A year after hundreds of thousands of street protesters forced King Gyanendra to recall Parliament, Nepalis have taken giant strides to creating the "new Nepal". The multi-party government and Maoist rebels signed a peace deal ending 10 years of war that killed 14,000 people; a UN mission has been installed to monitor arms and fighters of the Maoist and Nepal armies; and an interim constitution and temporary parliament are in place to lead the way to June's constituent assembly elections. But as rioting in the Terai plains region in January demonstrated, those historically excluded from power that has been hoarded by an upper-caste Hindu elite still feel left out of planning for the future. Righting that power imbalance so that poverty can be tackled will be the biggest challenge for policy makers in the year ahead.