First international symposium on “Development Issues, Challenges, and Strategies for Nepal

Nepalese Students’ Association (NeSA) at New Mexico State University (NMSU) organized its first international symposium on “Development Issues, Challenges, and Strategies for Nepal.” Keynote speaker, Dr. Alok Bohora, Professor of Economics at University of New Mexico, highlighted the “smart village” concept of economic e-development in Nepal while addressing the current political transitions in Nepal. Similarly, the invited speakers Rachel Stevens, Associate professor at NMSU recounted her 5-month long research on Nepalese Arts and Sculpture of Patan, Lalitpur and Dr. Rajat Rajbhandari from Texas Transportation Institute, El Paso, delivered a talk on growing traffic congestion in Kathmandu and possible solutions via information technology.

In the mean while, other six speakers, mainly Ph. D. scholars, from NMSU and University of Texas, El Paso, presented their talks on wide range of issues. Marohang Limbu advocated for the place of World Englishes, including Nepanglish in the US academic writing while appraising the current traditions of teaching English as Second Language (ESL) by the US academia. Emphasizing on holistic education, Binod Gurung stated that education has changing roles in Nepal that should empower children and youth to meet 21^st century personal, ecological, and market goals. The symposium coordinator Desh Raj Sonyok, revealing the possibility of the shortest Kathmandu-Hetauda Fast Track Highway which includes tunnels, mentioned that it can be as much as 75% shorter than the existing Prithvi highways and reduces 7-8 hours of travel time to 1-2 hours. Having involved in the Hydroelectricity sector in Nepal, Suresh Gautam, concluded that present day electricity crisis can only be resolved through strong commitment of implementing short term and long term action plans in Nepal. In the end, Kiran Spakota and Saran Rai discussed the health scenarios in Nepal and South Asia in general. 

The program was chaired by Dr. Ram N. Acharya, Asst. professor at NMSU and facilitated by NeSA President Hikmat Bahadur B.C. The symposium coordinator, Mr. Sonyok, in his concluding remarks said “The first symposium has been acclaimed as a huge success in addressing development issues at the outset of reconstruction and political transition in Nepal.”

Prof. Dr. Alok Bohara, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

Associate Prof. Dr. Ram Acharya, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

Associate Prof. Rachel Stevens, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

Dr. Rajat Raj Bhandari, Texas Transportation Institute (TII) , El Paso, TX

Desh Raj Sonyok, Program Coordinator, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM