<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0f34b0ad905ca02f041jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3264" height="2448"/><figcaption>Nepali archer training for the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: NEPAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE</figcaption></figure>As Nepal plunges headfirst into 2021, it is worth reflecting back on a year of cancelled, postponed, or improvised events. Weddings and graduations to cricket tournaments and international conferences, all had to be cancelled or put off.Visit Nepal 2020 was an early casualty to the pandemic, and the lockdown wrecked the tourism industry. But <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/2020s-tips-for-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">there is some cautious optimism</a> about numbers picking up in 2021.There were advantages to cancelled events, virtual exhibitions and festivals meant geography was no longer a barrier.Organisers are looking forward to holding these cancelled physical events in 2021:Sustainable SummitsDuring the 4th Sustainable Summits at Chamonix in France, Nepal won the contract to host the 5th edition of the international event in Kathmandu in 2020. It was slated for June and <a href="https://sustainablesummits2020.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had to be postponed</a>. The organisers released a 50-minute video in which leaders and experts spoke about the impact of the climate crisis on the Himalaya.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0f74b0ad905ca02f042jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="933" height="1280"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The Sustainable Summits 2021 will now be held virtually as well as physically from 31 May to 4 June at ICIMOD headquarters in Kathmandu, just ahead of the Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow. The Glasgow Summit was itself postponed and is a vital step to heal the planet.“The situation is getting more urgent with climate change, and the Himalaya is getting more and more focus because we're seeing the effects of glacial retreat and permafrost cracking underneath houses in Khumbu,” says Lisa Choegyal, who is part of the organising committee fo the four-day summit.“The fact that we’ve got COP26 coming up means Sustainable Summits has grown to being something that can make a global statement and achieve lasting change,” Choegyal says. “In a way, we’ve taken a step up to be global leaders as opposed to being a voice on the side.”One of the beneficial side-effects of the global pandemic is that global carbon emissions actually decreased in 2020 despite forest destruction that decreased land sinks for CO2.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0f94b0ad905ca02f043jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360"><figcaption>Kathmandu Triennale 2017. Photos: SHRAJESH TULADHAR, GOPEN RAI and ANUJ ARORA</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0fa4b0ad905ca02f044jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0fc4b0ad905ca02f045jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="425"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Kathmandu TriennaleThe Siddhartha Art Foundation’s second <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/art-on-the-city-kathmandu-triennale,3607" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu Triennale</a> was supposed to be in 2020 and was supposed to explore multiple discourses on decolonisation, migration, indigenous knowledge.  It has been pushed to the second half of 2021, and will feature works from over 100 artists and collaborators from more than 40 countries.The Triennale will run for a month at multiple venues including the Nepal Art Council, The Taragaon Museum, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan Museum</a>, The Chhauni Museum, Siddhartha Art Gallery, and the Bahadur Shah Baithak. The exhibitions will be curated by Cosmin Costinas of Para Site in Hong Kong, as well as Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung.“The Triennale format has enabled us to link with all the Biennale and Triennale happening around the world in 2021, and place Nepal on the global art map,” Sangeeta Thapa of the Siddhartha Art Foundation.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0fe4b0ad905ca02f046jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf1024b0ad905ca02f047jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Photo Kathmandu Nepal’s best known <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/photo-kathmandu-in-a-new-avatar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">photography festival</a> was supposed to happen in November, but will stretch out its 4th edition right through 2021 as opposed to previous month-long events. The shows and talks will mostly be virtual, and some of them have already begun. There will be physical exhibitions in 2021 if the pandemic tapers off.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf1044b0ad905ca02f048jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="351"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Film Festivals Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) barely managed to be held February just as the pandemic was spreading. But other events such as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/irena-taskovski-virtually-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pame Film Festival</a>, the National Human Rights International Film Festival (NHRIFF), and KIMFF went virtual during the tail end of 2020, which meant that a large number of viewers including the Nepali diaspora had access to participating Nepali films.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-postpones-international-events-as-fear-of-covid-19-intensifies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pokhara Film Society</a>, however, opted to wait out the pandemic and postponed it from March, well before the Covid lockdown began. Festival Director Santosh Sharma Sapkota says, “We are hoping to have the 5th edition physically in 2021 with virtual options for viewers who prefer it.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf1054b0ad905ca02f049jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1152" height="864"><figcaption>Nepali athletes train for the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: NEPAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE</figcaption></figure>Tokyo Olympics<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-tennis-shines-in-covid-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali athletes</a> were just gearing up for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics when it was  rescheduled for 23 July-8 August 2021. Fifteen Nepali athletes are training for archery, judo, tae kwon do, karate, shooting, weightlifting, swimming, and athletics. Of them, ten are in Kathmandu and three are in Pokhara, while two swimmers have been training in London.Chaturananda Raj Vaidhya of the Nepal Olympics Committee (NOC) told Nepali Times  the committee has constantly been in touch with the athletes virtually to ensure that their training and nutrition needs were being met.  Although training was scaled-back during the lockdown, athletes are now back to full-fledged schedules.2020 saw many sports institutions and teams across the world adopt bio-bubbles to restrict players’ exposure to the coronavirus.  Nepali athletes are also in closed training camps. “The International Olympics Committee has informed us that all participating Olympians will be vaccinated for free in the event that any coronavirus vaccine is approved,” Vaidhya explains. "In the meantime, we are following all safety protocols.”

