What a Joke: only 11 % of budget finished after 8 months

It has been reported that only 11% of the total budget that was allocated for the fiscal year 073/74  has been released for various development work.

This year  the Nepal government had  raised the salary of civil servants by 25 per cent in the next fiscal year which increase the total salary amount  by 26.9 per cent to NRs 132.3 billion. The government had plans to spend NRs 140.7 billion in post-quake reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Similarly, NRs 10 billion has been allocated for the construction of the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track ; Gautam Buddha Regional International Airport had allocated NRs 7.2 billion; NRs 5 billion had  allocated for Pokhara Regional International Airport; NRs 4.2 billion had  allocated for the  construction of Postal Highway; and NRs 1.50 billion  for construction of Second International Airport at Nijgad.

It is really shocking that after 8 months the only budget spent is only 11% of the total forecast.  so what is the problem?

The Nepal government priority is only government overhead cost which include salaries and other daily operation cost only, other than that are just merely expenses which are adjusted and managed creating overheads.  Below are the problems listed:


1. Lack of clarity of planning and operation
2. Finance Ministry of Nepal lack of efficiency
3. Leader of Nepal Fail to raise the problems in Parliaments
4. Huge gaps in between bureaucracy and leadership
5. high level frustration in Bureaucracy
6. Lack of Open government
7. Lack of clarity in core values
8. Orthodox management and operation process
9. No accountability to public governance


Apart from this reality is Nepal's political culture focuses more towards party politics than nation first ideology. In every sector people are bound to suffer due to lack of public governance. From government services to facilities to tax system, Nepal government has created a complex system of  orthodox and prejudice values where political leaders are creating unwanted situation and  political chaos which is not hidden. Corruption, favoritism, nepotism and minority quota has become political agenda and political agenda.

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Nepal Army showcasing fire crackers on Army Day

The Nepal Army celebrated its ARMY DAY on Shivaratri. Every year the pristine organization celebrates ARMY DAY with huge excitement showcasing its technology and various level of skills and activities among its personnel and dignitaries.
This year the celebration included a fire cracker show which was surely an excitement to the public but looking at it form the perspective  of an environment and  sound pollution  way it certainly seems arguable about why wasting so much of in such a way.

Nepal Army is the discipline institution which follows the rule and regulation of Nepal government, so using fire crackers which has been restrain to public access during festivals certainly sounds impractical.

Another aspect to the argument is Nepal Government prohibits the use of fire crackers especially during the festivals of Deepwali on the basis of sound and environment pollution. The same rule does not apply on the government organization like Nepal Army simply shows how the hypocrisy works in creating double standards. Likewise, even the organization which has always been the pride and respected among the public should have restrain its fire cracker show in view of its image.

How can there be two standards that effects public directly?  








  

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Does #nepal needs such controversial issues to promote #VisitNepal Campaign ?

Recently, Sahana Bajracharya an elite VJ and public icon shared these messages on her twitter account. It was appraised and shared by hundreds of her followers on social media  and created a buzz among the Nepalese community. When I saw these messages I was quite not offended but I didn't feel comfortable about those messages.

The first question that came to my mind was why  all these complication. People love Nepal for no reason they come here because its beautiful and people feel good and natural about Nepal. Using such campaign with such background of hatred and negativity, it has its share of baggage as well which can be chronic and contemplating.

Good or Bad, I think Nepal is something which is beyond such controversy. Nepal is famous in the world for its natural beauty and serene environment. Apart from that Nepalese are also known for their genuine attitude and nature. Why would we want to capitalized trump's issues of negativity and hatred  when we have our own share of goodness and so many other things to explore?

With such campaign comes the pros of buzzing in the social media for a short period but its also has a wide side of criticism where the aspect of capitalizing on issues of racialism and negative attitude can be very costly.

#socialmediacrisis is a unwanted situation of creating scope of problems and complexity with wrong interpretation and unwanted justifications. The possible solution is to avoid such acts by building a credible image and strategy of social media without by passing hard work and efforts.

Jeopardizing a national campaign or even creating speculation for cheap marketing strategy is not a good marketing strategy. It can be a instant success but at times can and will result in sad  and unwanted  consequences as well.








