On midnight 22 May 2021, then-president Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved Parliament at the behest of UML Chair K P Sharma Oli after he failed to be reappointed prime minister. Oli had previously also dissolved Parliament in December 2020, but the Supreme Court overturned his decision, calling it unconstitutional. The short-lived Nepal Communist Party that merged the UML and Maoists thus split, creating an irreconcilable rift within UML bigwigs Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal. All of this happened while Nepal was in the throes of the deadly Delta variant, and 150 Nepalis were dying every day. We wrote in 2021: ’The reshuffle highlighted the government’s inability to focus attention on protecting Nepalis with vaccines while the virus is ravaging the countryside, and addressing the loss of jobs during the lockdown.’ NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba consequently led a five-party alliance of 149 MPs -- from the NC, the Maoist Centre as well breakaway factions of the JSP and the UML -- to file a writ petition after President Bhandari thwarted claims from both Oli and and an opposition alliance of a House majority to form the next government.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260115110128_f61dad24fc3661e0560ba1f31e6696e1bf3af4b57808b2edb6c85005a90c3182.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260115110128_f61dad24fc3661e0560ba1f31e6696e1bf3af4b57808b2edb6c85005a90c3182" data-rendition-name="original" width="855" height="879" loading="lazy" alt="Rewind 2021 NT"> </figure>  In July, the Supreme Court once again overturned Oli’s decision and reinstated the House of Representatives, ordering Deuba be installed as prime minister. The Maoist Centre backed Deuba, making way for a new coalition government which Deuba would be in charge of until the next general election. Meanwhile, UML’s Nepal faction backed Deuba for prime minister, which became the straw that broke the camel’s back for Oli and Nepal’s relationship. By August, the Nepal faction had broken away from Oli to form its own CPN-Unified Socialists. Mahanta Thakur also split from the Janta Samajwadi Party to form his Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP). In the months that followed, the major parties began to prepare for their general conventions and the upcoming election, as the Unified Socialists and Maoists — which had become smaller parties — struggled to find their footing in the new political landscape.&nbsp; Meanwhile, political infighting and reshuffling of power in government had brought governance to a standstill amidst an ongoing pandemic. This post break-up era of politics was the beginning of the musical chairs of coalition governments and premiership between K P Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal that we are still going through in 2025. &nbsp;

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Rewind

2021

The world before and after Covid-19 are two different realities. The pandemic was a Hollywood dystopian nightmare and changed how people live and work, what we eat, and how we travel, our social dynamics and technological leaps. It also exposed or, in some cases, aggravated pre-existing inequalities. While the exact origin of the virus, which was first reported on a small scale in November 2019 from Wuhan remains contentious, Covid-19 was the latest in a long line of infections that jumped from animals to people, establishing the connection between new and emerging diseases with the relentless extraction of natural resources. It also widened the gap between the rich and poor countries. Countries sealed their borders and locked their citizens in the confines of their homes, but they could not do the same to the novel coronavirus. The world is a global village, a wily virus detected in one part of the world rapidly spread to every known corner in a matter of days. It continues to this day with a new sub-variant of the Covid-19 being detected every couple of months. After the shutdowns, the repatriation of Nepali migrant workers became a priority (right). They had lost their jobs in destination countries and had no way of coming back. There were some Nepali embassies in West Asia which worked overtime to bring workers back home safely. Migrants from India walked for days only to be stopped at the border. Desperate, some even swam across the Mahakali River to get home.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026010112014_7efbb5d1ca8c42b9af02f5b60068d8b539fc6a8c6762b156e725d838df77c460.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026010112014_7efbb5d1ca8c42b9af02f5b60068d8b539fc6a8c6762b156e725d838df77c460" data-rendition-name="original" width="1094" height="1130" loading="lazy" alt="Rewind 2020 NT"></figure>  Before long, hospitals were overflowing with patients and there were not enough supplies or staff. The Nepali diaspora sent home money in record numbers, they also flew equipment including medical supplies such as oxygen cylinders. The poorest were the hardest hit. The lockdowns meant they had no source of income, and their health and nutrition were directly compromised. This was even more acute during the second wave caused by the more aggressive Delta variant. Even younger people were hospitalised, and the need for a vaccine, especially for the elderly and people with comorbidities, was at its peak. Improved hygiene and mask wearing saved many lives. With no vehicular or industrial pollution across the Subcontinent, Nepal’s air was clean again. Mt Everest was visible from Kathmandu, Abhushan Gautam’s iconic photograph was on Nepali Times #1011.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026010112014_36b8eb5b4a97bce1455a8d94b07a4b54a258cdb1ed08538256e9b83d297920bb.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026010112014_36b8eb5b4a97bce1455a8d94b07a4b54a258cdb1ed08538256e9b83d297920bb" data-rendition-name="original" width="782" height="1154" loading="lazy" alt="Rewind 2020 NT"></figure>  Vaccine diplomacy came into play. COVAX, a global vaccine initiative, was at least able to deliver the first batch of vials to the neediest, showing that multilateralism was still relevant. Even so, some are more equal than others. Our very first coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic (pictured) by research scientist Sameer Mani Dixit was dated 29 January 2020, when the global death toll was at 213 and a little over 9,000 cases. By the end of the pandemic, it had claimed at least 7,010,681 lives. Covid-19 has had other insidious impacts on society, ranging from undermining previous gains on public health and poverty to societal breakdown, mental health, and racism. The pandemic touched every corner of public and private life and reshaped the world. Covid-19 also brought the world together. Never before had there been a quicker breakthrough in terms of vaccine development as countries with the most resources facilitated the process. Nepal became one of the biggest contributors to the Covid recovery trial which found that a cheap steroid dexamethasone was the most effective drug for the treatment of hospitalised Covid patients. Just five years later, the world is more polarised than ever before, Covid is still lurking amidst vaccine denial in the US, people are more intolerant towards differences, countries are pouring money into wars and moving away from humanitarian causes. We have forgotten how the pandemic turned the world upside down, and that it can happen again.

