<img width="640" height="269" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce60d9c7e80680e096746jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority's  (CIAA) use of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/labour-recruiter-netted-in-sting-raid/">sting operations</a> unconstitutional, putting an end to two decades of scare-mongering fueled by personal agenda and impunity.Acting on a petition filed by Advocate Bishnu Prasad Ghimire, the Constitutional Bench of the SC led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana declared the provision for sting operations set out by CIAA Rule 30 (2002) as contrary to the spirit and essence of the Constitution. “The nature of the stipulated provision is found to be encouraging the investigating officer to act in an arbitrary way”, the brief judgment issued today stated. Decried by critics as a tool to further personal interests, Rule 30 gave CIAA operatives the power to procure and set up bribes for stings and exempted them from constitutional law which criminalises the giving of kickbacks.Opportunists then exploited this loophole, conspiring with operatives to set up bribes and implicate low-level employees they had disagreements with.Enforcement of Rule 30 was noticeably higher, and random, over the last few years. Of 206 cases of graft registered in the Special Court by the CIAA last fiscal year, 181 had sting operations, from which 99 involved kickbacks less than Rs 25,000.There were 277 arrests, among whom 69 ranked as non-gazetted officers or lower and 16 were office peons. It is clear that the CIAA is focused merely on the ‘easy work’ of luring low-ranked officers and making arbitrary arrests in an extralegal manner. As the CIAA goes around chasing after small-time offenders and innocents, corruption in the larger scale flourishes. Over the last three years, only four percent of cases registered by the CIAA concerned serious offences, including revenue embezzlement and illegal acquisition of property. “Despite the instructions of the parliamentary committee and the emergence of huge scandals such as Ncell and Wide Body, the CIAA has failed to conduct any meaningful investigation.” says former Chairman of the Special Court Gauri Bahadur Karki. “Sting operations are their way of fudging case numbers to inflate performance.”     <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/ciaa-traps-small-fish-lets-big-ones-go/">A Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) report</a> in July last year detailed instances where sting operations had led to arrests of low-level employees.For example, contractor Sujan Poudel filed a complaint at the CIAA against police deputy superintendent Shyam Kumar Rai, accusing him of soliciting a bribe. The CIAA decided to catch Rai red-handed in a sting operation. Poudel went to Rai’s office and surreptitiously planted Rs140,000 in cash in the police officer’s drawer. Immediately after, officials from the CIAA who were hiding outside barged into the office and arrested Rai.The media ran the news: ‘DSP Rai arrested with Rs140,000 bribe money’. The CIAA took Rai under custody and filed a corruption case at the Special Court. Rai later accused Poudel of framing him because he had taken action against the contractor for illegal sand mining and quarrying. “CIAA can file corruption case if someone is caught taking a bribe,” said constitutional expert Bhimarjun Acharya told CIJ then, “but a constitutionally empowered body’s involvement in using cash to trap someone is not really acceptable matter in any civilised society, and it goes against the rule of law.”Former police chief Hemanta Malla who has worked at the CIAA says the agency’s use of stings goes against the basic principle of ‘secret action’. He admits that sting operations can be used to expose serious crimes like match fixing, human trafficking and drug trafficking, but says the use of sting operations against petty crime is ‘overkill’.“The target of secret action should be to break organised crime networks, but the CIAA’s operation seems just focused on arresting junior-ranking officials. This should be stopped because the sting tool can be misused,” Malla added.

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Sting operation ruled illegal

<figure><img width="1245" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4d89c7e80680e07368cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration by Subhas Rai in Nepali Times #51 of 13-19 July 2001. </figcaption></figure>As a former broadcast journalist and ex-employee of the World Bank’s Nepal office, Rajib Upadhya is the right person at the right time to come out with an account of the political economy of Nepal’s development since 1990.The title of Upadhya’s book released on 5 August, Cabals and Cartels: An Up Close Look at Nepal’s Turbulent Transition and Disrupted Development, pretty much sums up its content. During his tenure at the Bank between 1995-2018, Upadhya served as the eyes and ears for successive bosses in their dealings with Nepal’s politicians and bureaucrats.The result is an insider look at how the powerful multilateral lender interacted with Nepal’s officialdom. Over the years, the Bank has on the one hand been criticised for meddling too much in state functions, and on the other for not meddling enough when Nepal was in deep crisis. So, it must be doing some things right.The book begins in the heydays of the mid-1990s when democracy and the market economy brought hope that Nepal could finally take a great leap forward. However, some comrades took ‘great leap forward’ to mean something else, and decided to wage a ruinous war.Upadhya’s first task at the Bank was to work on a report titled Political Economy of Reform in Nepal which concluded that politicians with short-term time horizons, a rent-seeking culture, and vested interest groups were preventing reforms. Sound familiar? Cabals and Cartels takes us through the early reform years of the 1990s, the insurgency, Gyanendra’s reign, the peace process, and finally the new federal system – with Nepal’s politico-business nexus as the thread running through it all. The book is a roll call of World Bank experts who visited