Nepal, Aug. 19 -- The Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development of Karnali, Khadka Bahadur Khatri, was sacked last week. His indictment by Patan High Court on a banking offence-providing a fake bank guarantee document to secure a construction bid-is merely just the tip of the iceberg representing the perils of Nepal's completely failed public procurement system. This failure has had a multifaceted impact on almost every aspect of the national economy and governance. The dividing line between politics-for-power and profit-making by misusing state power has been obliterated. It is only due to an absolute disregard of the concept of 'conflict of interest' by the public officials in the first place that has made it possible for people l...