2020

Geopolitics took a front seat in 2019. Leaders of both of Nepal’s neighbours paid high level visit in the same year. S Jaishankar, the minister for foreign affairs of India, visited in August 2019, for the Nepal-India joint commission meeting. His visit was considered crucial in improving ties between both Nepal and India, which were strained after his previous visit in 2015 which led to the border blockade.
Editorial in #974: 
‘Nepal’s strategy in dealing with its larger neighbour should be guided by pragmatism, and not petulant stubbornness. We should do our homework before negotiations and work in the spirit of give and take.’ 
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Kathmandu in October 2019, the first by a Chinese president in 23 years. The visit was considered of great importance with projects including BRI discussed. Twenty agreements were signed, including 18 MoUs and two letters of exchange. Six years later, there has not been much progress on any of these – largely due to political instability and lethargy in Nepal.
Bhaskar Koirala in #981 wrote: 
‘One of the issues that loomed large for Nepal during this historic Xi visit (and will continue to reverberate) is how the country is going to navigate between the two large overarching geopolitical constructs of the day-the BRI and the Indo-Pacific Strategy. How will Nepal balance BRI and IPS?’
Nepal does have a non-alignment policy, but the movement is moot. Balancing between the two large neighbours has always seemed a difficult task for Nepal, and depending on the ruling party in Kathmandu, was seen to be leaning towards one or the other. 
Relations with India took a dip in 2019 after India published a map including the east side of the Kali river, which has historically been a part of Nepal. Nationalist outrage spread like wildfire in Nepal, and PM Oli cashed in on this by making the map that included Limpiyadhura official. Not to be outdone, the NC, which was in opposition then, also mobilised its student union to protest outside the Indian Embassy. 
The editorial in #984 conceded that India was acting like a Big Brother, but advised Nepalis to be more concerned and care about their boundaries, only then will the neighbours will respect it. 
A rare protest against China also erupted when the India-China joint communique on Lipu Lekh was released in 2015. Meanwhile, Nepal's remote border districts bordering China were finally being connected to the highway network. Although this brought relief to locals, there were concerns about how it would impact the fragile culture and ecology of highlands like Dolpo.
Nepali Times also carried the popular Miss Moti cartoon series by Kripa Joshi every week with a message against body shaming, for tolerance, and respect for nature.

2019

The year 2018 marked a disastrous year for air safety with the US-Bangla crash at Kathmandu airport on 12 March. The tragedy pinpointed concerns about aviation safety and governance in Nepal, even though this particular accident was blamed on a mentally disturbed captain. The crash killed 51 people, most of them recent medical graduate students. The air crash tarnished Nepal’s aviation industry and its international image even more, with the European Union (EU) continuing to blacklist the country's airlines.&nbsp;
Migrant workers frequently travel to and from Nepal, and many migrants faced difficulties in traveling, due to expensive tickets, and cheating by middlemen and manpower companies among others. The safety of migrant workers could be ensured by airlines creating a favourable environment for Nepali workers through alliances and corporate social responsibility. Upasana Khadka in #907 wrote:
‘Airlines could set aside some tickets every week for stranded migrants, provide last minute unsold tickets for those who are in dire need of help. These could be based on referrals from embassies and rescue organisations.
Airlines can be an important and natural partner in efforts to promote safe migration by moving from a transactional relationship towards social responsibility.’
Kathmandu hosted the XII World Congress on Mountain Medicine 21-24 November. The Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) established an aid post in Pheriche in the 1970s, which helped save people suffering from altitude sickness. Mountain medicine expert Peter Hackett in #935 emphasised the importance of mountain medicine and the role of medical personnel, researchers and aid posts in preventing fatalities.
Before the advent of modern transportation, no one could travel high enough fast enough to get into much trouble. Altitude illness is therefore mainly a problem of modern times. Nepal has now developed a large cadre of young physicians &nbsp;specialising in high-altitude medicine.&nbsp;
Mentored by Buddha Basnyat, these young doctors are carrying on the tradition of quality care of victims of altitude illness, research on causes and treatments, and developing systems of administering care to diverse populations.&nbsp;
Altitude sickness also became a concern for Indian pilgrims travelling to Mansorovar. Nepalganj became the gateway for Indian pilgrims travelling to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet via Hilsa. Many of them use &nbsp;the Nepalganj route to visit Kailash, boosting the hospitality and aviation sector in Nepalganj.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meeting was hosted by Nepal in August 2018. The fourth edition of the international convention witnessed the member countries visit Nepal and encourage economic cooperation and connectivity. Matters of hydropower and joint military exercises were discussed, and member countries agreed to cooperate regionally beyond bilateralism. &nbsp;