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

Ring in the old in 2021

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea0f9c7e80680e0878f8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3264" height="2448"/><figcaption>Nepali archer training for the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: NEPAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE</figcaption></figure>As Nepal plunges headfirst into 2021, it is worth reflecting back on a year of cancelled, postponed, or improvised events. Weddings and graduations to cricket tournaments and international conferences, all had to be cancelled or put off.Visit Nepal 2020 was an early casualty to the pandemic, and the lockdown wrecked the tourism industry. But <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/2020s-tips-for-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">there is some cautious optimism</a> about numbers picking up in 2021.There were advantages to cancelled events, virtual exhibitions and festivals meant geography was no longer a barrier.Organisers are looking forward to holding these cancelled physical events in 2021:Sustainable SummitsDuring the 4th Sustainable Summits at Chamonix in France, Nepal won the contract to host the 5th edition of the international event in Kathmandu in 2020. It was slated for June and <a href="https://sustainablesummits2020.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had to be postponed</a>. The organisers released a 50-minute video in which leaders and experts spoke about the impact of the climate crisis on the Himalaya.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea129c7e80680e0878f9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="933" height="1280"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Sustainable Summits 2021 will now be held virtually as well as physically from 31 May to 4 June at ICIMOD headquarters in Kathmandu, just ahead of the Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow. The Glasgow Summit was itself postponed and is a vital step to heal the planet.“The situation is getting more urgent with climate change, and the Himalaya is getting more and more focus because we're seeing the effects of glacial retreat and permafrost cracking underneath houses in Khumbu,” says Lisa Choegyal, who is part of the organising committee fo the four-day summit.“The fact that we’ve got COP26 coming up means Sustainable Summits has grown to being something that can make a global statement and achieve lasting change,” Choegyal says. “In a way, we’ve taken a step up to be global leaders as opposed to being a voice on the side.”One of the beneficial side-effects of the global pandemic is that global carbon emissions actually decreased in 2020 despite forest destruction that decreased land sinks for CO2.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea159c7e80680e0878fajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea179c7e80680e0878fbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea1a9c7e80680e0878fcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="425"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Kathmandu TriennaleThe Siddhartha Art Foundation’s second <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/art-on-the-city-kathmandu-triennale,3607" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu Triennale</a> was supposed to be in 2020 and was supposed to explore multiple discourses on decolonisation, migration, indigenous knowledge.  It has been pushed to the second half of 2021, and will feature works from over 100 artists and collaborators from more than 40 countries.The Triennale will run for a month at multiple venues including the Nepal Art Council, The Taragaon Museum, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan Museum</a>, The Chhauni Museum, Siddhartha Art Gallery, and the Bahadur Shah Baithak. The exhibitions will be curated by Cosmin Costinas of Para Site in Hong Kong, as well as Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung.“The Triennale format has enabled us to link with all the Biennale and Triennale happening around the world in 2021, and place Nepal on the global art map,” Sangeeta Thapa of the Siddhartha Art Foundation.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea1c9c7e80680e0878fdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea209c7e80680e0878fejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Photo Kathmandu Nepal’s best known <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/photo-kathmandu-in-a-new-avatar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">photography festival</a> was supposed to happen in November, but will stretch out its 4th edition right through 2021 as opposed to previous month-long events. The shows and talks will mostly be virtual, and some of them have already begun. There will be physical exhibitions in 2021 if the pandemic tapers off.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea229c7e80680e0878ffjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="351"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Film Festivals Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) barely managed to be held February just as the pandemic was spreading. But other events such as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/irena-taskovski-virtually-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pame Film Festival</a>, the National Human Rights International Film Festival (NHRIFF), and KIMFF went virtual during the tail end of 2020, which meant that a large number of viewers including the Nepali diaspora had access to participating Nepali films.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-postpones-international-events-as-fear-of-covid-19-intensifies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pokhara Film Society</a>, however, opted to wait out the pandemic and postponed it from March, well before the Covid lockdown began. Festival Director Santosh Sharma Sapkota says, “We are hoping to have the 5th edition physically in 2021 with virtual options for viewers who prefer it.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea249c7e80680e087900jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1152" height="864"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Tokyo Olympics<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-tennis-shines-in-covid-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali athletes</a> were just gearing up for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics when it was  rescheduled for 23 July-8 August 2021. Fifteen Nepali athletes are training for archery, judo, tae kwon do, karate, shooting, weightlifting, swimming, and athletics. Of them, ten are in Kathmandu and three are in Pokhara, while two swimmers have been training in London.Chaturananda Raj Vaidhya of the Nepal Olympics Committee (NOC) told Nepali Times  the committee has constantly been in touch with the athletes virtually to ensure that their training and nutrition needs were being met.  Although training was scaled-back during the lockdown, athletes are now back to full-fledged schedules.2020 saw many sports institutions and teams across the world adopt bio-bubbles to restrict players’ exposure to the coronavirus.  Nepali athletes are also in closed training camps. “The International Olympics Committee has informed us that all participating Olympians will be vaccinated for free in the event that any coronavirus vaccine is approved,” Vaidhya explains. "In the meantime, we are following all safety protocols.”

Shristi Karki

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0774b0ad905ca02f012jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="854"/><figcaption>Thousands of people took to the streets this week to protest prime minister Oli's decision to dissolve the Lower House. Photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Even though the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-year-of-living-dangerously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 disease is still spreading and killing people</a> and there is a new strain that is spreading around the world, people in Kathmandu seem to think <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/2020s-tips-for-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the pandemic</a> is over.At least that is the impression one gets in Nepal's capital these days. The traffic jams and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-lockdown-proves-air-quality-can-be-improved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> are back to 'normal' levels. Shops and malls are open and crowded.Even though the government has not yet lifted the ban on large gatherings, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/covid-fatigue-drives-nepalis-to-nightspots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">night clubs in Thamel</a> are crammed with locals, there are indoor concerts, political rallies and gatherings every day.And not many are keeping a safe distance or wearing masks. It is as if Nepal's famous fatalism is manifesting itself, this time in collective acts of irresponsibility.Although the number of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepals-covid-19-figures-are-deceptive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">active cases nationwide has dropped</a> below 10,000, the recovery rate is now above 95% and the number of people in home isolation has also dropped, public health experts urge caution -- especially if the more contagious strain of virus arrives in Nepal.More than half the 1,810 fatalities in Nepal from Covid-19 so far are in Kathmandu Valley, and there was an average of 10 deaths a day from the disease this week. Some 44% of the total confirmed cases are from the Valley.The incidence of confirmed cases per 100,000 population in Nepal is 831, which is the second-highest after the Maldives. India is at 703, and Thailand is only 6.This week, the Nepal government <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/nepal-blocks-travel-from-uk-over-new-virus-threat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">banned air passengers from or transitting UK</a> from flying to Kathmandu.The rock band Cobweb held an indoor Christmas concert in the LOD club in Thamel this week attended by hundreds of mainly maskless people.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf07a4b0ad905ca02f013jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="854"><figcaption>Hundreds of people attended Cobweb's Christmas concert where only a rare few wore masks with the club filled to the brim.</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf07d4b0ad905ca02f014jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0804b0ad905ca02f015jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">On Friday, the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led faction of the Nepal Communist Party that is trying to oust Prime Minister K P Oli after a protracted power struggle <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pm-oli-to-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">organised a rally</a> attended by thousands of supporters at the Mandala intersection and the Election Commission.Although Dahal and other senior leaders wore masks, many of their party cadre jostling behind them did not.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0834b0ad905ca02f016jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="853"><figcaption>Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other top leaders participated in demonstrations with masks but many of party cadre went without one.</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0864b0ad905ca02f017jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0894b0ad905ca02f018jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">There were also demonstrations by smaller parties as well as those by independent groups and civil society, most of the participants had forgone masks and there was no concept of physical distancing.At Labim Mall in Lalitpur, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-qfx-cinema-needs-a-happy-ending/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">QFX Cinema</a> opened its multiplex on Christmas Day. Although management took all the necessary precautions, the crowds in the mall was almost back to pre-Covid levels. In fact, the queue extended to the parking lot of the mall.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf08c4b0ad905ca02f019jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="1280"><figcaption>Ticket queue outside QFX Cinema at Labim Mall on Friday. Photo: ALISHA SIJAPATI</figcaption></figure>In its periodic update this week, the World Health Organisation said: 'Nationally the second surge began in mid-July and peaked by end October and is currently showing an apparent downward trend which may be influenced partly by the significant decrease in the number of tests being done.'