      

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New home for the president of Nepal but no home for Earthquake victim

Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari  has shifted to the new palace built by the Nepal Government where as on contrary the same Nepal government has not been able to distribute the billions which it  received for the reconstruction and rehabilitation program of earthquake victims of April 25 devastating earthquake. After 2 years people are still waiting for the money where the Nepal government leaders are still playing politics in the name of victims and the issue.

I think this is one of the most satirical issue where thousands of earthquake victims are living under the sky with temporary zinc sheet and the head of the state is shifting to a fully furnished luxury palace. such a pitty !
        
Following a safety assessment, technicians put red stickers to the rear part of the residence.
Nepal’s Rastrapati Bhawan, was declared unsafe for use by a technical team after the building developed cracks due to the devastating earthquake of  April 25 2015

The president was living in a prefab home built in the compound of sheetal niwas

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Unilever Nepal bullying Nepali soap market

From a  source, I came to know that the current Animal Fat awareness campaign which is currently being run in radio and newspaper is financed by Unilever Nepal. Breaking news is they are planning to launch their own range of animal fat free soap. As part of their aggressive marketing campaign  they have launched this customer awareness campaign where they are targeting print and audio media with the whole concept of first driving the people with awareness and then launching their fat free soap.

On one hand this campaign certainly shows the unhealthy competition in the market where the big organization like Unilever uses such campaigns and power of money in favor of capitalizing their own benefit where as on other it is really sad for smaller industries who have been struggling to survive as they have no option.

Good or bad driving people for a certainly motive this campaign has its pros and cons on the table. I think the Unilever Nepal should not radicalize this issue in such a way creating bad impression of the whole industry. The way this marketing campaign has been pushed showcases the aspect of business world vs public welfare. Since this issue is very closely related to people's belief and culture the Unilever should not push it hard. It should have been put it in a more shuttle way giving option to the people.

Playing it indirectly, they are trying to capture the market but hey its a open world where cost, quality and comfort matters.

If you can give a product in lower price with a good quality the product is genuinely successful. Aggressive marketing campaigns like this at times can have serious consequences.


   

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Government Attorneys boycott their session in court

The Nepal Government attorneys are boycotting their court session protesting against the recent appointment of high court judges by judicial council from Sunday.

Government attorneys and trade unions at  the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) have decided not to participate in court proceedings including hearings.

The controversy started when the appointment was claimed to be highly political and un-justifiable in may ways. On January 13 the Judicial Council lead by CJ Sushila Karki  appointed 80 judges at the high courts with 37 from district judges, 27 from Nepal Bar Association and 16 from joint secretaries and secretaries. The controversy started when the news broke out that the appoint was done at the middle of the night with only 3 members involving the appointment process
The Judicial Council currently has 5 members which is chaired by Chief Justice Sushila Karki.

Chief Justice Sushila Karki has been drawing controversy as her term period is ending, one after the other she has been putting question mark on the issues of management and administration of Justice system in Nepal.

The lawyer fraternity has been blaming the process to be very political and unjustifiable as the people who have been appointed are not reasonably qualified in terms of experience and quality. They are demanding a fair appointment process with no politics.

     

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No 4G for Ncell Axiata Group

The controversy of capital gains tax (CGT) of Ncell during its takeover has been a long lasting headache for the Nepal government. With view of that  the lawmakers of Nepal have decided not to  allow 4G services to Ncell in Nepal. It has been confirmed that till  it clears the outstanding capital gains tax (CGT) to the Nepal Government, 4G services will be withheld for Ncell Axiata Group.

Axiata Group acquired Ncell last December 2015 from TeliaSonera and Reynolds for US$1.365 billion . The takeover  drew immense criticism as Ncell did not pay CGT as required by the law which is expected to be NRs 23 billion. The deal effectively secures Axiata an 80 percent equity interest and full control over Ncell.

The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) rolled out  4G  plan for Ncell in the last week of October last year. The Nepal Telecom (NT) has already started its soft launch of  4G service in Nepal after obtaining the licence from NTA.

Axiata Group is  one of the largest Asian telecommunication companies, Axiata today operates in ten countries, servicing approximately 290 million subscribers. With a diverse portfolio in mobile network operations, communications infrastructure services and digital services, the Group pieces together the best in connectivity, technology and people in its vision of Advancing Asia.