2018

The first local-level election after the promulgation of the 2015 Constitution was held under a Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government in three phases on 14 May, 28 June and 18 September.
Nepal’s first party-based local elections were held in 1959, and the last successful local election before the federal system was in 1997, soon after the armed Maoist insurgency began.&nbsp;
Ahead of the first phase of the polls in May 2017, Nepali Times traced the history of local level elections in Nepal, and prepared a Village Development Committee map of the 1997 local election results.
From May to September, municipal and ward- level leaders were elected to 753 local units. Nepal has had one more election after 2017, and the general consensus has been that the performance of municipalities has exceeded expectations, but the same cannot be said of provincial governments.
Dasain in 2017 fell between the end of the local election and the upcoming general election. We wrote:&nbsp;
‘We are now finally nearing the end of a two-decade-long political transition. The peace process has dragged on, and we waited years haggling over the kind of federalism and the names of provinces and their borders, only to find out now that all the people wanted were jobs at home.. affordable education and medical facilities, electricity and fuel, and to be left alone to pursue their own happiness.’
Provincial and parliamentary elections were held on 26 November and 7 December. The UML and Maoists had formed an electoral alliance with the intention of merging after the polls, which the NC, RPP and Madhes-based parties countered with their own ‘democratic alliance’.
The UML and Maoists combined to form Nepal’s largest party, the Nepal Communist Party, in 2018 but the merger would be short-lived. The UML consequently swept the polls, and K P Oli went on to be the prime minister in a left-led government. The end of the election operationalised a federal, secular, democratic Nepal.
The work was then cut out for the newly-elected leadership to govern properly. An excerpt from a column after the election in December 2017:&nbsp;
‘There is a Constitution to implement, hundreds of new laws and regulations to enact under it, constitutional principles of local government to be defended, inter-community relations to be normalised, inter-relationships within the new state structure to be defined and rationalised, and a confident new foreign policy put in place, especially to tackle the two ascendant neighbours.’
Nepal also elected leaders to the seven provincial assemblies for the first time in 2017. However, despite Nepalis by and large welcoming a federal system, some felt that federalism was wasteful and should be scrapped, a sentiment that pro-monarchist parties and the RSP have now capitalised on.&nbsp;
Various studies and surveys however show that Nepalis understand the ineffectiveness of the provinces lies in the federal leadership reluctant &nbsp;to devolve power and decentralise. &nbsp;

2017

In January, the blockade was lifted much to the relief of Nepalis. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, prime minister for the second time, travelled to India to patch up relations with Narendra Modi.&nbsp;
2016 was also the 20th anniversary of the start of the Maoist conflict in 1996, and it was ten years after the end of the war. Nepali Times marked the anniversaries throughout the year with coverage of those who were caught up in the conflict to find out what had become of them: photographer Dinesh Shrestha published pictures of the Long March of Maoist leaders during the conflict, an editorial looked back at Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai photoshopping his own revolutionary past, how survivors and families of the victims coped with the grief, bereavement and suffering.&nbsp;
The year was also one in which Nepal took a Great Leap Forward in inclusive leadership: the country’s President, Chief Justice and Speaker of Parliament were all women. We have regressed since then, and former President Bidya Devi Bhandari has ignored critics to rejoin the political fray of the UML party.
The year saw the notorious rise and ignominious fall of Lokman Singh Karki, chieftain of the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Nepal’s most corrupt and ruthless bureaucrat was put in charge of the country’s anti-corruption agency.
Karki went on a full scale witch hunt, extorting and blackmailing businessmen, bureaucrats, civil society, lawyers, and the media. Himalmedia’s own publishers were jailed or left the country to escape arrest on trumped up charges by a man who came to be known as ‘Mr Lockman’.
Nepali Times translated a commentary from Setopati by Ameet Dhakal, which has lessons for today’s politicians:&nbsp;
‘Historically, whenever Nepal’s political class has failed to defend democracy, it has been the media that has had to come to the rescue. The head of the CIAA has tried with all his might to silence the media. He has overstepped his jurisdiction, and mobilised other agencies of government to gag the press … Why isn’t there a debate in Parliament about Karki’s anti-constitutional activities? Remember, Nepal’s political map will change either through rebellion or widespread hopelessness. Either way, it will sweep you away.’
By October, the very politicians who appointed Karki felt he was getting too big for his boots, and sacked him after threatening impeachment. The legacy of that tyranny can still be felt in Nepal: today we have mini-Lokmans populating all three levels of government. &nbsp;

2016

Of all the 25 years Nepali Times has been in print, 2015 is the year that stands out as being most eventful.
It started off with the paper’s coverage of National Earthquake Safety Day on 15 January with an Editorial titled ‘Preparing To Be Prepared’ &nbsp;which in a way prophesied the disaster that was to strike three months later.&nbsp;
In mid-March at the height of the tourist season, an Airbus 330 suffered a runway excursion while landing in Kathmandu with its tail sticking out into the runway. The plane could not be moved for four days and 80,000 passengers were stranded in Kathmandu and in airports abroad.&nbsp;
In Kathmandu itself, the Constituent Assembly was stalemated over the draft Constitution and the disagreement over how many provinces the country should be carved into and on what basis.&nbsp;
The Maoists were still insisting on ethnic demarcation, and the Madhes Movement wanted autonomy for a province spanning the entire Tarai from east to west.&nbsp;
Just then, on 25 April at 11:56AM an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude epicentred in Gorkha district shook Kathmandu and the surroundings. Nearly 9,000 people were killed, the entire village of Langtang was buried by an avalanche killing 300 people, and another 16 people were killed in an avalanche that struck Mt Everest Base Camp.&nbsp;
A fold-out page 1 of Nepali Times carried the photo of six-month-old Sonish Awal who was rescued after 24 hours buried under the rubble of a collapsed home in Bhaktapur (pictured, above).&nbsp;
Along with the death and destruction were stories of rebirth, hope and communities coming together to help those in need.&nbsp;
In 2015 Nepal was rocked not just by geotectonics, but also geopolitics. The Constitution was promulgated by an elected assembly on 20 September which did not meet the demands of the Madhesi parties, and this displeased New Delhi.&nbsp;
The ensuing Indian blockade of the border devastated the economy. Earthquake relief material was stuck, Nepal ran out of fuel and food.&nbsp;
People went back to cooking by firewood and riding bicycles. China gave token help, but it did not amount to much.&nbsp;
The blockade lasted five months and was finally lifted in January 2016.
&nbsp;Excerpt of a report 'Earthquake from Above' in the 1-8 May 2015 issue:
‘It had been an unseasonably cold and rainy Saturday morning. Twelve of us from the staff of Nepali Times were on a hiking retreat on a hill overlooking the city.&nbsp;
The sky was overcast, and we were disappointed not to have a view of the Himalayas to the north. Some of us looked down at the capital spreading out in the bowl-shaped valley below and talked about its rapid, haphazard growth.&nbsp;
Suddenly there was a big jolt and we could barely stand. Puffs, then billows, of dust rose from various parts of the city, within minutes shrouding the whole valley in a brown blanket. Bhaktapur looked like it was being swallowed by a sand storm. Kathmandu disappeared.&nbsp;
Our sense of shock turned to fear as we thought of our families down below. We hugged each other, some of us crying. We reached for our phones. The lines were down.&nbsp;
We ran down to the car park at the foot of the hill, and headed into town. On the road we skirted fallen masonry and tilted buildings. People were clustered in open spaces or in the middle of the streets, as far as possible from anything that might collapse. In front of a hospital, we saw patients lying on mattresses set out on the sidewalk.&nbsp;
Hundreds of thousands of people in Kathmandu and surrounding areas spent Saturday night on the streets as Kathmandu was rocked constantly by 50 aftershocks.&nbsp;
Yet, there is no sign of overt panic, people gathered water bottles and sleeping bags and helped each other.’ &nbsp;&nbsp;