Concerts, rallies and crowded malls

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9919c7e80680e0878c9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="854"/><figcaption>Thousands of people took to the streets this week to protest prime minister Oli's decision to dissolve the Lower House. Photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Even though the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-year-of-living-dangerously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 disease is still spreading and killing people</a> and there is a new strain that is spreading around the world, people in Kathmandu seem to think <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/2020s-tips-for-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the pandemic</a> is over.At least that is the impression one gets in Nepal's capital these days. The traffic jams and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-lockdown-proves-air-quality-can-be-improved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> are back to 'normal' levels. Shops and malls are open and crowded.Even though the government has not yet lifted the ban on large gatherings, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/covid-fatigue-drives-nepalis-to-nightspots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">night clubs in Thamel</a> are crammed with locals, there are indoor concerts, political rallies and gatherings every day.And not many are keeping a safe distance or wearing masks. It is as if Nepal's famous fatalism is manifesting itself, this time in collective acts of irresponsibility.Although the number of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepals-covid-19-figures-are-deceptive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">active cases nationwide has dropped</a> below 10,000, the recovery rate is now above 95% and the number of people in home isolation has also dropped, public health experts urge caution -- especially if the more contagious strain of virus arrives in Nepal.More than half the 1,810 fatalities in Nepal from Covid-19 so far are in Kathmandu Valley, and there was an average of 10 deaths a day from the disease this week. Some 44% of the total confirmed cases are from the Valley.The incidence of confirmed cases per 100,000 population in Nepal is 831, which is the second-highest after the Maldives. India is at 703, and Thailand is only 6.This week, the Nepal government <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/nepal-blocks-travel-from-uk-over-new-virus-threat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">banned air passengers from or transitting UK</a> from flying to Kathmandu.The rock band Cobweb held an indoor Christmas concert in the LOD club in Thamel this week attended by hundreds of mainly maskless people.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9949c7e80680e0878cajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="854"><figcaption>Hundreds of people attended Cobweb's Christmas concert where only a rare few wore masks with the club filled to the brim.</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9979c7e80680e0878cbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be99b9c7e80680e0878ccjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">On Friday, the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led faction of the Nepal Communist Party that is trying to oust Prime Minister K P Oli after a protracted power struggle <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pm-oli-to-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">organised a rally</a> attended by thousands of supporters at the Mandala intersection and the Election Commission.Although Dahal and other senior leaders wore masks, many of their party cadre jostling behind them did not.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be99e9c7e80680e0878cdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="853"><figcaption>Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other top leaders participated in demonstrations with masks but many of party cadre went without one.</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9a19c7e80680e0878cejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9a39c7e80680e0878cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">There were also demonstrations by smaller parties as well as those by independent groups and civil society, most of the participants had forgone masks and there was no concept of physical distancing.At Labim Mall in Lalitpur, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-qfx-cinema-needs-a-happy-ending/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">QFX Cinema</a> opened its multiplex on Christmas Day. Although management took all the necessary precautions, the crowds in the mall was almost back to pre-Covid levels. In fact, the queue extended to the parking lot of the mall.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9a59c7e80680e0878d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="1280"><figcaption>Ticket queue outside QFX Cinema at Labim Mall on Friday. Photo: ALISHA SIJAPATI</figcaption></figure>In its periodic update this week, the World Health Organisation said: 'Nationally the second surge began in mid-July and peaked by end October and is currently showing an apparent downward trend which may be influenced partly by the significant decrease in the number of tests being done.'

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be95d9c7e80680e0878b7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"/><figcaption>QFX Cinema at the Labim Mall multiplex is scheduled to reopen on 25 December. The cinema halls will observe strict protocols, including mask, half-capacity halls, disinfection after each show and no food and drinks. Photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>It was December 2019, and world was gearing up for a brand new decade. The most worrying things in most people’s minds were the climate crisis and Trumpism.The 2020s were expected to be a harbinger of new hopes and beginnings. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, throwing the world upside down, sowing uncertainty, loss and panic across the world.Nepal recorded its first Covid-19 case on 23 January from a male student who had returned from Wuhan, and was infected ten days previously. Now, almost a year later, the numbers are nearing 260,000 and the death toll has crossed 1,750.The government response has been characterised by flip-flopping policies, contradictory rules and lack of coordination. Political leaders and the bureaucracy were wrapped up in the power struggle in the ruling party that lasted the whole year, and led to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/i-had-no-other-option-pm-oli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dissolution of the Lower House</a> this week.The government promptly established the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/coronavirus-coordination-committee-doesnt-coordinate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 Crisis Management Committee</a> (CCMC) after the second Covid-19 case was detected, and Nepal was one of the first countries in the region to go into strict nationwide lockdown.“We panicked before time and when it was time to act, the people have given up fighting Covid, when they should be even more vigilant now,” public health expert Sher Bahadur Pun told Nepali Times, warning about the virus variants that could make the pandemic spread even faster.Pun adds: “The government had ample time to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-nepal-can-learn-from-china-about-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">learn from China</a>, Europe and other countries to curb the spread of the virus, but it lacked the commitment and resources. Because of this, things could get worse.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9609c7e80680e0878b8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>When the first Covid-19 case was recorded in January, Pun who was an employee at the Sukraraj Hospital saw people returning from China get ostracised. Then the discrimination shifted to people from the plains, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-health-workers-battle-covid-19-but-also-stigma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to frontline health workers</a>.In Kathmandu, many doctors, nurses, caregivers were asked to move out from their rented apartments. “Covid unleashed the worst side of people and this will have a long term effect,” Pun adds.Indeed, the impact has gone beyond strictly public health aspects of the disease. The prolonged lockdowns, uncertainty, job loss, and lack of social contact has led to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/post-pandemic-mental-health-epidemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pandemics of depression and mental health problems</a>, suicides, exacerbated the condition of those with pre-existing health conditions.Statistic also show a direct correlation between the lockdown period and the incidents of gender-based violence and rape, which also rose dramatically in April-August. (See graphs).<iframe id="datawrapper-chart-Rtggy" style="border: none;" title="Total Covid-19 cases" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Rtggy/1/" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Interactive line chart"></iframe><iframe id="datawrapper-chart-EXDw7" style="border: none;" title="Covid-19 in 2020" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EXDw7/2/" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Interactive line chart"></iframe>Data source: MINISTRY OF HEATH, NEPAL TOURISM BOARD, US EMBASSY, WOREC AND TRAFFIC POLICEThe lockdowns did have some indirect positive impact: the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Kathmandu and the plains <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-lockdown-proves-air-quality-can-be-improved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">improved dramatically in April-July</a> as vehicles went off the roads. The number of highway fatalities went down by half to less than 700 in March-August 2020, compared to the same period the previous year.“Nepalis outside the urban sphere have very little idea about mental health, and the lockdown was not helpful at all. Being cooped up at home for months and being socially distanced is one of the main causes for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/have-suicides-increased-during-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">high number of suicides</a>,” explains psychiatrist Kamal Gautam at Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO) Nepal.Nepal Police data shows that the monthly total of reported suicides in Nepal shot up to 972 in July from 668 in June, and 352 in January before the lockdowns.“If people do not get treatment in time and still think mental health is a taboo, suicides are bound to happen. Economic hardships and being cooped up at home are the major reasons for the increase in the number of suicides,” Gautam says.A survey by TPO Nepal with over 2,000 participants showed that 50% of those sampled showed some symptoms of psychological disorders such as anxiety and stress.Gautam blames the increasing disorders to the ‘infodemic’ of death and sickness in the mainstream press and social media. “What do you do at home for three months? Get on social media and become experts on every topic possible and perhaps misinform people creating panic,” Gautam warned.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9639c7e80680e0878b9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="737" height="518"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There was also an alarming rise in gender-based violence. In April, the group WOREC Nepal registered 36 cases of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/in-nepal-lockdown-a-domestic-violence-spike/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">domestic violence against women</a>, but by July this number had risen to 380. Forms of violence included domestic violence, rape, attempted rape and sexual abuse.“It’s women who have had to bear the brunt of the Covid lockdown. The economic hardship and the increasing mental and sexual frustration in men has led to an increase of such incidents. Those who are weaker in the family get attacked,” says WOREC’S Sulochana Khanal.Statistics show that suicide and violence against women increased steeply during the lockdown and started falling gradually when it was lifted in August. Similarly, as businesses opened and traffic picked up in August, air pollution in Kathmandu Valley and along highways got worse and the number of fatalities on the roads soared. By the Dasain-Tihar festival in November, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/how-covid-19-saves-lives-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">number of deaths on the roads</a> had spiked to 242 after falling to 52 in May.“The lockdown helped bring the AQI level from unhealthy to good, but if you look at the trend in the past, it shows that January always has unhealthy air to breathe while it goes down to breathable air during monsoon,” says environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9669c7e80680e0878bajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1263" height="752"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Traffic Police are among those worst affected by the pandemic. Since March, 407 traffic police have tested positive for SARS-Cov-2. And now with the increase in pollution, they are exposed to COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) risk.“Everyone is in a rush, where do they have to go?” asks a frustrated Traffic Police spokesperson, Shyam Krishna Adhikari. “People have been driving more recklessly after the lockdown, they are drinking and driving because there is less checking.”Nepal also had high hopes for Visit Nepal 2020 with a target of welcoming 2 million tourists. But the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) was forced to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-tourism-may-take-5-years-to-recover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cancel the campaign</a>. Tourist arrival figures show a dramatic drop after March to zero for three months after, and although the numbers picked up a bit after flights resumed in October, it looks like 2021 will also be a washout.<iframe id="datawrapper-chart-Jr0sh" style="border: none;" title="Tourists by air" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Jr0sh/1/" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Interactive line chart"></iframe>“Despite recent vaccine developments, it will take a few years for people to start travelling as they used to. The tourism sector will likely recover by mid-2022," says Deepak Raj Joshi, former CEO of NTB. "But if we are well equipped for other future crises, communicate to the world about our preparedness and tap into the growing South Asian market, we can recover."<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survive-2020-revive-in-2021-and-thrive-in-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joshi’s motto</a> is: “Survive 2020, revive in 2021 and thrive in 2022.”

A year of living dangerously

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0484b0ad905ca02f000jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"/><figcaption>QFX Cinema at the Labim Mall multiplex is scheduled to reopen on 25 December. The cinema halls will observe strict protocols, including mask, half-capacity halls, disinfection after each show and no food and drinks. Photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>It was December 2019, and world was gearing up for a brand new decade. The most worrying things in most people’s minds were the climate crisis and Trumpism.The 2020s were expected to be a harbinger of new hopes and beginnings. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, throwing the world upside down, sowing uncertainty, loss and panic across the world.Nepal recorded its first Covid-19 case on 23 January from a male student who had returned from Wuhan, and was infected ten days previously. Now, almost a year later, the numbers are nearing 260,000 and the death toll has crossed 1,750.The government response has been characterised by flip-flopping policies, contradictory rules and lack of coordination. Political leaders and the bureaucracy were wrapped up in the power struggle in the ruling party that lasted the whole year, and led to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/i-had-no-other-option-pm-oli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dissolution of the Lower House</a> this week.The government promptly established the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/coronavirus-coordination-committee-doesnt-coordinate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 Crisis Management Committee</a> (CCMC) after the second Covid-19 case was detected, and Nepal was one of the first countries in the region to go into strict nationwide lockdown.“We panicked before time and when it was time to act, the people have given up fighting Covid, when they should be even more vigilant now,” public health expert Sher Bahadur Pun told Nepali Times, warning about the virus variants that could make the pandemic spread even faster.Pun adds: “The government had ample time to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-nepal-can-learn-from-china-about-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">learn from China</a>, Europe and other countries to curb the spread of the virus, but it lacked the commitment and resources. Because of this, things could get worse.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf04a4b0ad905ca02f001jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>When the first Covid-19 case was recorded in January, Pun who was an employee at the Sukraraj Hospital saw people returning from China get ostracised. Then the discrimination shifted to people from the plains, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-health-workers-battle-covid-19-but-also-stigma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to frontline health workers</a>.In Kathmandu, many doctors, nurses, caregivers were asked to move out from their rented apartments. “Covid unleashed the worst side of people and this will have a long term effect,” Pun adds.Indeed, the impact has gone beyond strictly public health aspects of the disease. The prolonged lockdowns, uncertainty, job loss, and lack of social contact has led to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/post-pandemic-mental-health-epidemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pandemics of depression and mental health problems</a>, suicides, exacerbated the condition of those with pre-existing health conditions.Statistic also show a direct correlation between the lockdown period and the incidents of gender-based violence and rape, which also rose dramatically in April-August. (See graphs).<iframe id="datawrapper-chart-Rtggy" style="border: none;" title="Total Covid-19 cases" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Rtggy/1/" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Interactive line chart"></iframe><iframe id="datawrapper-chart-EXDw7" style="border: none;" title="Covid-19 in 2020" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EXDw7/2/" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Interactive line chart"></iframe>Data source: MINISTRY OF HEATH, NEPAL TOURISM BOARD, US EMBASSY, WOREC AND TRAFFIC POLICEThe lockdowns did have some indirect positive impact: the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Kathmandu and the plains <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-lockdown-proves-air-quality-can-be-improved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">improved dramatically in April-July</a> as vehicles went off the roads. The number of highway fatalities went down by half to less than 700 in March-August 2020, compared to the same period the previous year.“Nepalis outside the urban sphere have very little idea about mental health, and the lockdown was not helpful at all. Being cooped up at home for months and being socially distanced is one of the main causes for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/have-suicides-increased-during-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">high number of suicides</a>,” explains psychiatrist Kamal Gautam at Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO) Nepal.Nepal Police data shows that the monthly total of reported suicides in Nepal shot up to 972 in July from 668 in June, and 352 in January before the lockdowns.“If people do not get treatment in time and still think mental health is a taboo, suicides are bound to happen. Economic hardships and being cooped up at home are the major reasons for the increase in the number of suicides,” Gautam says.A survey by TPO Nepal with over 2,000 participants showed that 50% of those sampled showed some symptoms of psychological disorders such as anxiety and stress.Gautam blames the increasing disorders to the ‘infodemic’ of death and sickness in the mainstream press and social media. “What do you do at home for three months? Get on social media and become experts on every topic possible and perhaps misinform people creating panic,” Gautam warned.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf04d4b0ad905ca02f002jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="737" height="518"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There was also an alarming rise in gender-based violence. In April, the group WOREC Nepal registered 36 cases of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/in-nepal-lockdown-a-domestic-violence-spike/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">domestic violence against women</a>, but by July this number had risen to 380. Forms of violence included domestic violence, rape, attempted rape and sexual abuse.“It’s women who have had to bear the brunt of the Covid lockdown. The economic hardship and the increasing mental and sexual frustration in men has led to an increase of such incidents. Those who are weaker in the family get attacked,” says WOREC’S Sulochana Khanal.Statistics show that suicide and violence against women increased steeply during the lockdown and started falling gradually when it was lifted in August. Similarly, as businesses opened and traffic picked up in August, air pollution in Kathmandu Valley and along highways got worse and the number of fatalities on the roads soared. By the Dasain-Tihar festival in November, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/how-covid-19-saves-lives-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">number of deaths on the roads</a> had spiked to 242 after falling to 52 in May.“The lockdown helped bring the AQI level from unhealthy to good, but if you look at the trend in the past, it shows that January always has unhealthy air to breathe while it goes down to breathable air during monsoon,” says environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0504b0ad905ca02f003jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1263" height="752"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Traffic Police are among those worst affected by the pandemic. Since March, 407 traffic police have tested positive for SARS-Cov-2. And now with the increase in pollution, they are exposed to COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) risk.“Everyone is in a rush, where do they have to go?” asks a frustrated Traffic Police spokesperson, Shyam Krishna Adhikari. “People have been driving more recklessly after the lockdown, they are drinking and driving because there is less checking.”Nepal also had high hopes for Visit Nepal 2020 with a target of welcoming 2 million tourists. But the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) was forced to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-tourism-may-take-5-years-to-recover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cancel the campaign</a>. Tourist arrival figures show a dramatic drop after March to zero for three months after, and although the numbers picked up a bit after flights resumed in October, it looks like 2021 will also be a washout.<iframe id="datawrapper-chart-Jr0sh" style="border: none;" title="Tourists by air" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Jr0sh/1/" width="600" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Interactive line chart"></iframe>“Despite recent vaccine developments, it will take a few years for people to start travelling as they used to. The tourism sector will likely recover by mid-2022," says Deepak Raj Joshi, former CEO of NTB. "But if we are well equipped for other future crises, communicate to the world about our preparedness and tap into the growing South Asian market, we can recover."<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survive-2020-revive-in-2021-and-thrive-in-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joshi’s motto</a> is: “Survive 2020, revive in 2021 and thrive in 2022.”

