<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141140/636bae439c7e80680e077fe2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>After weeks of bitter infighting within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), the three feuding factions have now agreed on a ceasefire and there is an uneasy calm in Kathmandu.The political counter-coup by Prime Minister K P Oli last week allowed him to keep his job for now, but in the process he had to make some compromises. The upshot is that the concentration of power in the prime minister’s office that had characterised Nepal’s politics for the past two-and-half years has now been replaced with a tense triangular standoff.Although Oli managed to forestall attempts to oust him, he is not as strong as before and has been forced to yield to party co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the faction led by former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.It is difficult to say what tricks Oli had in the bag to defuse the threat from Dahal, but political analysts agree that one major factor was the strong message from Beijing delivered by the Chinese Ambassador not to split the NCP. The party rank-and-file got the message and lobbied intensely with Dahal and Oli to sort out their ego-clash and not hold the party and nation hostage.The deal hammered out allows Oli to complete his term and effectively serve as incumbent during the 2022 election. In return the prime minister has agreed to back Dahal as the sole executive head of the NCP during its forthcoming Special Convention in November. Oli even convinced Dahal that Maoism as an ideology was obsolete, and he should espouse the ‘people’s democracy’ of the late UML leader Madan Bhandari. But Dahal may have also realised that his next rival in the party is Nepal and not Oli, and decided to jump ship.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/you-stab-my-back-i-stab-yours/">You stab my back, I stab yours</a>, EditorialOli has also reportedly agreed to reshuffle the Cabinet by inducting more Dahal loyalists. There may have to be additional portfolios for supporters of Madhav Nepal, who already has two loyalists in the Cabinet: Agriculture Minister Ghanashyam Bhusal  and Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai.Critical in the political arithmetic that allowed Oli to survive the latest threat was the defection of Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and UML leader Bam Dev Gautam. We can only speculate what those two got in return. But it looks like that the prominent third-tier leaders deeply involved in mediation, including former Maoist guerrilla commander Janardan Sharma, Devendra Poudel and Haribol Gajurel, would probably also stand to be rewarded with posts in the next government.Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada has made no secret of his desire to be the next ambassador to the US, and he may be replaced in the reshuffle by either Surendra Pandey or Bishnu Poudel. There may also be a rearrangement of Chief Ministers, and Oli may have to let go of some his people including Prithvi Subba Gurung of Gandaki Province and Shankar Pokhrel of Province 5.After all that hectic horse-trading, all is quiet in Khumaltar, Balwatar and Koteswor this week – the three residences of Dahal, Oli and Nepal respectively. Dahal is said to be spending time with his family, and feeding pigeons. Nepal is sulking. And Oli, being Oli, must be plotting his next move.Now that there is no imminent threat of government collapse, it would be a good time for Prime Minister Oli to focus all his attention on the monsoon disaster relief and the COVID-19 crisis. But he will probably busy doling out portfolios so as to appease the factions.There is so much bad blood between the three NCP factions that even when the reshuffle happens, the Cabinet will probably function like a coalition government.

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Push and pull of Nepali politics

<img width="909" height="453" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141136/636bad4e9c7e80680e077f87jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Why Prime Minister K P Oli decided to use the birth anniversary of Nepali poet Bhanubhakta Acharya on Monday to get embroiled in what he should have known would create a huge backlash in India is not known. We can only speculate.Oli put forth the wild theory that the mythical Hindu god Ram was born in Nepal, and that the kingdom of Ayodhya where his family ruled was actually in present day Chitwan district near the Indian border. Never mind that neither Nepal nor India existed at that time.The prime minister may have unintentionally blurted it out because he had a sympathetic physically-distanced and mask-wearing audience that was laughing at all his previous repartees. After all, it was a function celebrating the Nepali language as one of the unifying pillars of nationhood.Either that or the reference to Ayodhya was a trial balloon and an attempt to fall back on ultra-nationalism. This has always been his default button whenever he faces a domestic political crisis, or challenge to his authority from rivals within his own Nepal Communist Party (NCP).Either way, the remarks have been greeted with understandable outrage in India which is governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-right BJP that has itself politicised the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi temple at Lord Ram’s nativity site.In Nepal also, the utterance backfired on the prime minister who has been ridiculed non-stop on social media. Even Oli’s own supporters have called the remarks ill-timed