2015

On 18 April, a mammoth avalanche that fell off the West Shoulder of Mt Everest claimed the lives of 16 Nepali guides fixing ropes on the Khumbu Icefall for 31 expeditions during the 2014 season. The serac fell on Icefall Doctors making their way to Camp 1 at the beginning of the season.&nbsp;
On 2 August, the whole side of a mountain fell on the homes of the residents of Jure along the Arniko Highway, taking the lives of 156 people and destroying houses. The Bhote Kosi was blocked, the Kodari Highway and two hydropower plants were submerged.&nbsp;
In his column Strictly Business, Ashutosh Tiwari pointed out the human role in the death toll in ‘Coping Mechanisms’:&nbsp;
‘For a fee, unelected local politicians can give you permissions to rent bulldozers to flatten sections of the hills, to mine sand from the rivers and to extract water from the ground to sell commercially, to construct hotels near the river banks, to let settlements grow into a bajar, and to look the other way when it comes to enforcing building codes.&nbsp;
So, when disasters strike, no one can really be held locally accountable for having let the risks dangerously multiply on the side of people and property.’
After the Everest avalanche, expeditions abandoned their climbs, and the government raised the insurance coverage of high altitude guides and support staff to Rs1.5million. Some called for a moratorium on expeditions for the season, but the Ministry of Tourism &nbsp;urged teams to resume work after a week of mourning. &nbsp;
Worryingly, overcrowding by inexperienced tourists is rampant and the Khumbu Icefall gets ever more dangerous due to climate change. Duty to their profession and clients clouds the judgement of some companies. &nbsp;
Wrote Norwegian climber Jon Gangdal:&nbsp;
‘Every expedition leader (including myself) has made decisions for the progress or profit of the expedition.&nbsp;
They give bonuses for more loads, fixed ropes and high altitude metres climbed. But I haven’t yet seen an expedition leader rewarding a Sherpa for saying: “Sorry, Sir, it’s not the time to go up now, I have a really bad feeling about this.”’ They do it for their families, and they may say “Yes” when they mean “No”.’
Welsh Mountaineer David Durkan wrote an angry piece about mountaineering having become a watered-down farce where Sherpas take most of the risk and clients get all the glory:&nbsp;
‘The Nepali high altitude worker works hard, suffers and is paid poorly, and as we have seen, he dies. The clients return home as heroes to write articles, books, appear on tv, hold lectures, receive sponsorships and even become experts on Himalayan mountaineering.’
The day after the Jure landslide, Narendra Modi visited Nepal and began his address to Parliament in accentless Nepali – elevating Nepal-India relations to a new level. (He undid this in 2016 with a six-month border blockade.) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

2014

By 2013, the optimism after the ceasefire seven years earlier had more or less disappeared. It was clear that the trust the Nepali people had put in the Maoists in 2008 to lead the country to a new direction had not been realised.
Mohan Baidya breaking away from the Maoists the previous year had weakened the party. In March, results of the annual Himalmedia Public Opinion Poll showed that the apathy, indifference, disenchantment, and cynicism with political parties and their leaders had grown, with more than half the respondents saying they did not trust the crop of political leaders at the time.
That same month, when it became clear that then Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s government could not hold the second Constituent Assembly elections on time, the parties handed over power to a transitional government led by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi, who became the Chairman of the Interim Election Council of Ministers.
With the pesky problem of governance out of the way, Nepal’s leaders set their sights on the 2013 race. We wrote that the election would be a referendum on federalism. Indeed, while the Maoists and fringe parties campaigned on ethnicity-based federalism, the NC and UML were against the idea.&nbsp;
Public opinion polls over the years had also shown that Nepalis in general were against the idea of ethnicity-based federalism. Our Editorial &nbsp;after the election in 2013:&nbsp;
‘The people are interested more in bread and butter issues like health, education, jobs, and roads. They want accountable leaders with integrity, they are less than enthusiastic about secularism, and they think federalism based on single ethnicity is a bad idea. Even people from the indigenous communities and the Tarai felt that way, but the Maoists and the Madhesi parties went ahead and made those issues their main plank showing just how out of touch they were.’
Meanwhile, leaders engaged with voters amid a changing media landscape: it was the first election in which they used social media to campaign with various degrees of success.
Six months after assuming power, Regmi’s bureaucratic government conducted the election on 19 November, during which almost 80% of registered voters cast their ballots to elect a new Constituent Assembly. We wrote in our editorial as the results of the 2013 polls began to trickle in:
‘Nepal’s silent majority has spoken, it has rejected violence and given moderate centrist parties one more chance to prove themselves..The high turnout was a strong message to the boycotting CPN-M and support for the traditional moderate parties was an unequivocal rejection of the politics of ethnicity of the non-performing UCPN (M) and Madhesi parties.’
The Maoists, who had won in a landslide in 2008 trailed far behind the NC and the UML. The Maoists lost races in crucial constituencies like Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Kathmandu-10, to which they responded by crying foul.
By year-end, the NC and the UML were tasked with sharing power and writing a new constitution.
We wrote:&nbsp;
‘In their euphoria of victory and overblown vermilion rallies, the NC and UML may think that the table has turned and they can go back to their winner-takes- all behaviour..The first test of whether they turned a new leaf will be if they resort to their dog-eat-dog rivalry in the formation of a new government in the coming weeks.’&nbsp;
And that is exactly what happened. &nbsp;