Climber, expedition leader and later a supplier of bottled oxygen to Himalayan mountaineers, Henry Barclay Todd died on 3 November 2025 in his favourite place on earth, Kathmandu.&nbsp;
Todd was larger than life, a metaphor often used, yet it could not be more fitting. Standing nearly 2m tall, and possessing an unshakeable will, he lived life on a grand scale, both in body and spirit.&nbsp;
Todd was a pillar in the Himalayan climbing community, supporting many mountaineers across Nepal and Pakistan, making it possible for them to fulfil the dream of standing on the world’s highest peaks. He believed deeply in the strength, skill, and potential of the Sherpa people, and offered them opportunities that might otherwise have remained out of reach.&nbsp;
“Thank you, Henry. Your trust changed my life. Rest in peace, my leader, my teacher, my friend,” said Dorjee Gyelzen Sherpa in his tribute.
Born in 1945 to Royal Air Force officer Henry Todd and May Todd of the Women’s Royal Air Force, Henry spent his early years in Singapore. He led a lively childhood with his two brothers, far removed from the mountains that would later define his path.&nbsp;
A gifted swimmer like his father, Henry never pursued the sport professionally. Instead, after returning to Dundee as a teenager and attending seven different schools, he set off for London, where he began working for an insurance company before finding his true calling in adventure.
Henry Todd first came to Nepal in the mid-1980s and made his first attempt on Ama Dablam in 1987, an expedition that marked the beginning of an extraordinary and colourful climbing career. <a href="https://www.himalayandatabase.com/" target="_blank">The Himalayan Database</a> lists 61 expeditions that he led in Nepal alone — there were more in the Karakoram, Argentina and the Alps.&nbsp;
But Todd would joyfully say that a few hard Scottish ascents held a more personal meaning to him than even the greatest Himalayan summits.
Over the decades, he crossed paths with many legendary climbers like Anatoli Boukreev, Jerzy Kukuczka, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington as well as celebrities including members of Pink Floyd and Nobel Prize laureates whom he befriended.&nbsp;
He had a gift to never name-drop, but would simply mention that he had had lunch with Minnie Driver (niece of his long-time friend Andra) or that he had bought his first car from Donald Sutherland. For Todd, these were not bragging rights, they were simply part of the colourful tapestry of his life.
Todd’s life was filled with extraordinary experiences from surviving plane crashes, avalanches and earthquakes to quietly solving countless problems, which was one of his favourite past-times. His hands, famously large and steady, were always ready to help whether in the chaos of the mountains or the calm of a base camp.&nbsp;
With his sharp sense of humour and the beloved exclamation “Whoopie!”,he could bring lightness even to the toughest moments. He never tired of taking on challenges or helping when someone was in need, and he enriched so many people’s lives with his endless stories.
His legacy is immense. He helped build the human backbone of Himalayan climbing, enabling generations of climbers to test themselves in the world’s highest places. With his passing, an era of bold, spirited Himalayan guiding has come to a close.
Todd survived by a loving family, many close friends and a global community of climbers and Sherpas who will never forget him and his endless tales.&nbsp;
His family said in a statement: ‘Henry’s strength, warmth and unyielding belief in others will live on far above the clouds. He was indestructible in our eyes and in our hearts, he always will be.’
There will be a memorial service at Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu on 8 November 2025 around lunchtime.

Henry Barclay Todd, 80

The autumn mountaineering season is not over yet, and already there have been 12 fatalities on Himalayan peaks in Nepal.
Of the 1,450 climbing permits issued, 436 were for Mt Ama Dablam (6,812m), 374 for Mt Manaslu (8,163m) and 186 for Himlung Himal (7,126m). There were deaths on all three mountains.
The death of two French climbers on Ama Dablam happened before unseasonal blizzards hit the mountains. But Cyclone Montha from the Bay of Bengal brought on high winds and up to 1m of snow in the peak trekking and mountaineering season.
This increased avalanche conditions, and made helicopter evacuation of stranded and injured climbers difficult. Lower down the mountains, more than 1,000 trekkers from Nepal and around the world were stuck in the Annapurnas, Manaslu circuit and the Khumbu.
However, there have also been allegations that it was not just the weather that delayed rescues. Multiple levels of bureaucracy and the need for flight permits to restricted areas like Manang and Manaslu critically delayed evacuation flights.
Italian climbers Farronato Stefano and Caputo Alessandro were found dead in their tent at Panbari Himal Camp I (6,887m) in the Manaslu area. They had been trapped by heavy snowfall since 28 October, and their bodies were found on 4 November by a team from the expedition organisers, Sherpa Alpine Trekking Service. The team was made up of high level mountain guides and expedition leader Valter Perlino.
The team had been climbing to Camp 3 but decided to descend to base camp because of thrombosis in Perlino’s left foot. The two climbers who would eventually get trapped decided to break at Camp I, a decision that would prove fatal after the projected six-day snowfall arrived two days early.
“They were sleeping in a tent and were buried under 2.5 metres of compacted snow. It happened during the night between Thursday and Friday. While they were sleeping, absurd,” said Perlino.
A deadly incident took place the morning of 3 November, when five foreigners and two Nepalis died in an avalanche on Yalung Ri at 5,630m in the Rolwaling. They were part of a larger group of 15 that were acclimatising for an attempt on the nearby Dolma Khang (6,332m).
Local authorities in Gauri Shankar Conservation Area say calls were immediately made to helicopter companies as well as various ministries in Kathmandu that have to issue permits to fly to the region bordering China.
But the permits for rescue flights to Rolwaling Valley were delayed by eight hours. Rescue flights in these areas require permission from the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Ministry, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
Experts say this should be exempted in times of emergency when time is of the essence. CAAN spokesperson Pratap Babu Tiwari claimed to not know of the avalanche on Yalung Ri and deflected questions to the permission department.&nbsp;
There was a similar tragedy on Himlung Himal in Manang as well. Australian Chin-Tark Chan, 49, was climbing with 8K Expeditions and fell ill on 27 October at about 6,800m, developing snow blindness and loss of mobility. The guides immediately called the US insurance company Global Rescue for authorisation of a longline rescue.
Global Rescue refused, saying a rescue at that height would violate Nepal’s aviation rules and put the pilot at unacceptable risk. They asked the guides to transport Chan to Camp 3 at 6,400m to a permitted altitude. Seeing it was a life-or-death situation for its client, 8K called in an aerial rescue anyway, but the helicopter could not land due to bad weather. Chan died slightly below Camp 3 on 29 October.
Global Rescue said in a statement that it was ready to send in a helicopter after Chan had been transported to Camp 3, but several hours were lost for that attempt, and the weather did not get better in the next few days.
To underscore just how dangerous helicopter rescues in the Himalaya can be in bad weather, a chopper from Altitude Air skidded off the helipad at Lobuche below Mt Everest while trying to rescue trekkers in whiteout conditions.&nbsp;
CAAN announced a ban on flights during blizzards or dense fog. While rescue missions are often heroic and courageous, they should not be foolhardy if conditions are unsafe and the risk to pilots and rescuers too high. This autumn was a lesson for future expeditions and for the Nepal government.&nbsp;
The Italian duo on Panbari were caught out by snow that arrived two days ahead of schedule, but the group on Yalung Ri should have postponed their ascent after multiple warnings from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology to avoid high altitudes.