and detrimental in getting Nepal-India relations back on track.If it was a calculated move on Oli’s part, it could have been an attempt to get back at Indian television news channels which have been demonising him ever since he confronted India over a sliver of territory on Nepal’s remote northwestern corner that is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHyJ4jL68XvBObXesYf4X6ZJU20Iw">occupied by India</a>.Faced with brewing mutiny led by co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal in May, Oli used the anger in Nepal against the Indian move and defied New Delhi by getting all parties to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-passes-map-bill-india-reacts/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-passes-map-bill-india-reacts/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHx4IFCmFjuhHCbbMi1Sskz8PoPAA">amend the constitution</a> and use the new map in Nepal’s national emblem.That bought him some time, but faced with another challenge in the party’s Standing Committee last month, he accused New Delhi of trying to unseat him, and threatened to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ruling-party-on-verge-of-split/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ruling-party-on-verge-of-split/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG_-2yLNXXhYKZZ7fcpxjtDnQlu_g">split away from the party</a> by re-registering the old UML at the Election Commission.<a href="https://twitter.com/prcambnepal?lang=en" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/prcambnepal?lang%3Den&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH5In2SuSSwWgVfYZmbsQKHDQqvuw">Chinese Ambassador in Nepal Hou Yanqi</a> then became active, and started a slew of meetings with Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Dahal and NCP comrades opposed to Oli. She carried a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping saying that splitting the part would be a bad idea. Such open involvement by a Chinese ambassador in an internal party power struggle used to be unheard of.Indian tv channels and troll factories on social media then launched an all-out war directed solely at Oli, and calling openly for his ouster. Some tv channels went as far as to insinuate that Prime Minister Oli was dating Ambassador Hou, with graphics showing Valentine’s Day hearts. Nepal’s direct-to-home tv operators then pulled the plug on all Indian news channels.Oli’s off-the-cuff remark about Ayodhya therefore came at a time when Nepal-India relations was already at its worst since the five-month Indian border blockade of Nepal in 2015. It will not help get relations back to an even keel.What has so far been an escalating government-to-government spat has the potential to now turn many Indians against Nepal at the people’s level. Intentional or not, Oli should have known better than to drag an explosive mixture of religion and politics into an already volatile relationship. Oli might have been thinking that Indians do not have a monopoly on arrogance and threatening language, but he seems to have forgotten that size matters. However, Nepal cannot choose its neighbours, we are stuck with the two we have. And they together represent one-third of humanity.Over the past two-and-half centuries, Nepal’s survival strategy has been to keep both neighbours at arms length by maintaining a stable and balanced relationship with them. Oli is upsetting the cart. Remarks supposed to stoke ultra-nationalist (read: anti-Indian) fervour have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-pm-oli-under-pressure-to-resign/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-pm-oli-under-pressure-to-resign/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEB97iqvMxIwt1D0wwMKxS7qTxJEA">worked for him before</a>, and he might have thought it will work again. This time, it will take a lot to undo the damage those ill-chosen words have done. And by making people bring up the issue of side-effects from medications, it may have also raised questions about whether he should step down on health grounds. The Ayodhya reference also came during a tense ceasefire between Oli and Dahal as a result of Ambassador Hou’s meetings last week. Loyalists on both sides now say they do not want to split the party, but the real issue has always been what will be the give-and-take between Oli and Dahal that will keep the party united.At the heart of the dispute is Dahal’s impatience to head the government and/or party. He had banked on Oli’s health deteriorating to such an extent that he would automatically take over. He did not expect it to drag on for so long, and Oli seems to have come out physically stronger after his second kidney transplant in March.It is not in Nepal’s national interest to allow an ego-clash and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bow-out/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bow-out/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFKrED3M6da0visGwFil2WQUzuHlg">power struggle at the top</a> of the ruling party to impact any more on core concerns like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-truth-politics-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-truth-politics-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHFMfskRewlxUW0Nsk2ZGqWAdhfIA">the MCC</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-ruling-party-feud-affecting-covid-19-response/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-ruling-party-feud-affecting-covid-19-response/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFzmj10SaKUscjrOK3IlCOOCmPojA">COVID-19 response</a>, or the country’s geo-strategic survival.