2013

2012 was declared ‘Invest in Nepal Year’ and it followed Tourism Year in 2011 which increased visitor numbers by 20%. Tourism was the largest contributor of FDI inflow in Nepal occupying nearly one-third of all investments. 
It was followed by the service and manufacturing industry. A Guest Column by Siddhant Raj Pandey in #585 put forward a global glance of investments in Nepal, and highlighted the importance of clear policies and its implementation in Nepal.
Tourist arrivals by air in Nepal increased by 10% from 2011, totaling 598,204. The only international airport was deemed to be congested, indicating potential of a new international airport for Nepal. In 2012, there were 28 international airlines connecting Kathmandu with the world, with other carriers seeking slots. 
There were issues of poor quality and expensive ground handling, raising concerns from international airlines. International airline operators raised issues of traffic congestion, landing slots, the shabby condition of the terminal among others. 
‘Nepal by air’ in issue #625 noted the government should have attracted new carriers and retained existing ones by consistent policies and rational pricing.
‘Eye in the Sky’ in #604 highlighted the important role of pilots in spotting natural disasters from the sky. The story elaborated on how Captain Alexander Maximov managed to spot the rock fall on Annapurna IV that set off a flashflood on the Seti River and warned Pokhara airport which flashed it to FM radio stations – allowing many people to flee to higher ground. 
Still, 70 people were killed, among them seven foreign tourists. The flood was ascribed to permafrost melting on the west face of Annapurna IV, and plummeting the rock face to the glacier below. Our report warned that with global warming, such disasters would be more common in the coming decades.
After a year of Baburam Bhattarai’s prime ministership, there was ennui setting in, as we wrote in this Editorial:
‘We have been arguing here against replacing Baburam Bhattarai as prime minister mainly because he seems the least incompetent of the politicians on offer. Pushpa Kamal Dahal has a track record for being super-ambitious and highly unpredictable. The UML and NC may have democratic minded candidates, but they have been tried and tested, and found wanting. 
In the public perception, Bhattarai still has the aura of being someone with intellect and integrity despite the thoroughly kleptocratic coalition he leads. None of the sleaze seems to rub off on the Teflon Man, though. 
His overnight trips to stay and eat with Dalit families in Jumla and Chepang families in Chitwan are expensive populist stunts, but seem to go down well with the public. His demolition of half of Kathmandu has raised hackles, but also bolstered the perception that he is a doer, because he has sent bulldozers tearing through even the property of the rich and powerful.
Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, PhD, is obviously a genius. But we wish he had used his considerable intellect to control this haemorrhage of the treasury, and invest the funds in cost-effective social welfare. Instead, he is presiding over the plunder of the state.‘

