Nama Raj Budhathoki was doing his PhD in the US when he came back to Nepal in 2009 and made plans to have dinner with a friend. He received a long, complicated email from his friend with directions to his home.&nbsp; Detailed as his friend’s instructions were, it was still difficult to find the house following landmarks.&nbsp; “Navigating in Nepal was a nightmare, I remember it being a waste of time and energy,” Budhathoki recalls. “I hoped that one day we would be able to solve this problem.” In 2011, Budhathoki completed his PhD with a focus on OpenStreetMap, an open-source global geographic database maintained by volunteers and contributors from across the world. He came back to Nepal, and in 2013 founded <a href="https://kathmandulivinglabs.org/">Kathmandu Living Labs (KLL)</a>, a mapping initiative to build on the OpenStreetMap movement that he had introduced to Nepal. Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/finding-your-way-in-nepal">Finding your way in Nepal</a>, Prithvi Jung Khadka “Governments make maps, but more from their perspective to govern and make their own decisions,” says Budhathoki, who is currently with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) as the Regional Director of the Open Mapping Hub – Asia Pacific. “OpenSourceMap is necessary for a country like Nepal because we do not have other relevant free maps accessible to people, its value lies in people being able to map what they are interested in,” he adds. Kathmandu Living Labs eventually worked on disaster response, using crowdsourced mapping to aid relief agencies and volunteers to plan and target their relief efforts in the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.&nbsp; While the importance of digital navigation tools and technologies was better realised after the earthquake, their uses have expanded in the last few years — especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns which led to an e-commerce boom in Nepal.&nbsp; After the lockdowns, delivery and ride-sharing services have seen significant growth, and digital navigation is central to such services. But navigation in Nepal is trickier than in other countries. The streets are not consistently named or numbered, and house numbers are either poorly assigned or not assigned at all. Most Nepalis rely on landmarks like temples, historic buildings, trees, and even garbage dumps to find their way around.&nbsp; “Localised maps are crucial to Nepalis because the way we navigate is very different to the way people navigate in the West,” says Budhathoki.&nbsp; Recognising the unique navigational challenge in Nepal, civic-tech companies have begun to develop navigation applications that are contextualised to Nepali communities.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230922150916_bb502868c3d3ef8485c8383ac17c50229db8d3bd95638a73553f0b1ec870d3b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230922150916_bb502868c3d3ef8485c8383ac17c50229db8d3bd95638a73553f0b1ec870d3b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="828" loading="lazy" alt="Baato map"> <figcaption>Baato Maps</figcaption> </figure>  Baato Maps, developed by Kathmandu Living Labs itself, is one such service. It was introduced to the public as a navigation app in 2023. Galli Maps, another nav app was first launched in Kirtipur before spreading across Nepal. “We started Baato because there is a huge problem not only in navigation in Nepal but also in mobility,” says Prithvi Jung Khadka of Baato. “There is a huge gap in mobility infrastructure and it was clear Nepal needed more reliable maps.” Raj Bikram Maharjan, an aeronautical engineer, built drones in his spare time which proved to be useful in the aftermath of the earthquake when Nepal required them to map out heritage reconstruction work.&nbsp; Maharjan left his job in aviation to work on 3D heritage mapping full-time and also made maps for local governments. When the pandemic hit in 2020, it took some personal experiences with delivery services for Maharjan to realise the challenges Nepalis and navigation-based businesses faced because Nepal’s alleys and buildings were not properly represented by global navigation services like Google Maps.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/tech-away/nepal-s-e-conomy-rapidly-goes-digital">Nepal’s e-conomy rapidly goes digital</a>, Saniaa Shah “Other countries use navigation-based technologies such as delivery and ride-sharing services because they are convenient, but in Nepal, it has expanded because it is a necessity," says Maharjan. “And localised maps are crucial to such services. If there are inefficient maps, neither navigation-based businesses nor everyday life in Nepal can be sustainable.” And so Maharjan along with his friends Janam Maharjan and Ashon Shakya set out to develop a navigation service that recognised alleyways, small road networks, and buildings in Nepal.&nbsp; They collected mapping data from OpenStreetMaps, GPS, 360-degree cameras, their own drone imaging technology as well as from local governments, who were loath to share data initially even as they had begun to number houses — something that the general public had no idea about.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230922150920_97d8d7f6dd2a531df13cc02c12fc09fe9782442e6cf1e97c03b0dc4be77b63e3.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230922150920_97d8d7f6dd2a531df13cc02c12fc09fe9782442e6cf1e97c03b0dc4be77b63e3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1806" height="814" loading="lazy" alt="Galli app"> <figcaption>Gali Maps</figcaption> </figure>  “Nepal does not necessarily have a culture of sharing data, and we spent a lot of time explaining to government agencies and local governments why open data was crucial,” notes Maharjan. “That was a challenge, but once Kirtipur agreed to share its data, other municipalities followed suit.” However, since local navigation apps are still at a nascent stage, not only are Nepal’s institutions hesitant to share data, they also do not want to use the data provided by such services.&nbsp; And while individual users seem to be taking to the applications, &nbsp;most services dependent on navigation technology still rely on established global navigation software and applications.&nbsp; There are other challenges. Crowdsourced mapping as well as Nepal-based navigation apps are meant to be participatory, say digital mapping experts, but the fact that individuals and institutions are using those services has not necessarily meant that they contribute back to mapping at similar levels.&nbsp; Although much of Nepal has access to mobile technology, internet use is stuck at 65%, which means the flow of information and data is such that cities and densely populated areas with robust infrastructures are better mapped than rural Nepal.&nbsp; Additionally, open-source mapping also means that data might be collected by ordinary people in a way that is not always accurate or updated.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230922150920_93183c6619f6bec34efbce66e1edc9e2c38cc8d7425b7290c9c2b37a1210386b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230922150920_93183c6619f6bec34efbce66e1edc9e2c38cc8d7425b7290c9c2b37a1210386b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Navigating Nepal"> <figcaption>Photo: Bikram Rai/NT Archive</figcaption> </figure>  “Maps are constantly changing, and keeping that in mind, we have to work to make sure that our virtual maps better reflect the reality of Nepal while encouraging users to contribute at the same time,” says Khadka of Baato. But navigation services are making progress. Baato Maps has digitised public transportation and made transportation information available on the application. Galli Maps is preparing to introduce a crowd-sourced ‘reporting’ feature that allows users to input information about traffic, as well as issues of infrastructural damage and upkeep that will go directly to the dashboard of local governments for them to address.&nbsp; Not only do Nepal’s localised navigation services help Nepalis and navigation-based businesses, but they could also help enhance the tourism sector. Both Baato and Galli apps include Nepal’s major trekking routes.&nbsp; However, navigation experts do note that the availability of trekking routes, as helpful as they are, must be reconciled with the fact that trekkers, both foreign and domestic, rely primarily on the experience and knowledge of trekking guides and tourism professionals.&nbsp; Nama Budhathoki notes that Nepal-based navigation apps are an infrastructure themselves, with tremendous opportunities to enable and enhance the lives of individuals, start-ups, institutions as well as the government. Adds Budhathoki: “The future is location-based.”&nbsp;

Shristi Karki

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Navigating Nepal with new digital maps

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be96a9c7e80680e0878bcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1119" height="628"/><figcaption>Still from Baato.</figcaption></figure>A family embarks on a 300 km journey from the remote mountains of northeastern Nepal to Dharan in the plains. There is no road yet to their village, so they trek for five full days before getting a jeep, then a bus to reach the market just to sell a few डोको baskets full of medicinal herbs that they have collected over months.The journey involves physical hardship, much walking uphill and downhill, through rough and steep terrain (including on a wobbly makeshift log bridge over a fierce river at night) and preparation and planning for how to get a permit for their herbs at a national park office, and past police officers at checkpoints along the way.The feature-length film बाटो Baato is a rich visual document that records the villagers’ ambivalent lives and aspirations of ‘development’ as a new motorable road cuts through Nepal’s hinterland. Directed by Lucas Millard and Kate Stryker, the film follows Mikma and her family and reminds one of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/revisiting-the-corner-people-kesang-tseten,3803">We Corner People</a> by Kesang Tseten, who also happens to be the executive producer of this film.<a href="https://baatofilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://baatofilm.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzlYjLZLfoLWbQGQmHwtDYdHQXPw">Baato</a> was screened in the recently concluded <a href="https://kimff.org/baato/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kimff.org/baato/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEmafaDjWUlU1vs9q4gIj_ZpQL65A">Kathmandu International Film Festival (KIMFF).</a><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be96d9c7e80680e0878bdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="875" height="486"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>While Baato primarily follows one family on their journey to market from mountains to the plains, it also offers a sneak peek into the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-building-a-highway-to-everest/">politics of roadbuilding in rural Nepal</a> showing us, on the one hand, road as an aspirational object of modernity and, on the other, its building as a contested process.While some villagers are concerned about the possible loss of land and homes as the excavators arrive, the contractors worry about possible disruption and dissent by local communities. And there is the government in the form of Roads Division that is concerned about the emergent illegal road-side structures and encroachment of public land.This 82-minute film immerses viewers into the reality of roads in rural Nepal. It makes us think  about the distinct meanings and consequences of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nowhere-to-nowhere/">roads and road-building</a> for the protagonists involved -- villagers, contractors, traders, the government.At the micro level, the villagers anticipate a better life with less walking as jeeps arrive at their doorstep. The process of road building itself involves corruption, bribery pressures from vested interest groups, during construction. Zooming out to a macro level, we see the road and its construction bring to the fore discourses of development, connectivity, globalisation and international assistance as the government promises the economic upliftment to villagers if the road is completed.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9709c7e80680e0878bejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1522" height="745">This observational film is an anthropological gaze into people’s lives in the marginal hinterlands that are yet to experience the infrastructure and amenities of modernity: road, electricity, television, and market, among others. The link between road and everyday life is one way of looking at the film, and the politics of infrastructure would be another level of understanding it.The film captures everyday life in a still-remote corner of Nepal, showing us the sorrows and difficulties hidden underneath the majestic mountains and valleys. Millard and Stryker try to document the uncertain and precarious lives of people in these isolated and far-flung communities. In doing so, they also show us the humility and improvisations with which the family relates to emergent, ambiguous, and adverse situations -- a young family member getting sick, or the bus stuck half-way into the journey with to engine breakdown.As the villagers sort out things in those precarious circumstances, we get a glimpse of  perseverance and toughness amidst the physical, mental and social challenges they experience. Even after five days of walking carrying heavy loads, the family reminds us that life goes on amidst adversity. They cut jokes and laugh, they smile, and they cherish the little moments of togetherness.Viewers can watch बाटो just to glimpse the reality of life, or they can view it as an anthropological study of how <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/new-high-way-to-dolpo/">connectivity and infrastructure</a>, development and globalisation, citizens and the state, perhaps even politics and geopolitics play a role in Nepal and beyond.More importantly, the film hints at a larger transformation taking place in Nepal’s Himalayan villages with the advent of roads, and how this is affecting every facet of life for Mikma and families like hers.<a href="https://baatofilm.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://baatofilm.com/about/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHxTVH_S97ZXRfed8e0fJpEEcyQBQ">Watch trailer.</a><a href="https://www.bicramrijal.com/">Bicram Rijal</a> is a PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Canada.

The road ahead for Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0554b0ad905ca02f005jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1119" height="628"/><figcaption>Still from Baato.</figcaption></figure>A family embarks on a 300 km journey from the remote mountains of northeastern Nepal to Dharan in the plains. There is no road yet to their village, so they trek for five full days before getting a jeep, then a bus to reach the market just to sell a few डोको baskets full of medicinal herbs that they have collected over months.The journey involves physical hardship, much walking uphill and downhill, through rough and steep terrain (including on a wobbly makeshift log bridge over a fierce river at night) and preparation and planning for how to get a permit for their herbs at a national park office, and past police officers at checkpoints along the way.The feature-length film बाटो Baato is a rich visual document that records the villagers’ ambivalent lives and aspirations of ‘development’ as a new motorable road cuts through Nepal’s hinterland. Directed by Lucas Millard and Kate Stryker, the film follows Mikma and her family and reminds one of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/revisiting-the-corner-people-kesang-tseten,3803">We Corner People</a> by Kesang Tseten, who also happens to be the executive producer of this film.<a href="https://baatofilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://baatofilm.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzlYjLZLfoLWbQGQmHwtDYdHQXPw">Baato</a> was screened in the recently concluded <a href="https://kimff.org/baato/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kimff.org/baato/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEmafaDjWUlU1vs9q4gIj_ZpQL65A">Kathmandu International Film Festival (KIMFF).</a><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0584b0ad905ca02f006jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="875" height="486"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>While Baato primarily follows one family on their journey to market from mountains to the plains, it also offers a sneak peek into the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-building-a-highway-to-everest/">politics of roadbuilding in rural Nepal</a> showing us, on the one hand, road as an aspirational object of modernity and, on the other, its building as a contested process.While some villagers are concerned about the possible loss of land and homes as the excavators arrive, the contractors worry about possible disruption and dissent by local communities. And there is the government in the form of Roads Division that is concerned about the emergent illegal road-side structures and encroachment of public land.This 82-minute film immerses viewers into the reality of roads in rural Nepal. It makes us think  about the distinct meanings and consequences of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nowhere-to-nowhere/">roads and road-building</a> for the protagonists involved -- villagers, contractors, traders, the government.At the micro level, the villagers anticipate a better life with less walking as jeeps arrive at their doorstep. The process of road building itself involves corruption, bribery pressures from vested interest groups, during construction. Zooming out to a macro level, we see the road and its construction bring to the fore discourses of development, connectivity, globalisation and international assistance as the government promises the economic upliftment to villagers if the road is completed.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf05a4b0ad905ca02f007jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1522" height="745">This observational film is an anthropological gaze into people’s lives in the marginal hinterlands that are yet to experience the infrastructure and amenities of modernity: road, electricity, television, and market, among others. The link between road and everyday life is one way of looking at the film, and the politics of infrastructure would be another level of understanding it.The film captures everyday life in a still-remote corner of Nepal, showing us the sorrows and difficulties hidden underneath the majestic mountains and valleys. Millard and Stryker try to document the uncertain and precarious lives of people in these isolated and far-flung communities. In doing so, they also show us the humility and improvisations with which the family relates to emergent, ambiguous, and adverse situations -- a young family member getting sick, or the bus stuck half-way into the journey with to engine breakdown.As the villagers sort out things in those precarious circumstances, we get a glimpse of  perseverance and toughness amidst the physical, mental and social challenges they experience. Even after five days of walking carrying heavy loads, the family reminds us that life goes on amidst adversity. They cut jokes and laugh, they smile, and they cherish the little moments of togetherness.Viewers can watch बाटो just to glimpse the reality of life, or they can view it as an anthropological study of how <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/new-high-way-to-dolpo/">connectivity and infrastructure</a>, development and globalisation, citizens and the state, perhaps even politics and geopolitics play a role in Nepal and beyond.More importantly, the film hints at a larger transformation taking place in Nepal’s Himalayan villages with the advent of roads, and how this is affecting every facet of life for Mikma and families like hers.<a href="https://baatofilm.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://baatofilm.com/about/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHxTVH_S97ZXRfed8e0fJpEEcyQBQ">Watch trailer.</a><a href="https://www.bicramrijal.com/">Bicram Rijal</a> is a PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Canada.

Nepal has shut down dozens of social media platforms in a move that is widely seen as an effort to tax the revenue they generate in the country, and to control content critical of government. The sites were blocked as of midnight on Thursday, 4 September and affects all Meta products including WhatsApp and Messenger, Threads, and others. Although YouTube, Google and X are also on the government’s list, they were still working as of Friday midday.&nbsp; The government says it took the action after repeated warnings to the platforms to open offices in Nepal, a Cabinet decision last month setting a deadline, as well as a 17 August Supreme Court ruling also requiring them to register and pay requisite taxes. However, the Bill cited in the ban, ‘The Operation, Use, and Regulation of Social Media in Nepal’ has not yet been passed by Parliament. Some social media platforms which were already paying taxes in Nepal even though they are not officially registered, have also been blocked. The move is the latest in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/big-beautiful-bills" target="_blank">a slew of draft legislations</a> designed to undermine Nepal’s open society. A Bill amending the Print and Publications Act would allow district bureaucrats to shut down media. Another draft Bill would allow political appointees to head a new Media Council with the power to revoke the licenses of journalists.&nbsp; A counter-intelligence Bill would let just about anyone in government to arbitrarily tap phones, read emails and trail citizens. On Wednesday the government announced new immigration requirements that would allow it to track the movement of all foreigners in the country. Yet another draft Bill has been set to Parliament to dissolve the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10675" target="_blank">Social Welfare Council (SWC)</a> and move registration and monitoring of non-governmental organisations, nonprofits and charities to the Ministry of Social Welfare. Seen in this light, the blockage of social media platforms this week is seen as the latest government attempt to constrict freedom of press. Nepal is one of the few remaining open societies in Asia, and now appears to be drifting towards authoritarianism. The government’s sudden shutdown of social media has been greeted with howls of protest on platforms that still remain open, like Viber and TikTok, as well as in Nepal’s mainstream press. Even senior members of the ruling UML-NC coalition have sharply criticised the move, asking if the government is trying to “turn Nepal into North Korea”.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656" data-rendition-name="original" width="4280" height="5187" loading="lazy" alt="social media ban in Nepal"> </figure>  The Regional Director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Beh Lih Yi said in a statement: ‘Nepal’s sweeping ban on social media sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Blocking online news platforms vital to journalists will undermine reporting and the public’s right to information. The government must immediately rescind this order and restore access to social media platforms, which are essential tools for exercising press freedom.’ Besides undermining press freedom, blocking social media platforms will also hurt commerce and the economy since so many small and medium business trade through Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. Nepal’s vibrant social media has also been a boost or citizens to assert identity, build solidarity against injustice and play an adversarial role when the mainstream media does not do it. Social media platforms have also become the tenuous link for Nepali families scattered across the world to keep in touch with each other — its importance growing with the increasing size of the diaspora. The government wants social media platforms to register, pay taxes and remove posts on their sites that ‘undermine the national interest and Nepal’s territorial integrity, disturb social and religious harmony’.&nbsp; In response, rights activists have said while there is need for the government to regulate extreme content and hate speech, officials appear to be more intent on clamping down on free speech and trying to force platforms to share the revenue. On Friday, the government had allowed WhatsApp back online, but there were reports that it had instructed the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) to instruct mobile and internet service providers to block by Friday night all platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads, Snapchat, Pinterest, Signal, Clubhouse, Rumble.&nbsp; Platforms that have registered and are allowed include TikTok, Viber, Nimbuzz, Popo Live, WeTalk, Global Diary and the Nepali portal Hamro Patro. TikTok was banned last year for ‘disturbing social harmony’ and it was lifted after the platform registered its office in Nepal. But even while it was banned, many users simply switched to VPN. Telegram was also banned for ‘financial crimes’ and it has since also been allowed back. NTA officials confirmed that some Asia-Pacific regional offices of platforms, including Meta had been in touch overnight inquiring about the registration process.&nbsp; Nepal is not alone in regulating social media. China bans most Western platforms, Russia and Turkey regulate their and require platforms to locate their data servers in the country. Gulf countries allow social media but keep a tight control on dissent.&nbsp; Experts have said even the government will not dare close down YouTube since so many Nepali individuals and companies make money with posts on that platform, and closing it would also impact on Google and Gmail. Facebook had also just launched a monetisation scheme for videos and reels, and Nepalis uploading content would lose revenue.&nbsp; Blocking the platforms has already hit content creators, influencers and cut small businesses from reaching customers. A survey of social media use in Nepal by Sharecast Initiative showed that 94% of those with smart phones used YouTube, followed by Facebook (92%) while TikTok was in the 50-60% range. X and Instagram were in the single digits. A YouTube ban will also hurt the mainstream media since up to 20% of the revenue of Nepal’s main tv channels came through YouTube. Some 11.1 million Nepalis watch YouTube content every day, the survey showed. ‘For global giants like Meta or Google, Nepal is a small market, and they may not even flinch — but for millions of Nepalis, these platforms are central to daily life, livelihoods, and connections across the world,’ wrote AI consultant Naresh Newar in a LinkedIn post. Some experts said the government’s sweeping ban on social media networks was untenable and the government would be forced to rollback sooner or later. Said editor Shiva Gaunle: “The platforms had given citizens a voice and broken the monopoly of the government, legislators, the courts and journalists over public opinion. This is an effort to reassert that monopoly, but Nepal can never be turned into a North Korea.”

Protest grows against Nepal’s social media ban

Unlike many countries, there is not much incentive in Nepal for the private sector to fund charities and non-profits. Donations and grants are not tax-deductible.
Yet there are corporate entities that have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in their portfolio of activities through foundations that they have set up. Some do it loudly to gain public relations mileage, while others are quiet about their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/norway-supports-himalayan-climate-research?mdrv=www.nepalitimes.com&amp;=1">generous support</a>.
The CSR outlay of factories and manufacturing companies is regulated by Industrial Enterprise Act (IEA), while the Nepal Rastra Bank oversees grants banks and financial institutions contribute and requires them to set aside 1% of their net profit for CSR activities.
The guideline requires banks and financial institutions to donate to activities covering education, health, environment and financial literacy, among others. Recently, the Supreme Court directed the government to formulate a Bill in the parliament to standardise and regulate the private sector’s CSR activities.
“We receive guidelines from Nepal Rastra Bank and follow them,” says Pranisha Shrestha who heads the CSR Department at NMB Bank. “We have got a notice about updates on those guidelines, and we will adapt accordingly.”
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/greening-nepal-s-tourism">Environmental sustainability </a>is one of the important components of CSR for Nepali companies, and there have been many initiatives aimed at urban renewal. One of the most visible is of the telecommunication company Ncell, which is among Nepal’s largest taxpayers.
Five years ago, Ncell adopted a 6km stretch of the Ring Road from Ekantakuna to Koteswor-Kalanki, planting 12,000 saplings. They have now grown into<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/seeing-the-forest-and-trees-in-nepal"> a thick forest</a> along the embankment of the road.
Not only is the lush greenery in an overbuilt part of Lalitpur soothing to the eye, it also helps in reducing temperature within <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-5xcycyot">the urban heat bubble</a>, and also contributes to reducing air pollution and traffic noise.
“We started a pilot project along 600m of the Ekantakuna section of the Ring Road during the pandemic,” recalls Bishakha Lakshmi Khadka, Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Ncell. “It went really well, and after that we extended the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-cities-with-trees"> tree planting</a> and upkeep to Kalanki.”
Sustainability also means making younger Nepalis aware of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">the value of nature </a>and environmental sustainability, which is why Ncell has also undertaken a Green School initiative in and around Kathmandu Valley. Besides its One-Tree-One-Youth and 1 Million Trees campaigns, the initiative also aims at behavior change about littering with its waste hackathon in schools.
“The young students can be catalysts with a multiplier effect beyond their schools to society at large, and it has inter-generational impact into the future,” explains Khadka.
Indeed, while <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">Nepal has doubled its forest cover </a>in the past 30 years to 46% of the country’s area, urban centres like Kathmandu do not have much open spaces and greenery left. And that is where companies like Ncell, Jawalakhel Group of Industries, and others have focused on CSRs.
NMB Bank also runs financial literacy programs for youth where they can learn more about social media safeguards, digital payment systems, with a focus on safety and security. Such training not only helps build skills for the future but also protects young Nepalis from online crime.
“<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/protecting-children-from-anti-social-media">Threats to young minds through social media</a> use are growing as platforms feed algorithm-driven content,” says Shrestha. “We felt media and digital literacy are important in all seven provinces not just to protect young people, but also give them the confidence to use digital financial systems.”
The bank has a special focus on women in leadership programs, and provides scholarships provided in schools across Nepal on environment and sustainability in higher education. Health is another sector where private companies have worked with donating medical equipment, sponsoring health camps and conducting blood donation drives.
CSR or PR?
Other companies heavily involved in CSR include NIMB Bank which contributes to heritage conservation and education, Buddha Air helps farmers in Morang to increase productivity, VOITH with its motto ‘Little things We Do’ provides scholarships to students and has gifted &nbsp;vehicles to hospitals and nature conservation groups, Dwarika’s Hotel promotes organic farming and zero waste initiatives, heritage conservation and helps revive traditional handicrafts.
Although some CSR activities have been criticised for masquerading as PR and for greenwashing, many Nepali companies are actually contributing to improve the situation for individuals in need and underserved communities.
It also brings a sense of accountability to the corporate sector so they look beyond shareholder profit with greater involvement in the public good. In Nepal, where government delivery mechanisms are not up to speed in the social sector and environmental sustainability, CSR is a vehicle for public-private partnerships.
Collaboration with the government is an important aspect of these initiatives since that allows localised campaigns to be scaled up by showing what is possible. For example, the three Metropolitan Cities of the Valley and other private companies are trying to emulate what Ncell has achieved on the Ring Road.
“The Ring Road plantation project has been massively successful,” says Khadka “We were recognised by the Lalitpur Metropolitan City and the Forestry Department for adding greenery to what would have been just an asphalt strip.”

Corporates responsible to society

At least 15 were killed in a nationwide rally called by Nepal’s youth via social media on Monday to protest corruption and impunity in government. Hundreds of others have been injured in Kathmandu and other cities across Nepal. Fifty of them in Kathmandu are said to be in critical condition, and emergency wards of hospitals ran out of essential supplies to treat them.&nbsp; Two journalists, Dipendra Dhungana and Shyam Shrestha of Kantipur were among those injured as they covered the protesters trying to storm Parliament building. Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of protesters gathered at the Mandala intersection in Kathmandu for what was supposed to be a peaceful gathering to voice outrage against corruption. Rallyists were responding to a call via social media.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250908120948_2652b268dac74e9524a2ca11f320391a33d02233e212e21c1a8ed17210c19a96.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250908120948_2652b268dac74e9524a2ca11f320391a33d02233e212e21c1a8ed17210c19a96" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Gen Z protest"> </figure>  However, the rally soon went out of control of the organisers as public anger against the government boiled over because of unpunished corruption in high places, an unresponsive government, and the blockade of social media platforms on Saturday that shut down 26 sites, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, and other messaging apps. That appears to have been the last straw, and public outrage over the social media ban spilled over into the streets. On Monday, protests turned violent after demonstrators stormed Parliament, set fire to one of its gates, and vandalised property.&nbsp; The police responded with tear gas and water cannons before Kathmandu’s Chief District Officer ordered them to open fire. The government has since imposed curfew in parts of Kathmandu until 10PM. “I didn’t expect the crowd to be this massive. I just came to observe,” said Sanchit Maharjan, a bystander caught in the middle of the violence. “I’m not even Gen Z, but I was hit by tear gas earlier. Still, it feels powerful to see young people standing up.” <div class="embed-block"><div style="max-width: 56vh;"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 177.7778%;"><iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fshorts%2FTfzT9WjPOxM&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> Graphic images have since flooded the still functioning social media sites like TikTok: students in uniforms soaked in blood, protesters being carried to the nearby Civil Service Hospital, which itself was engulfed in teargas.&nbsp; Young people, some of them students in college uniform, had started gathering at Mandala as early as 9AM, flashing placards with slogans denouncing government corruption. Popular rapper OMG Spark was performing live music at one point. The GenZ protest is only the latest in a series of demonstrations against Nepal’s career leaders who are seen to be incompetent and corrupt. The international #Nepobaby trend on TikTok gave the protests momentum, and Nepalis used it to expose the scions of powerful politicians and politically-connected influencers who were exhibiting their flashy lifestyles on social media while citizens struggled with joblessness, corruption and poor service delivery.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250908120956_0f8ba149e43922fb551ebd63036701e646704dca4277a7e47c7ee4810c3c36ff.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250908120956_0f8ba149e43922fb551ebd63036701e646704dca4277a7e47c7ee4810c3c36ff" data-rendition-name="original" width="2576" height="1932" loading="lazy" alt="Gen Z protest"> </figure>  Young Nepalis on social media were posing questions such as: ‘Where does our tax money actually go?’ or ‘Why does the budget vanish into thin air?’ Public anger reached a tipping point when the UML-NC coalition led by Prime Minister &nbsp;K P Oli announced a sweeping ban on major social media platforms citing tax revenue, cyber security, and lack of content moderation.&nbsp; Netizens, civil society and media however saw it as the latest authoritarian attempt by the government to clamp down on free speech, increase surveillance of citizens and clamp down on Nepal’s open society.&nbsp; “Politics is everywhere,” said 22-year old student Susmita Khadka who was at the protest. “Gen Z has the most platforms, and we want a revolution. I believe as long as protests remain peaceful, they can be incredibly effective. But when it turns violent, it creates a Cobra Effect—where it actually makes it worse.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250908120948_cb24f18c947f13e5df9fb4f6ac28e77c7188f0eaa2390b57810b91cd8e66488a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250908120948_cb24f18c947f13e5df9fb4f6ac28e77c7188f0eaa2390b57810b91cd8e66488a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Gen Z protest"> </figure>  She added that the protests could have been more peaceful. “I wish there were more organised banners, collective sit-ins where people actually ask for our opinions and listen to our needs. Repetitive slogans and one-day marches won’t bring real change.” As the violence went out of control, the Nepal Army was deployed outside Parliament and a curfew was declared on the road leading to the airport. Organisers Hami Nepali requested demonstrators to go home, and said that those who stormed Parliament were not associated with them, hinting that the rally had been infiltrated by radical groups. Demonstrations have also erupted in major cities including Butwal, Chitwan, Pokhara, and Birtamode. The District Administration Office (DAO) in Kaski has imposed a similar curfew in Pokhara where the police have opened fire, injuring some protesters. Says Ronesh Pradhan of Hami Nepal who led the protest: “The voices of young people matter. We can’t keep being ruled by the same old men. Our generation is the future and if there are older leaders in government, they need to be competent and accountable. We are ready to lead this country forward.” <div class="embed-block"><div style="max-width: 56vh;"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 177.7778%;"><iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fshorts%2FTfzT9WjPOxM&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> &nbsp;

