Soon after the promulgation of the new constitution two and a half years ago, people were curious and confused about the concept of federalism and had even started wondering about its necessity.

There was a sharp division among the political parties and people concerning the importance of federalism. Questions and concerns were raised whether it was feasible to implement in Nepal considering its economical, geographical and demographical structures. There seemed to be hesitation about this concept even among leaders of major political parties. Some political parties and

experts had even labelled this concept as an imported idea and criticised the major political parties for not being able to block it from being materialised.

Nevertheless, the Big Three did not have other alternative than to announce and hold three tiers of elections for the implementation of the constitution. There was no turning back for major political parties. The elected representatives at the local levels are already in their respective chairs for the last eight months. At the provincial level, elected representatives took their oath a few days ago in their respective temporary provincial headquarters. A new government at the centre is yet to be formed. For that, processes for the Upper and Lower Houses to take full shape are under way. The recently appointed governors seem to be confused and in dilemma about their roles and responsibilities due to lack of their proper terms of reference, appropriate arrangements of logistics, human resources and infrastructures “Governors pondering what to do next” (THT, January 23, Page 1).

Rai Biren Bangdel, Maharajgunj

New words

As an author of Falang English Dictionary, I have been largely intrigued about how the internationally acclaimed dictionaries announce various words as their “word of the year”.

These days, Australia has become the global locus of attention for promoting her words in the international arena. Recently the Macquarie, an Australian dictionary, has announced “milkshake duck” the word of the year. The term “milkshake duck” was initially coined by Australian cartoonist Ben Ward.

The word has been broadcast in various media including the BBC. The meaning of “milkshake duck” as per the Macquarie Dictionary is “a person who is initially viewed positively by the media but is then discovered to have something questionable about him/her which causes a sharp decline in his/her popularity”. The word “selfie” was also originated from Australia and became one of the most pronounced words in today’s digital age.

I find Australian lexicographers are working their heart out to promote their etymologies. Indian lexicographers are also doing well in order to promote Indian English. We can see many Hindi words are getting accommodated in the Oxford English Dictionary. When a word needs to be commonly accepted that should become part of the English language.

Shiva Neupane, Melbourne