2012

Violations of Nepal’s airspace during WWII

At Budhanilkantha School Ujwal Thapa was a few years my senior. He was a quiet person who kept to himself; I didn’t know him very well despite being related to him because of that introversion and natural shyness. What we did have in common, coming of age in the 1990s, is our generation, GenX, which became weary, inured for the most part, to Nepal’s famously unstable politics.&nbsp; Counting the events of this past September, GenX has, astonishingly, lived through three people’s revolutions, one armed conflict, a flawed but hard won constitution, and a major earthquake. Ujwal Thapa, one of Nepal’s most cherished Gen Xers, despite his previous, youthful reticence, did not long remain a complaisant bystander against the backdrop of these extreme upheavals.&nbsp; By the mid 2000s he had become deeply political, but without the equivocation that so often accompanies politics. Thanks to his lived experience, he came to believe that the youth of Nepal are the key to our future. He believed in discerning wisdom (bibeksheelta), innovation, and nurture. He inspired entire generations, young and old, including GenZ, before his untimely death due to Covid in 2021. He was only 44.&nbsp; By the time of his passing he had started a tech company, and employed and mentored scores of youth. It is important to note that only after he had made a significant contribution to civil society did he turn towards politics, founding and then stepping back from the Bibeksheel Nepali party, which has now, after several complicated mergers and splits, been integrated into the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). When the Ujwal Thapa Foundation set out to make a documentary on his life three years ago, no one could have known that it would premiere at such a crucial point in Nepal’s social and political history.&nbsp; Everything that Ujwal Thapa believed in still holds true. I think he would have been proud to see the youth of our country, GenZ, stand up for themselves, peacefully. He would have been grieved at the state condoned bloodshed, and, believing in non-violent protest himself, been deeply shocked by the savage revolution that followed.&nbsp; Most of all, I wonder how he would have reacted to the publishing of the blatantly elitist RSP proportional representation list - the party that many had pinned their hopes on, and that Bibeksheel Nepali has ultimately been absorbed into. That party now seems like it may be a chip off the rotten old block, ruled by men endorsing rampant nepotism, and outnumbered by people without scruples.&nbsp; Many of the names on the list and the rankings, in particular, disrespect the very spirit of a provision that was created for those competent individuals who would not otherwise be able to contest elections, due to lack of monetary and social capital, but whose marginalised voices are vital for inclusive policy making. There is still time for real inclusion, to embrace a more bibeksheel path, before the March elections.&nbsp; Ujwal Thapa’s own, firm, ethical stances are clear in the The Man Who Shook Our Minds, translated loosely from the Nepali title Dimaag Ghhochne Manchhe. While long, at almost two hours, it is filled with thought-provoking and sage counsel. The film also offers very real insight into how Ujwal Thapa evolved into the icon he is today.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_eb596eb063dcaf0f67840bfa4ffa39eb27df2bf9ec1a3f9a1f531824c1b7a569.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026011111018_eb596eb063dcaf0f67840bfa4ffa39eb27df2bf9ec1a3f9a1f531824c1b7a569" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> <figcaption>Stills from the documentary.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_65d9625d3a4865ca228425b7ce7b7b186ae5009313bbfab0ee65eada276aebd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026011111018_65d9625d3a4865ca228425b7ce7b7b186ae5009313bbfab0ee65eada276aebd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_2ff455c55722d153cafbd2d650e19584e38d7c098b109271bd106a55201f4fa0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2026011111018_2ff455c55722d153cafbd2d650e19584e38d7c098b109271bd106a55201f4fa0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> </figure>  It isn’t easy making a documentary after the passing of the primary subject. While there are many talking heads, the people featured, friends, family, fellow activists and senior politicians are all eloquent in their descriptions of Ujwal Thapa and his transformation from an engaged, civic minded entrepreneur into a committed political leader who among many other commendable things, believed in putting women first, and understood the crucial necessity for a welfare state that would serve its people. The main man is not deified, he is humanised.&nbsp; The feature is punctuated, and leavened, with moments of real humour as his infamous bluntness and occasional domestic haplessness are gently exposed. Another strength of the film is the profound love story between Ujwal Thapa and his brave, brilliant, incredibly resilient wife, Erica Adhikary, the heroine to a real life hero, and a major force behind the making of this film, alongside many of his stalwart wellwishers and friends, old and new.&nbsp; Sushila Karki, the Prime Minister, was present at the premiere of the film with members of her Cabinet. Candid and sincere in her opening remarks, she said she had wanted to attend the moment she heard about the film. She had known Ujwal Thapa, and she had mourned his loss, praying for him during his illness. She wished that leaders like him were here today to show us the way forward in a time of need. The film opened in theatres on the 9th of January, and is an essential viewing experience for anyone who cares about Nepal’s future and wants some insight into how they might make a difference.&nbsp; Ujwal Thapa was not perfect, but he was remarkable. He realised that being a civic minded citizen just isn’t enough. To make a real difference, one also needs to be principled, insightful, entrepreneurial, creative, self motivated, able to speak truth to power, uncorruptible, practical, well prepared, and, perhaps, most importantly, able to step back from holding power even after attaining it.&nbsp; The saying by Plato that goes “He who does not desire power is fit to hold it” was surely meant for people like Ujwal Thapa. One can only hope that in the near future more people embodying this description will, however reluctantly, come forward to lead Nepal. Ujwal Thapa worked hard to enable this, they must be out there. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/veO1yVM4pS4?si=f0Lcbs1wasyqfnK1" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> The Man Who Shook Our Minds is being screened at QFX cinemas across town. Sophia L Pandé is on the Ujwal Thapa Foundation Advisory Board. She is a writer, art-historian and filmmaker, advising on the economic and social potential of the Cultural and Creative Industries. She is Director of Development at the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust, and Founding Director of The Kalā Salon, a non-profit space for the arts.

