The conceptual co­­nfusion that separates environment from pu­­blic debate, policy-making and active ac­countability on a year-round basis is becoming increasingly dangerous.

While the US expands its presence from the Indo-Pacific to West Asia and seeks rapprochement with China, the other three QUAD countries remain focused on the Indo-Pacific.

Its three most visible ambitions—foreign investment, tech leadership and fiscal transformation—all face the same fundamental obstacle: weak institutional and bureaucratic capacity.

The opinionator with a ‘kalam’ in hand and column in the newspaper no longer commands the loyalty of the audience. But this doesn’t mean that column-writing has lost its civic value.

One wonders whether this is a budget that hands the poor a ten-rupee rebate, takes a hundred from their pocket, and returns thirty in concessions to the rich.

If the court begins to look like a venue for political gain, people’s trust gradually turns into suspicion.

Nepal requires deeply trained, independent minds to manage a political system. That capacity comes solely from reading books.

Seven decades after the start of Nepal’s development history, the gap between ‘development’ as a global discourse and ‘bikas’ as a lived aspiration remains.

Nepal has not engaged in full-scale territorial encroachment at any border point in the manner that India has done in Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Susta.

Nepal must focus on developing thoughtful tourism experiences and improving quality, with consideration for the impact on all involved.

State dinners cannot stop wars, but they create the atmosphere in which coexistence is imaginable.

In a deeper sense, it issues a call to the middle class itself: to step forward, engage productively, and help shape Nepal’s political economy.

The private capital market in Nepal has real promise. It also has a structural problem: some of its strongest reported returns say more about regulatory timing than business building.

Of 573 spouts in the Valley, 94 have completely perished, while the rest function seasonally.

Visibility does not necessarily translate into effective global leadership.

Traditional approaches have marginalised indigenous communities and overlooked environmental issues.

Turning away a community of nearly 140,000 Nepali-Bhutanese diaspora is a missed opportunity.

Without a stronger industry, domestic production and empowered provinces, prosperity will remain elusive.

Stable China-US relations create more favourable development opportunities for developing countries.

Balen Shah is trying to build a government that acts and explains why.