The Nepali peace process, which PN has been tracking for a number of years, took a big step forward in mid-May when the country held local elections for the first time in 20 years.
At the time of going to press, almost all mayoral election results had been declared in the three provinces being contested.
The Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and the Nepali Congress party split 80 percent of the posts between them. The Maoist Centre party was a distant third. Turnout was said to be 70 percent.
The next round of local elections, in June, will be held in the other four provinces.
April and May marked the second anniversary of the devastating earthquakes that killed 9,000 people and destroyed nearly a million buildings.
Out of the 525,000 private homes that the national reconstruction authority has agreed to rebuild, just over 22,000 have been completed.
Foreign governments pledged $4bn in aid after the earthquakes. Nepal collected $2.6 billion.
About $250 million has been handed out so far to the half million homeless families.
Commentators blame party infighting, bureaucracy, corruption, the parties’ decision to focus on constitution-making rather than rebuilding, and the four-month Indian blockade at the end of 2015.