K P Oli rams it home

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b74f29c7e80680e0623bfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1512" height="1134"/>Wednesday was Nepal’s Democracy Day, it was the 27th anniversary of Kantipur Media Group, and the day Anup Kaphle was stepping down as editor of The Kathmandu Post. What he probably did not expect was such a high profile send-off from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu.A strongly worded statement by the embassy named Kaphle, accused him of being ‘always biased' against China and issued unspecified threats against the paper for <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200216000248" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud%3D20200216000248&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1582210409064000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFwYJiI7rrY96bToHdKN_KCuyQuPg">a column reprinted</a> (pictured above) from The Korea Herald by former US ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder, that was critical of China’s response to the Covid-19 epidemic.This was uncharacteristic of an embassy that usually keeps a low profile in Nepal, and has upheld an official policy not to interfere in Nepal’s internal affairs, to go so public with such a direct attack against a Nepal-based media. In the past, the embassy has preferred to work discreetly behind the scenes by channelling its complaints against editors through the Foreign Ministry or Home Ministry.However, it looks like the reaction from the embassy was not restricted to Nepal, but part of a broader worldwide offensive against negative coverage of China over the coronavirus epidemic, and a backlash from Beijing against those it saw as ‘kicking China when it is down’. Beijing has been critical of especially the United States for using the epidemic for geo-strategic gain.On Wednesday itself, China <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/19/china-bars-wall-street-journal-reporters-over-derogatory-column" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/19/china-bars-wall-street-journal-reporters-over-derogatory-column&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1582210409064000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH4tCOLDDpSnxZ-kUc1Xr1zUHutVA">cancelled the press accreditation</a> of three Wall Street Journal reporters for a story that in its headline called China ‘the real sick man of Asia’. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said the story was racist and set back the country’s efforts to combat the epidemic. This is the first time that there have been multiple expulsions of Beijing based foreign correspondents since the time of Mao Zedong.In Kathmandu, the embassy’s press statement brought a quick rebuke from a group of editors from a cross-section of the media which hit out at the embassy for naming the editor, and issuing threats against the media.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b74f59c7e80680e0623c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="868">‘We condemn the statement by the embassy which also violates diplomatic norms,’ the statement (pictured above), signed by 17 of the editors of Nepal’s mainstream newspapers and magazines, said.The <a href="http://np.chineseembassy.org/eng/News/t1746464.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://np.chineseembassy.org/eng/News/t1746464.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1582210409064000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFiLAwHHDHDUHH8QWpxMuUOd2t9QA">Chinese embassy statement</a> lashed out at The Kathmandu Post, and singled out its outgoing editor for special mention. It said the Ivo Daalder op-ed: ‘deliberately smeared the efforts of the Chinese government and people fighting against the new coronavirus pneumonia and even viciously attacked the political system of China ... This fully revealed its ignorance and prejudice on China, deeply hurt the feelings of the Chinese people ...’The statement concluded with the following sentences: ‘It is regrettable that Mr Anup Kaphle, Chief Editor of The Kathmandu Post has always been biased on China-related issues. This time he went as far as disregarding the facts and becoming a parrot of some anti-China forces and, therefore, his ulterior purpose is destined to failure. The Chinese Embassy in Nepal has made solemn representations to the newspaper and himself and reserves the right of further action.’<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b74f79c7e80680e0623c1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="167">Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi immediately tweeted (pictured above) the statement, provoking a firestorm in social media from both those who supported and opposed the issue. Some pointedly reminded her that Nepal was a democracy, unlike China -- and that it had no right to tell Nepal’s media what to do on the country’s Democracy Day. Others criticised The Kathmandu Post for insulting a friendly neighbouring country, and most of those posts used the identical analogy: asking what would have happened if it was an illustration of Gandhi wielding a gun in Kashmir.The objection seemed to be less about the content of the Daalder op-ed which many did not even seem to have read, and more about the Shutterstock image of Mao Zedong on China’s 100 yuan banknote wearing a mask. There are no reports of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul issuing any statement against The Korean Herald which first published the op-ed.Many social media users posted pictures of the cover of a recent issue of The Economist (pictured below, left) which also depicted Mao wearing a mask, and asked what the fuss was all about. Others dug up an issue of Himal bimonthly magazine from 25 years ago which photo montaged a Nepali cap on Mao Zedong (pictured below, right) to illustrate a story about the spread of Maoism in South Asia.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b74fa9c7e80680e0623c2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1244" height="844"><a href="https://kathmandupost.com/editorial/2020/02/19/why-china-s-statement-targeting-the-post-is-a-cause-for-concern" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kathmandupost.com/editorial/2020/02/19/why-china-s-statement-targeting-the-post-is-a-cause-for-concern&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1582210409064000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGXhRe14kLViyhe6gqFi2AVpdamMQ">In a strongly-worded editorial</a>, The Kathmandu Post on Wednesday fired back: ‘... the Chinese embassy did not just express its discontent with the article published; it went so far as to disparage the Post’s Editor-in-Chief and employ threatening language. The undiplomatic—and frankly menacing—manner in which the Chinese embassy made its objections known is condemnable ... If Nepal is to keep its sovereignty, it needs to ensure that no foreign nation, no matter how powerful, gets to dictate what principles Nepalis uphold.’China is sensitive to the epidemic bringing out racist stigmatisation of people of Chinese ethnicity all over the world, and feels that it is not getting due credit for its strict quarantine rules to prevent the virus from spreading.Nepal has felt its geopolitical fallout. For a country that hardly ever sees anti-Chinese protests or criticism of China’s human rights record in the media, the embassy statement and the debate it has sparked will mark a watershed.