Deadly autumn in Himalayan climbing

Traditional donors have sharply scaled back their aid commitments to developing countries over the past year. Some, like the United States, have virtually eliminated their aid programs. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), official development assistance (ODA) from member countries <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2025/04/official-development-assistance-2024-figures.html" target="_blank">declined by 7.1%</a> in 2024, its first annual drop in six years. This trend was not limited to a few major donors. Of the 33 members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), 22 slashed their aid budgets, and only four countries met the United Nations’ target of allocating 0.7% of gross national income to ODA. The outlook for the coming year offers little hope for improvement, as major DAC donors have announced additional cuts. Most notably, US President Donald Trump’s administration has suspended most foreign aid and dismantled the Agency for International Development (USAID), which dispersed most US government aid dollars. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom plans to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrkkv4gd7o" target="_blank">reduce aid spending</a> from 0.5% of GNI to 0.3% by 2027. Similar retrenchment across Europe and North America is reshaping international assistance, disrupting humanitarian and climate-related programs, and creating financing gaps in critical sectors such as health, education, and clean energy. In our 2017 book <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/going-beyond-aid/B48F59C6D8D2790D403A1A0C44B37612" target="_blank">Going Beyond Aid</a>, we urged developing-country governments to reduce their dependence on foreign aid, not only because it was becoming an unreliable source of funding, but also because other, better ways of financing development were becoming more available. That message is more urgent than ever. As reliance on aid becomes untenable, the international community must mobilise a broader array of financing sources to advance green and sustainable growth. This includes national development banks, industrial investment funds, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investment in public markets, as well as innovative mechanisms such as debt swaps and public-private partnerships (PPPs). These tools can unlock domestic resources, attract long-term investors, and create synergies between public goals and private capital. Equity investment offers a promising avenue for engaging non-traditional development partners while reducing developing countries’ dependence on debt. Government investment funds, public and private financial institutions, and other private actors can participate by taking equity stakes in public enterprises, financing infrastructure projects, or joining PPPs. Such participation not only alleviates debt burdens but also improves the performance and management of public assets. As government-funded, mission-driven institutions, public development banks (PDBs) have the potential to provide patient capital for green and sustainable investment in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs). Building on the <a href="http://www.dfidatabase.pku.edu.cn/index.htm" target="_blank">pioneering database</a> of public development and financial institutions created by the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University, future research can identify effective ways to harness these institutions to fuel low-carbon growth. Responding to growing demand from the economies of the Global South, development partners have increasingly adopted an “entire value chain” approach to the green transition in recent years. This strategy facilitates transfers of low-carbon technologies, diffusion of digital innovations (including trade in services), and industrial modernisation, enabling countries included in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to accelerate their shift toward sustainable development. Empirical research supports this approach. An analysis covering 139 countries <a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-first-evidence-of-a-take-off-in-solar-in-africa/" target="_blank">finds</a> that, following policy directives to incorporate green and low-carbon principles into the BRI, carbon intensity (CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP) among participating countries declined significantly between 2013 and 2022. These findings are consistent with another <a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-first-evidence-of-a-take-off-in-solar-in-africa/" target="_blank">recent study</a> showing how China’s solar-energy expansion has helped transform Africa’s power sector. Investment in infrastructure and industrial development can also generate positive spillover effects. Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jors.70023" target="_blank">shows</a> that the presence of at least one Chinese-financed infrastructure project in a second-order administrative region (comparable to a municipality) is associated with a 5% increase in nighttime luminosity – a widely used proxy for economic activity. Neighbouring regions experienced a 10-15% rise in luminosity, indicating that the benefits of such projects extend well beyond the immediate investment site.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251104131124_1a11d248a89b0785bc7d7f1d9f721e7e7a2563cbd579c3c672a0900220c19171.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20251104131124_1a11d248a89b0785bc7d7f1d9f721e7e7a2563cbd579c3c672a0900220c19171" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="405" loading="lazy" alt="development aid and China"></figure>  These outcomes underscore the critical role of infrastructure investment, particularly in energy and transportation projects. By improving electricity access, affordability, and connectivity, they reduce energy poverty, bolster public services, and stimulate economic activity in underserved areas. To meet the evolving challenges of development finance, both traditional and non-traditional donors and creditors should move beyond aid and adopt multidimensional strategies that combine trade, investment, infrastructure, green technology, and digital connectivity, including fintech solutions, to support EMDEs. Importantly, such collaborations should be viewed as a mutual learning process in which partners assume complementary roles and shared responsibilities. To be sure, there have been missteps along the way. China’s financing of coal-fired power plants before 2021, for example, had slowed reduction in CO₂ emissions. But these outcomes, once recognised as policy errors, can help strengthen accountability and foster self-correcting mechanisms within the international development ecosystem. Through ongoing learning and adaptation, global partners can build a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable framework for development finance. © <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/">Project Syndicate</a> Justin Yifu Lin, a former World Bank chief economist and Senior VP, is the honorary dean of the National School of Development and director of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University. Yan Wang is Senior Academic Researcher at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.

