Current Affairs of Nepal

Nov, 12, 2015
The tremor that shook the whole nation of Nepal in April 25th of 2015 and which frequented many more time was more than what this generation could have imagined.  For the majority of the people that lived in Gorkha, Sindhupalchwok, Dhading, Nuwakot and many other places including the ancient the valley of Kathmandu - no swing was ever swung with such vibration of destruction. Thousands lost their lives but for many other thousands all that they have is their lives, and the rest is trauma, pain, debris and the ruins.
But, life still goes on no matter what. You can sit still yet you'll grow old. It is the time that is inevitable.

But in the recent past, like the struck of the lighting, the undeclared border seal from the Indian government has hit hard to the daily lives of Nepalese amid the festivity. There is no supply of cooking gas, petroleum products and other major daily necessary goods. The prices have hiked to the summit. Queues in kilometers of vehicles, gas cylinders and even of bottles and gallons for the kerosene oil is what can't be more frustrating than this. The capital of the nation has seen the major crisis because of its denser population which created high demands. The queues of consumers have broke into fist fights that led to sleepless nights of hundreds.  

10 trucks of firewood brought to the capital will be distributed from Friday. The survival of the fittest is taking its toll. 

On the other hand, on November 11 Indian Ambassador to Nepal, in a press conference, made it clear that the busiest conduit (Raxaul-Birgunj) might not see any respite anytime soon. He also added that the situation in the Tarai has become more complicated as the forms of protest and agitation have changed after the incident in which an Indian national was killed.

While India has constantly been pinpointing the issue in Tarai as the major security threat to the Indian nationals involved in the transportation of the goods to be imported in Nepal, there has been speculation about what could be the real hidden interest of India, if in fact, India has been involved in triggering the protests of the lowlands. India, till the date had the monopoly in the supply of petroleum products and many other daily consumable goods. Everything that is imported through land has either been supplied from India or has come to Nepal via Indian borders.  Because of this, every sector of economy is highly affected. Speculation of experts agree that there has been 10 to 15 percent drop in foreign trade of Nepal as the consequences of border blockade. Tourism as well has been bearing this unfortunate situation alongside the other sectors of the nation.  Nepali tourism basically depends on two peak seasons in a year making it a seasonal business.  The first season of the year (March, April, May) was well ruined by the earthquake and now the second season (September, October, November) was punched on the face due to the undeclared border seals which caused the limitation of supplies. Hotels, restaurants and bars are in the verge of shutting down because of the failure to meet the demand of the customers.

The current government which is led by the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist - Leninist (CPN - UML ) and followed by United Communist Party of Nepal Maoist ( UCPN - Maoist), Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal along with few small parties from the Tarai region is seeking to have dialogues with the political parties in discontentment in the Tarai. Surprisingly, the government has taken firm position as to not bow down to the Indian government pressure. 

Recently, ending four decades of Nepal’s dependence on India for gasoline supply, Nepal and China on October 28th  sealed a framework deal to import petroleum products from the northern neighbour. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and China National United Oil Corporation (PetroChina), a state owned company, regarding supply of petroleum products from China to Nepal, in Beijing. Ambassador of Nepal to China, Mahesh Maskey, who led an 11-member Nepali delegation to strike the deal with Chinese authorities, said that a formal door has been opened to import at least one-third of the fuels required by the country from China.On November 11th, 26 petrol loaded tankers have arrived from China. The tankers carried 270,066 liters of Chinese grant petrol. With this arrival 374,300 liters of petrol remains to be hauled from China. The Chinese government has pledged 1,000 tons of fuel as subsidy to Nepal as the country is reeling through acute fuel shortage. A total of 97 tankers have transported the fuel via the Rasuwuagadhi - Kerung border point.

Please read the following article about the Indian motives http://www.nepaldemocracy.org/documents/treaties_agreements/nep_india_open_border.htm