Axiata has controlling stakes in market leading mobile operators in South East Asia and South Asia. Axiata Group of companies operate under the brand name of ‘Celcom’ in Malaysia, ‘XL’ in Indonesia, ‘Dialog’ in Sri Lanka, ‘Robi’ in Bangladesh, ‘Smart’ in Cambodia and 'Ncell' in Nepal. Further to this, the Group also holds strategic interests in ‘Idea’ in India and ‘M1’ in Singapore.

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Nepal Government charges Service fee with public

It has been an issues since a long time that Nepal Government owned Nepal Electricity Authority has been charging service fee with the normal public on the monthly electricity bill. It has been clearly stated in its working manual that no service fee should be charged as it is a government own organization. But despite the rules and regulations the board of director of the NEA have endorsed the service fee from years.

Most of us do not know this as the bill is very complicated with all the numbers and text but it is there draining public money. 

The Government of Nepal has been ignoring the fact that NEA has been illegally taking money from public in the name of the Service fee

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Agendas of 2017 for Nepal's politics

Nepal's strategic location has made it a political ground for various forces and stakeholders to be a prime target. It's stability and control is a question of hindrance in terms of how these forces will counter other stakeholders, so they always want a situation of chaos and crisis here.


 There are hidden forces and various aspect of issues that directly and adversely affect it's diplomatic and trade relations. To top it off Nepal's political leaders are wasting people's time and money in the name of Governance and #democracy. It's a small country with multi-diversity why are we giving more and more options of creating fraction of the country. We have the last option of public memorandum. Why aren't we using that?  Let the people decide, why let a bunch of looser decide the faith of 30 million people.  

Today's democracy is the result of 16000 people who lost their lives in the name of #civilwar and thousands who have lost their childhood.

The truth lies hidden in shadows, now what is the reality & what should be the priority for 2017 is the main question. Nepali political leaders have proven that they are worth nothing. These are some of the agendas....   

1. #Monarchy
2. #Federalism
3. Directly elected PM 
4. #Looktartra (multiparty Democracy)
5. Truth and reconciliation of 16000 people killed
6. Political culture of Nepal
7. No public Governance in Nepal
8. Pendulum Reconstruction & rehabilitation process
9. Education level in poltics and their capacity
10. Demonetization of INRs
11. Truth behind #Lookman
12. Impractical & costly Education system
13. Migration of young people for remittance
14. #Tourism suffering low consequences of sad #leadership
15. SDGs for INGOs and their big budgets & programs
16. #ClimateChange issues for donations only
17. Infiltration of politics in students
18. Foreign Aid policy
19. Traffic lights in Kathmandu
20. High tax system (land & vehicle)
21. Local elections
22. State restructuring process
23. Digital Governance & Awareness
24. Removal of syndicate in trade industry
25. Right of citizenship & power
26. Women's rights to #equality
27. Strategy Against #Corruption & #BlackMarketing
28. Efficient management & monitoring mechanisms for standards
29. Expensive health industry
30. Media reliability and monitoring
31. Rural access & reach to ICT
32. #ICT4D master plan
33. Development of infrastructure
34. Hydropower and it's management
35. Wildlife & conservation
36. Awareness of #socialmedia in political leaders 

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.
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List goes on

#WakeupNepal #agendas2017

from where should we are ......

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Russian Ambassador was a victim of faith or strategy

I am not totally convinced how easily the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov, 62, was shot dead by a  gunman, for the Syrian issue. The whole story seems to be very easy to accept in terms of how diplomatic world has started taking their security so easily especially for a country like Russia that is considered to be world's developed nation.

The assailant identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas 22-year-old assailant was also shot dead by the police where he shouted “Don’t forget Aleppo. Don’t forget Syria!” after shooting.

The things that are very fishy are

1. Why was the security of the Russian Ambassador so vulnerable?
2. There seems to be a big security loop hole as it looks very staged 
3. The Syrian issue certainly points out a definite issue of tension going on in-between Russia and Syria which is totally uncomfortable to accept 
4.  The culture and religion issue 
5. This man is young, so how come he handles the crisis situation so well, I mean to say he seems to be very well prepared and he has all his markers ready

Killing anyone in any name of country, religion or any form of discrimination is wrong by anyone. Human Rights are the basic standard code and right of every individual in this earth which needs to be practiced at all times with respect. 

   

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