Kunda Dixit

Nepal media feels China’s wrath in coronavirus fallout

Nepal’s September protests and regime change created two major unexpected costs that Prime Minister Sushila Karki’s interim government is scrambling to deal with: reconstruction of destroyed government buildings, and holding elections on 5 March.
The buck stops at the desk of economist and former bureaucrat Minister of Finance Rameshore Khanal about where and how to spend limited resources.
“Rameshore-ji is a fresh face and the right person for the role. He is capable and interested, and he knows the system,” says Kalpana Khanal of the Policy Research Institute (PRI).
But Minister Khanal has to grapple not just with the immediate budgeting needs for elections and reconstruction, but also initiate longer term measures to restore investor confidence badly dented by arson and vandalism of 9 September, and mend the economy.
Immediately after taking office, he had set up a three-member task force to cut programs and free up budget to meet immediate expenses.
“We have to hold elections and we have to reconstruct. Both need money, and they are equal priorities for us,” said Ministry of Finance spokesperson Tanka Prasad Pandey. “It is important to find these funds internally, and not look to aid from abroad.”
But Minister Khanal flew into heavy flak last week for his decision to restore investor confidence by giving a strategic capital gains tax break to Nepal’s only foreign private equity fund.
The Mauritius-based Dolma Impact Fund has invested venture capital into Nepal’s hydropower, construction and biotech sectors as well as solar farms and hospitals. It said in a statement that its capital gains are only taxable in Mauritius as per its double-taxation avoidance agreement with Nepal, which predates and overrides the Income Tax Act of 2002 subsequent to the Treaty Act 1990.
“When you have investors from all over the world, you have to choose a domicile and Mauritius is probably the most popular for development finance institutions due to strong governance, AML, and treaties with developing countries like Nepal,” Tim Dolma Investment told Nepali Times on the phone from London.
He added: “Last June we applied for the government to uphold its treaty with Mauritius which under all country laws including Nepal treaty act supersedes any disagreement with domestic laws. But there were delays. It was when the new government decided to uphold the treaty that the whole hoo-hah started.”
Leaks to the media possibly by bureaucrats fearful of being hauled over the coals by the CIAA has set financial circles abuzz for the past week. The Internal Revenue Office refused to grant the exemption, citing the 2002 Act.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki asked Chief Secretary Eaknarayan Aryal for clarification, and learnt that the Cabinet’s decision was not official since it was not recorded in the minutes.
“We were raising a fund that could have brought $1 billion in for energy and we had to stop it due to the reputational damage to Nepal by not upholding an international treaty,” said Gocher.
Gocher added: “Under Nepal’s Treaty Act, if there is ever disagreement between an international treaty and domestic law, then international treaty takes precedence so it is crystal clear and the way international treaties are dealt with all over the world.”
Some experts worry that gifting the fund such perks can set a dangerous precedent and a loss in tax revenue. Professor and economist Pushkar Bajracharya says: “The most important thing is to have a consistent policy about tax cuts and not do it piece-by-piece. Besides, the evidence just isn’t strong that tax cuts lead to higher investment, or more jobs.”
Others hark back to the capital gains dispute of the sale of Ncell ownership, which went to the Supreme Court and all the way to the international tribunal in The Hague.
Khanal has said privately that he is responding to the damage to Nepal’s investment climate from the dramatic visuals beamed worldwide of an international hotel chain and government buildings set ablaze in September. Western embassies are also said to be lobbying to allow Dolma tax exemption and smooth profit repatriation.
There are tradeoffs. Private equity funds like Dolma could funnel foreign funds more efficiently towards successful Nepali companies than the government, which is slowed down by many layers of bureaucracy. The downstream multiplier effect of such investments would outweigh taxes to the government since much of it is misused and wasted.
For example, the government is not taxing income in FY 25/26 generated by the US-funded $697 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) projects to build transmission lines and upgrade highways.
Strategic tax exemptions do provide incentives to investors, to make sure these projects are carried out effectively, which in turn helps Nepal’s development which has been affected by corruption and mismanagement.
The main demand of the GenZ protests that led to the downfall of the government coalition two months ago was to control corruption and make government more efficient so there is investment and job creation. The interim government seems to be responding to that sentiment.
The Dolma issue has distracted from the larger and longer-term need to reform the country’s financial systems and streamline public expenditure. How to reduce corruption and spur development is going to be the main agenda for elections, and the criteria by which voters will select candidates and parties.
TASKED FORCE
Shortly after Rameshore Khanal was appointed he set up a three member task force made up of the heads of Budget and Program, Foreign Aid, and Revenue Management Divisions. The team sent through the budget culling items DOGE-style — projects deemed ‘inadequately prepared,’ ‘fragmented,’ or ‘included through political pressure.’
Khanal hoped to save up to Rs100 billion by cutting all projects less than Rs30 million. However, such a slash and burn method would hurt rural and remote area projects for health and education more, and much bigger corruption-ridden infrastructure projects would be unscathed.&nbsp;
Says Bajracharya, “There are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of low-return programs in the budget that are there because of political or personal influence. But the criteria for cutting them needs to be properly defined. Doing it arbitrarily is unacceptable.”&nbsp;
Kalpana Khanal of the Policy Research Institute was involved in the taskforce, and explains: “The decision to mobilise internal funds is a pragmatic move to fund elections and reconstruction.”
However, she also singles out the massively-funded Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport as being particularly problematic: “Time and cost overruns are historically the norm, and many are ‘vote bank’ projects that are politically motivated rather than done for return on investment.”
For example, politicians use their influence to build roads to their home districts to secure popularity even if the funds would have been better spent elsewhere.
“Another problem is the amount of funds that are transferred randomly for things that outside the budget,” continues Khanal.
Bajracharya adds, “While reconstruction and elections are big financial commitments, Nepal could easily find the funds. Cancelling low impact programs is a good move by the ministry of finance, and another option could have been to raise customs or taxes by a few percent. The main problem is that a huge amount of funds are lost to corruption.”
Kalpana Khanal and Dilli Raj Khanal co-authored a technical report last year titled Improving Public Expenditure System in Nepal: Critical Areas of Reform which did a forensic examination of such wasteful projects.
The conclusion: recommendation to have stricter accountability measures in place to check the actual use of funds and merit-based appointments in the National Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance, and the CIAA.
The technocrats in Prime Minister Karki’s cabinet resonate with the latter point. Nepal is so entrenched in the ‘afno manche’ culture of nepotism and connections that it has become the norm.
The report also refers to the well-known off-budget ‘re-allocations’ of big outlays during the seventh and first months of the fiscal year that undermine in-built check and balance. Almost a quarter of the budget is spent in the last month, which results in low quality and low impact work.
The authors call for reward and punishment systems to prevent these practices. The CIAA could also be supercharged to build transparency into the digital Line Ministry Budget Information System, instead of being an agency for political vendetta.

Nepal needs to use its money better

At the opening plenary of COP30, which stands for the convolutedly named 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in Belém on Tuesday, Nepal brought up the threats to the Himalayan watershed. Nepal’s delegate Rajendra Prasad Mishra, Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also spoke on behalf of Bhutan and Bangladesh after the three countries formally called for tripling grant-based adaptation financing from 2015 levels to at least $120 billion per year by 2030, and to ensure a more simplified, scaled-up access to finance their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts. “Bhutan has already graduated from Least Developed Country (LDC) status, while Bangladesh and Nepal are in the process of graduation,” said Mishra. “Graduation reflects development progress, but does not reduce our climate vulnerability nor the scale of support required to safeguard development gains.” The Loss &amp; Damage Fund is also finally coming into effect, so countries can now apply for $5-20 million to make up for damage from climate impact. But claiming damage and linking disasters to climate breakdown has not been an easy process. “When a 200MW hydropower plant is destroyed by a glacial flood, it is a big loss for Nepal’s GDP. Every megawatt costs us $20 million to build,” says energy entrepreneur Kushal Gurung. “Our lobbying should be top-notch, and hydropower can make a good case for us.” Belém marks the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement that brought the world together to pledge to keep global average temperature to ‘well below’ 2°C above pre-industrial levels and limit it to 1.5°C.&nbsp; COP has also returned to Brazil after 30 years of the Rio Conference in 1995. Since then there have been numerous summits, which have been criticised for being just hot air and being hosted by fossil-fuel exporting countries like UAE and Uzbekistan. Belém was selected because it is a gateway to the Amazon, but Brazil has now also become a major oil producer after new offshore finds. A recent report shows that compared to 2019, the world is set to reduce its emissions by 12% in 2035 if countries are to implement their Nationally Determined Contributions even though the figure needs to go up to 40% to meet temperature targets. There has been progress. Before the Paris Agreement the world was on a path for 4°C increase during this century, and this has now come down to 2.5°C because of the clean energy transition. But a lot more needs to be done to meet the Paris 1.5°C target. “This progress is proof that multilateralism is working, it is delivering,” Manjeet Dhakal of the Climate Analytics South Asia told us from Belém. “Having said that, it is simply not enough. Emissions need to go down much further, and a lot of it is tied to developed countries providing climate finance to do so.” Many developing countries have adopted ‘conditional NDCs’ which means their emission reduction targets cannot be met without international climate finance. In its third NDC, Nepal set a target of a 17.1% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions and 26.8% by 2035. But achieving that has a price tag of &nbsp;$73.74 billion, with much of it from international climate finance. UNDERFINANCED However, the climate for climate finance is getting worse. The United States has exited from the Paris Agreement for the second time under President Trump, and there are cutbacks in foreign aid by European funders. Even so, the EU has committed to reducing its emissions by 90% in the next 15 years, 85% of which will be domestic emission cuts. The silver lining in all this is that the leadership in climate action is increasingly being taken by Nepal’s neighbours China and India with both investing heavily in renewable energy. China is the world leader in solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles, and Nepal has already taken strategic advantage of this.&nbsp; With expensive hydropower plants increasingly at risk from glacial lake outburst floods, experts say Nepal must diversify its energy mix and invest in solar power which has 10 times more potential than hydropower at 432 gigawatts with over 300 days of sunshine a year. Solar farms can also power pump storage, which are cheaper and quicker to build.&nbsp; China has drastically reduced the cost of photovoltaic cells, making such schemes more feasible. Nepal just needs to ease up its restrictive domestic energy policies, boost investment and resist geopolitical pressure on electricity generation. “First, we need to increase the cap on solar energy from 10% to 30%, and next, the bidding process should be made easier, or just have the first past the post system like that for hydropower,” says Kushal Gurung. The disadvantage of solar power is that it generates only daytime energy, but this can be solved with grid-scale battery storage or pump storage. But first, the government needs to fix the rate for solar purchase so that entrepreneurs are incentivised. “This is not happening because our government officials and engineers are comfortable dealing with hydropower, and are not just updated about the latest advances,” says Gurung. “As a result, we have no clear policies when it comes to solar.” Hydropower has become one of the biggest industries in Nepal with an installed capacity of over 3,400MW and the government’s target is to produce 28,500MW in the next ten years. But the recent climate disasters have made it clear that relying only on hydropower alone is too risky. The Nepal-Tibet glacial flood in July destroyed and damaged four hydropower plants and substations along the Bhote Kosi, and last September’s floods slashed the country’s total generation by half. Nepal now needs to build on the widespread adoption of battery-powered vehicles by extending it to electric public transport and for household appliances like stoves, rice cookers and refrigerators. Not only would this reduce Nepal’s per capita carbon footprint, but it would also reduce the country’s annual Rs300 billion petroleum import bill. At global platforms like UNFCCC, it is easy even for individual developed countries to get lost without an alliance. Now that Nepal is graduating from LDC status, it needs to have strong partners with a common goal to move forward in international negotiations. Says Kushal Gurung: “We won’t have privilege that came with LDC status anymore, which means climate finance will be even more limited. But there are a few things we can urgently do on our own like regulating the carbon credit market.”&nbsp; This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251118101116_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251118101116_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="Nepali Times SDG"> </figure>

Global warning bell in Belém

Youth protestors who sustained injuries at the hands of state security forces during the September protest staged a sit-in at Maitighar Mandala on Friday, protesting what they have called the interim government’s inadequate efforts to address the demands of the GenZ movements. The demonstrators also sought to bar the UML from gathering at Maitighar, where party chair K P Oli was expected to announce its Youth Volunteer Force on Friday. The organisers consequently relocated the event. Friday’s demonstration at Maitighar comes as UML and GenZ representatives agreed to sit down for talks in Simara, where a curfew was imposed this week after youth protestors and party cadres clashed near the airport as demonstrators sought to stop UML leaders from flying in for a political event to Simara from Kathmandu.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251121131148_c0b3bfb861f73bee456efbd12f523af55ce3c258742c39e1dea7dbf768774ea5.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251121131148_c0b3bfb861f73bee456efbd12f523af55ce3c258742c39e1dea7dbf768774ea5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2160" height="1440" loading="lazy" alt="GenZ Maitighar"> <figcaption>Youth protestors who sustained injuries at the hands of state security forces during the September protest staged a sit-in at Maitighar Mandala on Friday. Photos: SUBASH SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251121131152_85f3606728d137b334d782ac1b5d1ed6383544493f96ebcc0398fcd9f0c5add7.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251121131152_85f3606728d137b334d782ac1b5d1ed6383544493f96ebcc0398fcd9f0c5add7" data-rendition-name="original" width="2160" height="1439" loading="lazy" alt="GenZ Maitighar"> </figure>  &nbsp;Nepal’s interim government is increasingly cautious about the nation’s sensitive security situation in the lead-up to the 5 March election, as evidenced by pro-monarchy businessman Durga Prasai’s midnight arrest earlier this week over his inflammatory remarks as he called for protests this month. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the government to present Prasai before the court within 24 hours.&nbsp; As it stands, the UML’s inauguration of a youth collective amidst its disregard for the demands of Nepalis for party reforms and a change in leadership highlights party chair and former PM K P Oli’s continued lack of remorse for the excesses of 8 September.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251121131144_aaa296e2e812ef5f6473064bc4b679bf605e14e06ac0ec9be1d6d047b56f96f9.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251121131144_aaa296e2e812ef5f6473064bc4b679bf605e14e06ac0ec9be1d6d047b56f96f9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2560" height="1707" loading="lazy" alt="UML Youth Volunteer Force NT"> <figcaption>The UML launched its Youth Volunteer Force on Friday. Photos: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251121131148_bfa8df3fc382195b4cdb9c4804cd67e169d2d9c0b8d218e61bbef0c4c9dbdaad.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251121131148_bfa8df3fc382195b4cdb9c4804cd67e169d2d9c0b8d218e61bbef0c4c9dbdaad" data-rendition-name="original" width="2560" height="1706" loading="lazy" alt="UML Youth Volunteer Force"> </figure>  Families of those killed and injured on 8 September have demanded that the ousted PM and home minister be held accountable for state brutality.&nbsp; This week, Human Rights Watch published a <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/11/19/nepal-unlawful-use-of-force-during-gen-z-protest" target="_blank">comprehensive report</a> concluding that security forces fired indiscriminately on youth-led protestors on 8 September.&nbsp; The human rights watchdog urged the Sushila Karki-led interim government to investigate the excessive use of force as well as arson, vandalism and mob attacks on individuals on 9 September. The government has created a judicial commission to inquire into the deaths of 76 people over two days of protests.&nbsp; “The recent violence in Nepal included serious human rights violations, and those responsible should be held accountable, whether they are security forces or political actors,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.&nbsp; She added: “The government should ensure that the investigations are independent, time-bound, and transparent, and that no one found responsible for breaking the law is unfairly protected from proper prosecution.” HRW’s investigation was based on testimony from 52 witnesses, victims, journalists, healthcare workers, politicians, and sources close to security forces. Researchers also verified photos and video footage shared on social media and with researchers; and visited the scenes of protests, properties subjected to arson and vandalism, and hospitals.&nbsp; A police officer said that officers opened fire with lethal force five minutes after the District Administration Office declared an emergency curfew around Parliament. Witness accounts and analysed footage did not show grave and imminent danger to life that would justify the intentional use of lethal force, stated the human rights watchdog in the report.&nbsp; The protestors and witnesses identified security forces who fired live ammunition at the protestors by their uniforms as members of the Armed Police Force (APF) and Nepal Police’s Special Task Force (STF). &nbsp; “They literally aimed at us and started shooting,” said one witness who sheltered behind a barricade as police continued shooting.&nbsp; A retired senior police official said police had failed to follow procedures for dispersing protests and using lethal force.&nbsp; Pathologists at a Kathmandu morgue told HRW that they determined 35 cases of death caused by “high velocity gunshot wounds” to the head, neck, chest, or abdomen.&nbsp; The witness recounted being taken into custody along with 33 other protestors by STF officers in riot gear, and said that police police personnel beat him with batons. Detainees were threatened and their IDs destroyed. Several witnesses said that the mob attacks on businesses, politicians, media companies, and educational institutions were very targeted, noting the absence of security personnel on 9 September as arson and violence raged across the capital.&nbsp; Some suggested that the violence may have been instigated by infiltrators associated with various political movements.&nbsp; On Discord, the platform where a significant number of demonstrators organised, participants noted that while there were calls for peaceful movement in the days leading up to the protest, some on the platform advocated for violence.&nbsp; Human Rights Watch has said that any credible allegations of criminal acts contributing to the violence must be investigated.&nbsp; Said Ganguly: “The authorities should recognise that widespread impunity for human rights violations in the past helped enable the violence that occurred this time in Nepal. It is crucial to reverse the decades-long tendency by successive governments in Nepal to bury investigations and stall prosecutions, and to bring about accountability and security sector reform.”