The Man Who Shook Our Minds

Did <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/1921-rendezvous-mallory-pumori-and-everest">George Mallory</a> and Andrew Irvine of the 1924 British Expedition reach the top of the highest mountain in the world? It has been more than a century after the two climbers were last seen just 300m below the summit. And 26 years ago Mallory’s remains were found on the North Face of Everest, while Irvine’s boot was located at its base.&nbsp; Some doubt that the two could have reached the top with the level of equipment and clothing of the time, but others are convinced that at least one of them made it but had an accident on the way down.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110148_26b4f6883ce3362c6f0c312d35422a57384c04aeb673f578d3ddb660761747fc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260108110148_26b4f6883ce3362c6f0c312d35422a57384c04aeb673f578d3ddb660761747fc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Panuru Sherpa on the top of Mt Everest with a client in 2002. He has climbed the peak 16 times.</figcaption> </figure>  Among those who believe Mallory and Irvine were the first to climb Mt Everest, and not <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-70-years-on">Hillary and Tenzing in 1953</a>, are the Nepali guides who took part in the research expeditions in 1999, 2001 and 2004 to find clues about Mallory and Irvine. Mallory’s body was found 8,125m on the North Face in 1999, and Irvine’s detached foot and sock with his initials inside a leather hob-nailed boot was found in 2024 in the Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face. Various expeditions have recovered a mitten, an oxygen cylinder, and ice axe from that expedition. “I believe they reached the summit, and fell on the way down in the dark and bad weather,” says <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/sherpaland-co-usa">Panuru Sherpa</a>, who has climbed Mt Everest 16 times, including on the northern route taken by four British expeditions in 1921, 1922, 1924 and 1933. “They were making good progress past the Second Step from where it is a much easier hour-and-half to the summit. A climber who reaches that point below the final pyramid does not turn back.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110148_bdbdd01c5c12cb5bb022857f7ca871cc4ff95e02c2305f6bbf1a63d1d15de8e4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260108110148_bdbdd01c5c12cb5bb022857f7ca871cc4ff95e02c2305f6bbf1a63d1d15de8e4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="864" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Mt Everest North Face in China which early expeditions took because Nepal was closed till 1950. The red line is the classic route to the peak, the dotted line is probably what George Mallory and Sandy Irvine took in 1924 to avoid the formidable obstacle of the Second Step.</figcaption> </figure>  Panuru is convinced that the location of Mallory’s body and Irvine’s ice axe shows that the two had not lost their way on their descent. He told Nepali Times in Denver, where he now lives: “Mallory’s body was not decomposed even after 75 years, and his exposed back was white like marble. One of legs was broken, and there was an altimeter and letters written to his wife Ruth in his pocket.” He remembers the search team was happy to locate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/mountains-of-books">Mallory</a>, but it was unable to find one of the three cameras believed to be with the duo that could have held the proof that the two, or at least one of them, had indeed been the first to climb Everest.&nbsp; There was a deep wound around Mallory’s waist, which could have been caused during the fall by the rope which was still found tied around his body. Mallory’s remains were covered in stone slabs at the site after a brief ritual, Panuru recalls. A 1975 Chinese expedition reported seeing the body of a Western climber, which was probably Mallory, near their Camp VI. There are rumours in climbing circles that the Chinese also found a camera, but that the negative could not be developed. Everest summiteers have said the Second Step’s 45m overhanging cliff at 8,610m would have been “essentially insurmountable”, and it is only possible today because the Chinese fixed aluminium ladders to the rock face in 1975.&nbsp; But Panuru agrees with other mountaineering historians who believe Mallory could have decided to take a route below the northeast ridge and bypass the Second Step, following the advice of fellow team member Ed Norton who set the then world record by reaching 8,572m. The other finding that could indicate that Mallory reached the top was that a photograph of his wife Ruth which he intended to place at the summit was not in his pocket.&nbsp; EVEREST CONNECTION Panuru is the son of Nima Tsering Sherpa, who was a part of the 1953 expedition to Mt Everest that made Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay the first climbers on the world’s highest peak. Nima carried loads for that expedition up to the South Col. Nima had eight sons and a daughter, Panuru is the sixth, and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-most-prolific-mountaineering-clan"> most of his siblings are also climbers</a>. After the successful 1953 expedition, Nima spent time grazing yaks, growing potatoes and raising his family in Phortse. He joined expeditions to support the family. The young Panuru would meet mountaineers who stopped by at the family’s tea house in Phortse. He has walked the Jiri route to Kathmandu many times, and his eldest brother who worked for Mountain Travel Nepal got him a job as a trekking guide. Panuru ended up joining expeditions, climbing Everest from both sides multiple times. Panuru Sherpa’s brother Danuru was the youngest member of the 1999 expedition, and a year earlier had first climbed Everest from the Nepal side when he was only 18. The siblings are now chefs at the Sherpa House in Colorado.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110152_9275f617585d33f7324d087455de7c61fd3759fe4d44a7ebe604fa2eefc047df.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260108110152_9275f617585d33f7324d087455de7c61fd3759fe4d44a7ebe604fa2eefc047df" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="523" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Brothers Panuru and Danuru Sherpa are now working in Golden, Colorado, and lead occasional climbing trips in the Rockies and Alaska.</figcaption> </figure>  In 2001, both brothers were members of another expedition composed of 20 foreign and 21 Nepali climbers led by David Hahn that tried to find Irvine in the same area of the North Face, guided by the discovery of Irvine’s ice axe in a 1933 expedition as well as sightings of what was believed to be his body near the ridge above. No more clues were found then, or in 2004 when Danuru returned for another search expedition. Remnants of Irvine and Mallory’s Camp VI were found at 8,600m during the 2001 expedition, only about 300m from where Mallory’s body was located.&nbsp; “It was probably dark when Mallory fell because his snow goggles were in his pocket,” says Danuru, who has taken part in the three search expeditions on the north side and is also convinced the two fell on their way down after reaching the summit. Altogether 13 people died on Everest during the three expeditions that Mallory was involved in, of which nine were Nepali porters, cooks and guides who were hired in Darjeeling before the march-in. “Chomolungma and Sherpa are synonymous,” says Danuru. “It was Chomolungma that made the Sherpa people famous globally, and it was Sherpas who made it possible to climb Everest.” Konrad Anker, who led the 1999 team that found Mallory’s body, doubts that one or both the climbers reached the summit in 1924, mainly because of the difficulty of climbing a cliff at 8,600m with the kind of gear they had.&nbsp; “It is possible, but unlikely they climbed the Second Step with 1920s equipment, but even getting to that altitude back then was an incredible accomplishment,” he has said. After the expedition, Anker and Panuru worked together to set up the Khumbu Climbing Center to upgrade the technical skills of Nepali guides. Panuru has also trained hundreds of fellow Nepali guides, and many of them regard him as a mentor. Panuru knew the need for better training because he himself had been badly wounded during a fall into a crevasse in the Khumbu Icefall in one of his early expeditions in 1992 and had to be evacuated by helicopter to Kathmandu.&nbsp; But the very next year, he was back on the mountain. He climbed Everest from the north with a Korean team in 1994, and a year later got to the top again from the north side with an American expedition. He summited again from the Nepal side in 1996, and nearly died in an avalanche on the north side that killed a fellow Sherpa in 1997.&nbsp; So far, Panuru has climbed Everest 16 times, Cho Oyu 14 times from both sides, Xixapangma four times, five other eight-thousanders in Nepal, and Ama Dablam six times. He was the first Nepali to ascend Gurla Mandhata in Tibet. After emigrating to the United States, he has climbed Mt Denali (6,190m) in Alaska three times while also being a part of a volunteer rescue team.&nbsp; Irvine’s boot was found by an expedition led by American climber Jimmy Chin in the Rongbuk Glacier, probably transported there from the base of the face by the movement of ice in the past 100 years. Asked why he climbed Everest 16 times, Panuru echoes George Mallory: “Because I was there.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Finding George Mallory