Nepal’s Gen-Z protest turns deadly

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2fZXyjsE28" target="_blank">Yog Narendra Malla</a> became king at age 18, and ruled Patan from 1684-1705 — his reign marked by a cultural and architectural renaissance of the city state. He put up a statue of himself in the palace square with a little bronze bird sitting on the guardian serpent above his head. It is said he told his subjects that he would look after their welfare till the day the bird flew off. During<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu"> the 2015 earthquake</a>, the pedestal collapsed and the statue was damaged. The bird was lost, only to be located in a pile of debris and reinstated when the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/piece-by-piece-patan-darbar-square-reconstruction,3782" target="_blank">statue was consecrated</a> two years later. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x2fZXyjsE28?si=jYfIb4p6zCLXYQ1T" 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> History remembers Yog Narendra Malla as a wise king, but like most<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home"> royalty of the day</a>, he had a weakness for women. He is supposed to have consorted with 30 queens and numerous concubines. At least 33 of them self-immolated themselves on the king's funeral pyre when he died, adhering to the prevailing <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/Jhola,947">practice of sati</a>. When Yog Narendra Malla’s favourite queen found out that he was carrying on with yet another woman, she got the local community of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood to stage a shadow sex play to quite literally expose his unfaithfulness. Actors enacted the explicit exploits of the king and his mistress, a bright butter lamp projecting the moving shadows of their lovemaking on a thin white drape to entertain those gathered in the square below. The queen made sure that the show was designed to face the home of the king’s paramour to shame them both. She also paid for a group to chant a bhajan with lyrics that ridiculed the king’s extramarital affair. The Jhyalcha Guthi community trust that the queen set up three-and-half century ago is still active to this day, and performs the annual shadow play in the same building in Kwelachhi the day before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-legend-behind-the-myth-of-indra-jatra">Indra Jatra </a>every year. This year’s show is on Friday evening, 5 September. The opening lines of the chants that accompany the play are the same words approved by the queen all those years ago: “Raja Yog Narendra ya aparadh…” (King Yog Narendra’s crime…) The community leader of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood, 62-year-old Baburaja Awale, explains the importance of the event: “This Jhyalcha is our<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/saving-the-intangible,3303"> intangible heritage</a> and oral history. We do not have a written format, it has been passed down from generation to generation. Every word of the bhajan is the story of King Yog Narendra Malla.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1167" loading="lazy" alt="Sex and the city of Patan"> <figcaption>The statue of Yog Narendra Malla being reinstated after it toppled in the 2015 earthquake. Photo: GOPEN RAI/ NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Jhyalcha Pyankha, as the ceremony is called, starts with a puja for the Bhimsen — the god of wealth and prosperity, a popular <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-homecoming-of-nepal-s-gods">deity in Patan</a> who has a temple dedicated just to him in the palace square. This is immediately followed by a bhajan of Bhairab performed with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-house,670">traditional Newa musical instruments</a>. Community members serve snacks consisting of samay baji beaten rice, water buffalo chunks, soybean, green veggies, lentils, ginger, garlic and aila liquor. “In the first act of the shadow play, the man initiates the lovemaking, and in the third it is the woman,” says Laxmi Lal Awale, also a member of the trust that organises the show. The shadow action is all uncensored, but interspersed with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">scenes of everyday life</a>: the woman is spinning a thread, the king is going about his royal chores, and the two sit down to share sanacha fermented pickle that is popular this time of year. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ3twuG1wNQ?si=yRfkoC3A-X9cIl8r" 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> “Back then, there was no tv, films or YouTube, and yet we managed to stage the shadow play using our own resourcefulness,” says Baburaja Awale. “It is important to continue the tradition.” The challenge now is to ensure that the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain"> younger generation takes over</a>, learning the lyrics of the ancient bhajan. The dafa khala group that performs all over Patan during festivals and religious events is now training teenagers to play the musical instruments and act in the shadow play. The Jhyalcha was staged even after the 2015 earthquake when the falcha where the bhajan is performed collapsed and they made-do in a tin shed. The structure was later rebuilt with a grant from the group, Photo Circle. Lalitpur Metropolitan City sets aside a budget of Rs50,000 to organise the Jhyalcha Pyankha every year, but this is not enough and is supplemented by individual donations. The performers including musicians and actors are all volunteers, and take part in it because it is their community duty. The erotic shadow play was way ahead of its time, not just in its graphic content but the use of contemporary local technology as well as improvisation and pure imagination. Says Laxmi Lal: “Whatever its origin in the legend of King Yog Narendra Malla and his queen, Jhyalcha also served as a medium of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lets-talk-about-it">sex education</a>. In the past, women were discouraged from watching the shadow play, but today everyone is welcome, we all watch it together.” Jhyalcha Pyankha Kwelachhi, Chyasal, Patan 7PM onwards Friday, 5 September