Development finance must shift away from aid

This is the 73rd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. I don’t remember playing with dolls as a little girl. There is not much to remember from my childhood.&nbsp; My responsibilities began at a very young age, as I had two younger brothers to take care of. I was born in Sarlahi, but we moved around quite a bit as my father was in the government and got transferred frequently.&nbsp; From Rasuwa to Dang, from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu. I struggled to adjust in Kathmandu because I joined Grade 9 in the middle of the term. The education was different and fellow students also did not support me initially. But over time, I adjusted and made friends. I did not dream of becoming a nurse. It was by accident. I wanted to pursue medicine, but failed the entrance exam by a few marks. I did not want to lose a year, so decided to take up microbiology instead.&nbsp; I got married after my undergraduate, and my husband encouraged me to take up something more technical like nursing or engineering instead of Masters in Microbiology. As my quantitative background was weak, I chose nursing. I felt like I was born to be a nurse. Juggling my married life and studies was difficult. My teachers would often ask me why I am falling behind. It was not easy, but I managed and took up a full-time job as a nurse. There are challenges being a nurse in Nepal. You are overworked, underpaid, there is lack of appreciation. Superiors can be overbearing. These problems persist. But the bright spot is that you get to serve fellow Nepalis, and be close to your family.&nbsp; Just like I had no intention initially of becoming a nurse, I had no intention of migrating overseas. But life had different plans for me. After my baby boy was born, I noticed that something was off. Even at nine months he had not started crawling or sitting. As a nurse I knew something was wrong, and I took him for check-ups. He tested negative for down syndrome, but he had a heart defect.&nbsp; The cardiologist recommended that I take him to India where he was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects 1 in 10,000 people. It delayed his development. I looked for therapy. It was either not effective, or too expensive. Some schools also refused to admit him, and it drove me to tears.&nbsp; My family members overseas in the UK, US told me to emigrate as there were better facilities for differently abled children. So I decided to apply to the UK. Luckily just then there were calls for candidates under the Nepal-UK government-to-government pilot scheme for 100 nurses. Only 40 met the criteria, and I was one of them.&nbsp; I still remember the day I received the news on the day of my puja. There were people around me, and they told me that it was the result of my fasting and devotion on that auspicious day. Perhaps it was. Life was taking a new turn, and I was happy. I made it to the UK in February 2024 without paying a single paisa to any broker. The G2G scheme was unique as we were treated with dignity and valued for our skills: they covered costs for the ticket and visa, reimbursed us for exams we had taken and costs involved in the preparation and testing of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination were also covered.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251106071148_dc5a0d0ea3024b34a4f2735754f8eb67a650bc7f61b98c75d589676c65b02a0c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251106071148_dc5a0d0ea3024b34a4f2735754f8eb67a650bc7f61b98c75d589676c65b02a0c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Nurses NT"> </figure>  It was of course difficult to leave my son behind. But I was doing it for his future. I had the option of taking him from the start, but it was a new place and I wanted to be well-settled and knowledgeable about the options available for him before bringing him along. As I packed, he would ask me to take him with me in my suitcase. It did not seem like he was affected by my departure, and it was only later that his teachers said that he would express his feelings more openly at school. He just did not know how to tell me he missed me, and he would tell teachers he was worried I had forgotten him if we did not speak for a day.&nbsp; He missed me, and that realisation made me emotional. But I had to carry on. Life in the UK was difficult in the beginning. Even so, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Fortunately I had cooperative staff who patiently answered my questions. I think I would have been irritated if I were in their place. But they did not seem to mind, and their support and guidance made it easy for me to adjust to the new work environment. APPRECIATION I still struggle to understand the accent of my English patients, and have ask the matron for help. They compliment me on my English, but I can speak better than I understand. The good thing about working in the UK is that you are appreciated for your work, which can be motivating. Sometimes, after a long day’s work you get a message from your supervisor acknowledging your work with a thank you. That’s enough to erase your tiredness.&nbsp; So far I have received 32 WOW nominations which are acknowledgements from patients for a job well done. It can be motivating, especially in the beginning. The main difference between the Alpana who first left Kathmandu for the UK and the Alpana now is that I am a much more confident person. What makes a good nurse? Skills, knowledge and qualifications are of course a given. But mostly, you need humanity. A smiling face. The way you communicate. Your empathy. These attributes can already solve many problems that patients are facing. This is my second time back home in the last 20 months. And this time, I have arranged for my son’s visa. I will go back after Tihar with my son and husband.&nbsp; I am happy, but also a little nervous about what awaits us. What kind of school will I put him in? Will it really be different from schools here? Will his needs be addressed? Will it be like here, or will he be able to adjust?&nbsp; But I am determined to make it work. Success for me would be if he adjusted well and there is a change in his condition. He still cannot recognise alphabets and read words like kids in his age group. Hopefully he will get learning support in the UK. He also has a knack for music, and this is common among individuals with Williams Syndrome. His ears perk up when he hears music, and he takes part in musical events at school. He still does not recognise letters &nbsp;but he uses voice commands to search for guitar videos on YouTube. I will enrol him in music classes, and help him develop this gift. For now, I worry how he will behave on his long flight. He has a short attention span and gets restless. He is also very social and will want to speak with everyone around him, and might irritate fellow passengers.&nbsp; I have already started trying to make him understand that he will need to behave on the flight. He nods in agreement. Let’s see how it goes. &nbsp;

2021

Ring in the old in 2021

Ring in the old in 2021

Concerts, rallies and crowded malls

Concerts, rallies and crowded malls

A year of living dangerously

A year of living dangerously

Henry Barclay Todd, 80

Deadly autumn in Himalayan climbing

Development finance must shift away from aid

“I felt like I was born to be a nurse”