At the stroke of the midnight hour, it finally came to something everyone in Nepal’s oldest and biggest party had been dreading — a split.
Not that this was anything new. The Nepali Congress (NC) had splintered twice before and the main protagonist both times was five-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. After the GenZ uprising and being physically mauled and his house looted and set on fire on 9 September Deuba had said he was stepping aside, but it seems old ambitions die hard.
The showdown between the Gagan Thapa-Bishow Prakash Sharma camp and Deuba came to a head on Wednesday as the establishment leadership decided to suspend Thapa, Sharma, and Farmullah Mansoor for five years to punish them for daring to challenge the leadership and hold a special general convention.&nbsp;
Bhrikuti Mandap in the centre of Kathmandu is the venue for trade exhibitions, but this week it was where an exhibition of everything that is wrong with Nepali politics was on full display — lack of internal party democracy and an unaccountable gerontocracy clinging on to power.&nbsp;
Thapa and Sharma had gathered the support of 62% of the NC membership at their convention and chose Gagan Thapa as the new party leader and proposed him as a prime ministerial candidate after the 5 March election.
Deuba’s allies had refused to attend or endorse the special general convention, and were adamant about holding a general convention to choose a new party head after the election. Thapa, Sharma and their supporters argued that the party faced ignominious defeat in the polls if Deuba insisted on being prime minister again.
The events of September 2025 have cast a long shadow over Nepali politics, with many new parties and alliances pledging to represent the aspirations of the GenZ movement. However, that realisation does not seem to have dawned on the tried, tested and failed leadership of the NC, UML and the NCP where the party leaders have held on to power by sidelining all rivals. &nbsp;
Thapa and Sharma were NC general secretaries held multiple rounds of discussions to convince Deuba to accept their eight-point demand that for the party’s and the country’s sake his time was up, and he should cut and cut cleanly. Despite having already handed over the party leadership to Purna Bahadur Khadka in September, Deuba refused to step down.&nbsp;
‘What demands has the Nepali Congress been unable to reconcile that it is headed for a split? There is no ideological dispute, just a proposal to make it easier to go for the election,’ noted journalist and author Narayan Wagle. ‘If those who have been in politics for so many years cannot reach an agreement, what have they learned in life and what hope is there for the country?’
Gagan Thapa was elected unopposed as the new party president on Thursday midnight, with Sharma and Pushpa Bhusal appointed vice-presidents. Thapa has said backroom talks are still ongoing though mediators, but for all intents and purposes the split seems irreconcilable.&nbsp;
The million dollar question now is: who gets to be the real Nepali Congress? Who gets the NC’s tree election symbol at the polls?
Both the Thapa and Deuba factions have written to the Election Commission (EC) laying claim to the party and its symbol. Whatever the EC decides, with less than two months to go for the polls, the dispute over its legitimacy will almost certainly have to be decided in the courts.
Deuba and his counterpart K P Oli in the UML have been unwilling or unable to fathom the level of outrage that young Nepalis feel about their parties. They have shown an inability to heed the call for institutional overhaul within parties and in Nepal’s political culture post-September. Second generation leaders within those parties who have grown old waiting for reform, seem to have better internalised the need for internal restructuring.&nbsp;
Oli has managed to hold on to power after displaying increasing authoritarianism within his UML, while Deuba has shown an unwillingness to bow out of leadership with grace. Both have squandered away their legacy.
For Gagan Thapa, the events of Thursday was a culmination of his long-standing claim for leadership change within the NC coupled with a compulsion to address the demands of the youth movement to maximise gains for his party this election. Just like Deuba, Thapa’s house was also looted and torched during the September protests.
Thapa told Onlinekhabar on Thursday: “Our belief was that we cannot go into elections under the present circumstances under [Sher Bahadur Deuba’s] leadership and with him as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. We would lose.”
The special general convention has taken further steps for reform, endorsing amendments to the party statue, which has set term limits for key leadership positions, including a one-term limit for party president, two-term limit for prime minister, three for a ministerial position, and four terms for a directly elected member of Parliament. Meanwhile, party members are only allowed to become lawmakers through the Proportional Representation system for one term.&nbsp;
If Thapa’s leadership holds legitimacy, this new chapter for the NC might come as a welcome change to young Nepalis who have been calling for leadership overhaul and internal party reforms within the establishment parties. But it may also come at the cost of the NC’s core base. It remains to be seen which side tips the scale at the polls.&nbsp;
The NC’s infighting and institutional shake-up has also posed fresh concerns about how it will affect the election schedule just as it looked as though all the mainstream political parties were finally on board and preparing for the polls. With voting barely weeks away, Nepal’s political parties are still too busy cleaning up their own house to give too much time to work on their platforms, agendas and serious campaigning
Historically, political break-ups and make-ups in Nepal are not set in stone. Even the newest alliance between Rabi Lamichhane’s RSP and Kulman Ghising’s UNP did not even last 12 days. &nbsp;Balen Shah is set to resign from his mayor position in the next and has gotten into the thick of election preparation with the RSP. His next step will be to choose which constituency he is going to contest from.
Meanwhile, in the light of a new day, the two NC factions may still decide that breaking up is hard to do when they are so close to elections, and the political stakes are so high.&nbsp;