Security forces targeted protestors disproportionately: HRW

As people move out of Nepal’s trans-Himalayan districts, their faiths migrate with them to the cities and all over the world. The ancient animist faith of Bon Po predates the advent of Buddhism in Tibet, and its last remaining priests and devotees are found in villages like Lubra in Mustang and Samling in Dolpo. But as those villages empty out, Bon centres can now be found as far afield as Kathmandu, New York and Tokyo. The first Triten Norbutse Monastery was founded in Tibet in the 14th century by the Bon Master Shen Nyima Gyaltsen. Its monastery in Nepal is below the forested hills of Ichangu on the western outskirts of Kathmandu.&nbsp; Many are surprised to hear that there is a Bon centre in Kathmandu, and that it is located so close to Swayambhu. This Triten monastery was established by Yongzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche only 40 years ago to cater to adherents of the faith who lived in the capital. True to its reverence for nature, the shrine is verdant, with plants and flowers amidst a contrasting backdrop of Kathmandu’s ugly urban sprawl below. The monastery practices Bon culture and passes on teachings to students as well, who after completing 15 years of study graduate to become ‘Gese’.&nbsp; It is believed that Bon Po was brought to Nepal from Tibet by Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche. Over the centuries, Bon and Buddhism have become syncretic in Dolpo and Mustang, despite the differences in their belief systems. Followers worship nature and consider the human body, speech and mind as jewels. The human body is said to be composed of five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and the cosmos.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251113111148_ce5d50db6757c4f5a7259c10d2879ee5f5b7b990e987bf3734378ba464afc9d5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251113111148_ce5d50db6757c4f5a7259c10d2879ee5f5b7b990e987bf3734378ba464afc9d5" data-rendition-name="original" width="5712" height="4284" loading="lazy" alt="The Bon Po way of life NT"> </figure>  The Bon faith was much more widespread during the reigns of Nyathi Chenpo, the first king of Tibet to Namri Srongchen, the 32nd king. But it was after King Srongchen Gompo that Buddhism started making inroads on the plateau, and spread also in the Himalayan rimlands. There are also Bon followers in Humla, Jumla, Baglung, Mugu, Kaski and Chitwan, as well as in the United States and 50 other countries, indicating the movement of people within Nepal and outside.&nbsp; The Bon religion believes in reincarnation and that everything, including positive and negative thoughts are a result of past life karma. Buddhism focuses more on attaining Nirvana, a state of no suffering, where the subject is released from all his/her karmas. Bon has also inducted some Tantric practices and rituals, some of which are in parts similar, yet still different from Buddhism.&nbsp; “In Buddhist culture, circumambulation of shrines is clockwise, but in Bon culture, circumambulation is in an anticlockwise direction,” explains Chhiring Lama of Triten Norbutse Monastery. “The main Bon mantra is Om Ma Tri Mu Ye Sa Le Du, while followers of Buddhism chant Om Mani Padme Hum. Buddhism emphasises enlightenment by meditation and moral behaviour, while Bon beliefs centre on nature and ancestor worship, and placating the spirits. In religious texts, it is mentioned that there were 1,008 Buddhas throughout time. Tonpa Shenrab is believed to be the 8th Buddha, and Bon practitioners are guided by his teachings contained in 140 sacred writings known as Kangyur and 300 more scriptures known as Katen.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251113111152_9813ce72805941af4b3bfb3c80c7e45ffc8aca4f2612eb967e84204f3a28bc07.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251113111152_9813ce72805941af4b3bfb3c80c7e45ffc8aca4f2612eb967e84204f3a28bc07" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="3024" loading="lazy" alt="The Bon Po way of life NT"> </figure>  “We worship nature and its elements and the prayer flags contain religious texts and when the wind blows through it we consider it a prayer,” says Chhiring Lama. “We also worship ponds for the water and consider fire as a sacred element as well. We also consider snakes sacred, therefore worship ponds, considering them as the place of residence.” The interdependence between human beings and nature is clearly depicted through such traditions and practices which carry relevance today as the planet faces the crisis of climate breakdown.&nbsp; Important gods worshiped include Satrig Ersang, Shenlha Okar, Sangpo Bumtri, and Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche. But what is similar to Buddhism is an offering known as ‘torma’, a cone shaped ritual offering made from flour dough. Many Bon faithful are vegetarian, or abstain from meat during festivals.&nbsp; Over time, the rise of Buddhism in Tibet and beyond overshadowed Bon, pushing many of its practices to the margins. Yet, the tradition continues to live on, carried by those who see in it a deep connection to nature, the spirit world, and the roots of Tibetan culture.&nbsp; In many ways, the endurance of Bon is a reminder that even the quietest faiths hold timeless truths, waiting to be remembered and valued. Followers of Bon today are far fewer, and the knowledge about its traditions is not as widespread.&nbsp; “As time goes on, people adopt rituals and cultures that are more convenient to their daily lives,” says Chhiring Lama. “But that means forgetting or leaving behind one’s indigenous and ancestral roots.”