Boudha area. Amuse Café & Restro, with live music, friendly service and a roof-top view is a big attraction for young hearts. Food and beverages are reasonably priced and with owners behaving like your buddies, unmatched hospitality is guaranteed.
You can spend your time either on the roof, from where you can see most of the Boudha area, or indoors. Wherever you decide to park yourself, live World Cup matches can be enjoyed with special offers in beverages. The best part: You can shout as loud as you fancy. Kane and company desperately need your vocal support.

Tiger Sports Bar & Billiards, Lazimpat

A place specially designed for sports and sports related activities, Tiger Sports Bar & Billiards is one of the best hangout places for sport-lovers in town. And what better time to go there than during the biggest sporting extravaganza on the planet? Tiger Sports Bar & Billiards screens every game of the World Cup till wee hours, in what is a raucous atmosphere created by die-hard football fans. With good food, beverage and plenty of people around, this is one place you would like to be to catch the real Cup fever. Viva la Brazil!

Ventures Café, Baluwatar

If you are looking for a restaurant with delicious food, good environment and a variety of craft beers, this is the place for you. Despite the café’s location in the busy business hub of Baluwatar, the vibe you get is of a countryside inn—calm and peaceful. It will make you feel right at home.
Along with screening World Cup matches in small screens, Ventures Café has special offers right through this month. For instance, the more football fanatics you bring along, the lesser will be your contribution to the final bill, with the café offering combo meals deals. You can guzzle down as much (heavily-discounted) booze and beverages as you fancy. One for
Messi, then?

Ambrosia, Bansbari

A wonderful restaurant with cozy ambience, delicious foods and good music, Ambrosia offers it all. Special World Cup menus, a big projector in an open garden, a relaxed atmosphere, this is the perfect place to take your family this World Cup season. Perhaps your family fancies the Belgian delights.

CALM, Tangal

The name says it all. CALM occupies a quiet place inside the Tangalwood premises, near Gahanapokhari, Tangal. With plenty of parking space and both indoors and outdoor seating options, it has abundant space and great hospitality. The antique touch decor is
fine too.
But this World Cup, expect plenty of noise, as CALM offers special screenings, both indoors and outdoors, this World Cup month. In fact, the whole venue is set and themed for the World Cup, with the huge projector set in the garden area being the centerpiece. Keep CALM and support the magical Ronaldo.

Weekly Editorial Cartoon

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Spaghetti Carbonara

- Ricotta Pizza

- Fish N Chips

Location: New Road

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 1500

Reservation: 014243333

New Road—the old shopping haven of Kath­mandu and the cultural center of this ancient city—is also the home of street foods, lightning fast and cheap. Almost every other door opens to a place where one can get a quick bite. But what if one wants to spend some time relishing the meal in a nice environment, and also escape the heat of the commercial zone? The newly opened New Road-branch of the Black Water Restro and Bar is such a place where you can relax with your food, and at affordable prices too. The New Road branch of Black Water, located in the New Road Complex, has become popular for its beautiful ambiance and affordable menu. Sandwiches, burgers, noodles, pasta, friend chicken are some popular orders that Black Water receives along with its various offerings of pizza, which it claims to be “probably the best pizza in town.”

The government is making the operation of ships its primary agenda at the fourth Bengal Ini­tiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMS­TEC) summit, which is taking place in Kathmandu in August. Prime Min­ister KP Sharma Oli will represent Nepal at the summit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is making prepa­rations in line with the government’s plan to promote international trade and investment. The ministry has informed that it is working to attract BIMSTEC member states’ attention to the prospect of operating ships. Nepal is also going to lobby for agreements on energy, technology, customs and transport. It is formu­lating short-, medium- and long-term plans to work with member states. PM Oli, in his meeting with BIMS­TEC’s Secretary General Shahidul Islam last month, had also raised the topic of ships. Oli is reported to have said in the meeting that ships would help countries around the Bay of Bengal better connect with each other.

Nepal has already prepared a draft agreement to establish BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection. According to the agreement, a coordination com­mittee would be formed, which in turn would formulate a master plan, opening up doors for energy trading among the BIMSTEC member states.

Krishna Prasad Dhakal, a Joint Secretary at the MoFA, said that the summit will be a success only if all member states are fully on board. He added that Nepal, for its part, is fully prepared. Dhakal also said that various issues between Nepal and its close neighbors (India, Bangladesh and Bhu­tan) are also high up on the summit’s agenda.

That the regional grouping’s summit is talking place after 14 years is unusual. Even so, the exact dates have not been finalized. “The delay in finalizing the date is due to the failure to hold a Secretary-level BIMSTEC Working Group meeting with Bangladesh,” said Rabi Shankar Sainju, spokesperson at the Min­istry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. “The meeting is slated to take place in Bhutan in July. It will discuss the progress made in line with the previous summit’s commit­ments. But we are yet to receive an invitation,” said Sainju.

“They haven’t expressed much interest in the meeting partly because it does not zero in on eco­nomic activities. Important eco­nomic topics haven’t been a top priority ever since political, cultural and other issues were also included on BIMSTEC’s agenda in 2004,” said Sainju. “BIMSTEC’s significance will go up once there is considerable economic activity among member states.”

The summit is considered import­ant for formulating high-level poli­cies. However, only three summits—in 2004, 2008 and 2014—have been held so far. A BRICS-BIMS­TEC Outreach Summit had been held in Goa in 2016 at the spe­cial initiative of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

BIMSTEC was formed in Bangkok on June 6, 1997; Nepal became a full member in 2004. Currently, BIMSTEC member states include Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myan­mar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Member states are collabo­rating on 14 main issues, among them trade and investment, technology, energy, transport and telecommunications, tour­ism, fishery, agriculture, cultural cooperation, and poverty allevia­tion. Nepal is the lead country on poverty-alleviation.