Nepal: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13470#.XyqDLi0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D13470%23.XyqDLi0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGi1iPSWx6ymMP6vwzHvrzD9d42Yw">Ashraf Ghani</a>, Mac Maharaj, Emmanuel Tumsiime. There were Bank’s successive South Asia chiefs like <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4985#.XyqE0S0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D4985%23.XyqE0S0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHhwZZVKGekQ_CabL85P1C5Mp9AIQ">Mieko Nishimizu</a> and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3763#.XyqEPi0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D3763%23.XyqEPi0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGxL15PSwhbzH08TVl5XXRR4feW2Q">Praful Patel</a>, as well as past Country Directors that Upadhya advised: Hans Rothenbühler, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1794#.XyqAiy0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D1794%23.XyqAiy0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFUxDdPAyapxlumLn_Lt-l5U9ae6g">Ken Ohashi</a>, and Johannes Zutt.They all came and went at various historical milestones in Nepal’s past 25 years, and Upadhya’s book has revealing anecdotes about their meetings with Nepali officials. <figure><img width="904" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4db9c7e80680e07368djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8194#.Xyp_6y0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8194%23.Xyp_6y0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGuc4LlcLwGLuuXeTTSBP22kKKy2g">Rothenbühler</a> arrived in Nepal in 2000 just as ‘shit was about to hit the fan’ (in his own words) over the Bank’s insistence on <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5545#.XyqBvS0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D5545%23.XyqBvS0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEwhkrhBgZOVpU4o2tHc2aXgsF1kg">reforms</a> in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8591#.XyqF7C0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8591%23.XyqF7C0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHoM4z6vwnRiI5-Em0cFqr6hUtP_g">Nepal Bank Limited</a> and Nepal Banijya Bank which were being <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7397#.XyqFiC0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D7397%23.XyqFiC0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEA8FX4CCWXw-8dXaozcZvi65Xpxw">bled dry by wilful defaulters. </a>Needless to say, they were cartel members with cabal protection, as the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10996#.XyqFsS0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D10996%23.XyqFsS0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEwxrDATtYarQjNVSRYGS2VlJKKfw">Nepali Times reported at the time</a>. They were <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1485#.XyqGPS0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D1485%23.XyqGPS0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDzGmI0ixiVkOq_Y71R3oZkX5YzA">so powerful</a> that they could collude to get the CIAA to frame reformers on trumped up charges, and lean on Supreme Court justices to convict them.Upadhya becomes close to Madhav Ghimire at the Foreign Aid Division of the Finance Ministry who fought hard for reforms, and later in his career conducted the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/madhav-ghimire-true-patriot%20,3299" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/madhav-ghimire-true-patriot%2520,3299&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHwfM4ZaGSbFwmL-bO2wtpdhPUxRQ">tricky 2013 elections</a>. He was <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/hardened-and-automated-when-confronting-death%20,834" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/hardened-and-automated-when-confronting-death%2520,834&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHrTn75eenh8ICVCRWwr8hhv_j3lg">tragically killed</a> in a car crash in 2016.Madhav Ghimire was in a panel discussion with David Dollar of the report Assessing Aid, which the Bank had asked me to moderate in 2000. Upadhya’s account of that conference reminded me of something I had long forgotten: how difficult it was to get government officials in the audience to ask a question. Ghimire was irritated because he had coached them to be pro-active. Nepal’s misfortune is that we do not make bureaucrats of the calibre and integrity of Madhav Ghimire anymore. Upadhya recalls that Ghimire went to Manakama Temple in 1998 to ask for his wish to be fulfilled. But he did not have a personal request for the priest, he asked for divine help to complete the Melamchi Water Supply Project. Twenty-two years later, plagued by corruption and mismanagement, the project is still in limbo.Upadhya played a behind the scenes role in setting up the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) with a bunch of bright young boys, some of whom like Ameet Dhakal, Prateek Pradhan, and Kiran Nepal have gone on to become editors of influential media. <figure><img width="1333" height="750" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4de9c7e80680e07368ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Cabals and Cartels has some fascinating chapters on how even an honest prime minister like K P Bhattarai could be forced by the cartels to appoint <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10866#.XyqHki0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D10866%23.XyqHki0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEts1aeI8cebK2fMY6rN5EerdipZQ">Tilak Rawal as Rastra Bank governor</a>. Some at the World Bank office in Kathmandu described this as akin to  ‘putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department’. Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1357#.XyqHmS0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D1357%23.XyqHmS0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGJypCcB8V3pfN9TQm_fF8DXYfJvw">resigned over the appointment</a>, and Rawal had so much clout he got his own <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1468#.XyqIMi0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D1468%23.XyqIMi0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFS05f_bKDOE6nRNwp41tZIss5ldg">dismissal overturned</a> by the Supreme Court. The next Country Director Upadhya worked under was the soft-spoken but plain-speaking <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13060#.XyqA7y0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D13060%23.XyqA7y0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE2sqB_Vm_2LViXpdrDmWP3Z-n_zw">Ken Ohashi</a>. He wrote surprisingly critical op-eds, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=919#.XyqBZC0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D919%23.XyqBZC0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF90Y_dmfs-Ou82tyziPmrscgC7_g">including for Nepali Times</a>, but in one of them in Kantipur he defended the government raising fuel prices that triggered student protests. Ohashi summoned the student leaders to his office, and convinced them about why it needed to be done. Among the student leaders was Gagan Thapa, now an opposition MP. Upadhya is also critical of the Bank’s colonial heavy-handed approach. He cites how bosses in DC even suspected Ohashi had <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5031#.XyqCcy0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D5031%23.XyqCcy0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEXP4A9oO9f_7XHIAzBxmAq7x5-HA">‘gone native’ </a>when he started engaging with <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15223#.XyqDZy0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D15223%23.XyqDZy0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFPuCLKUY-O1c_tSTq0-q3BmjUrsA">Babu Ram Bhattarai</a> and Pushpa Kamal Dahal after the peace process. The Bank also got flak for its $50 million grant for Maoist camps, after  Dahal boasted on candid video that he had hoodwinked donors by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17494#.XyqKgi0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17494%23.XyqKgi0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNESWBE13Tsalyr8eUmvtPNuLvf_Cw">inflating guerrilla numbers</a> four fold. Experts the Bank had invited accurately analysed Nepal’s malaise. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12143#.XyqC4y0w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12143%23.XyqC4y0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEhI0eHzBxf0B06w9c3AkS6raqVPQ">Asraf Ghani</a>, the author of Fixing Failed States, who is now Afghanistan’s president, put his finger on the root causes: over-politicisation, last-minute problem fixing, lack of rule of law, and low performance.  Mac Maharaj, a confidante of Nelson Mandela, advised Nepal not to follow South Africa’s example in the peace process. Ugandan public finance expert Emmanuel Tumusiime said ‘lack of money is not a problem in Nepal, access to easy money is’. Even as far back as 1964, an early World Bank consultant had concluded about Nepal: ‘The central government in Nepal is not conditioned to get things done … money is certainly not the problem.’  Upadhya notes rather depressingly: ‘For all the outward signs of progress, our structural problems remain fundamentally unaddressed since the early 1960s … the World Bank economists could be writing about present-day Nepal.’  Indeed, Nepal’s progress is stymied because of state capture by a cartel of cannibals. We know what the problems are, we know the solutions. Nepal just does not have leaders with the political will and capability to implement them.  <img width="1250" height="1150" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4e19c7e80680e07368fjpeg.jpg" alt="">Cabals and Cartels: An Up Close Look at Nepal’s Turbulent Transition and Disrupted Development by Rajib Upadhya FinePrint Books, 2020 <a href="http://www.fineprint.com.np/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.fineprint.com.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596790855128000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGczCDqfyYKmIYDigNnAmYNZ6fefA">www.fineprint.com.np</a> 282 pages     A <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/when-will-nepals-future-ever-arrive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">summary by Rajib Upadhya of his book</a> will be online on nepalitimes.com Weekend Longreads on Saturday.

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Why Nepal is stuck

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141140/636bae749c7e80680e077ff4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="900"/>Last September, contractor Sujan Poudel filed a complaint at the Commission for the Investigation for the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against police deputy superintendent Shyam Kumar Rai, accusing him of soliciting a bribe. The CIAA decided to catch Rai red-handed in a sting operation.A month later, Poudel went to Rai’s office and surreptitiously planted Rs140,000 in cash in the police officer’s drawer. Immediately after, officials from the CIAA who were hiding outside barged into the office and arrested Rai.The media ran the news: ‘DSP Rai arrested with Rs140,000 bribe money’. The CIAA took Rai under custody and filed a corruption case at the Special Court. In his statement, Rai accused Poudel of framing him because he had taken action against the contractor for illegal sand mining and quarrying.As evidence, the CIAA had submitted a video footage of the cash in Rai’s drawer. But when police examined the video, they found that the CIAA team seemed to know exactly where to look for the cash. “Take out money from the drawer,” a member of the CIAA team is overheard saying.The Special Court analysed the video, and ruled that Rai had indeed been framed by Poudel. The justices said in their judgement: “It seems the CIAA has worked at the behest of special interest groups unhappy with a strict ban on illegal sand extraction,” said one of the judges of the fast-track court established to deal with corruption cases.Pralhad Dhital, an assistant forest officer of the Kavre District Forest Office, was attending a training organised in Kathmandu last month when Jagatlal Tamang, an entrepreneur of Kavre, repeatedly telephoned him asking for a meeting. Tamang came to Kathmandu and the two went out to a cafe. At the table, Tamang abruptly put Rs20,000 in Dhital’s hand, and suddenly CIAA officials lurking nearby pounced on Dhital.The media reported: ‘Kavre Forest Official Caught Red-handed accepting Bribe’.Tamang later confessed that he had indeed decided to frame Dhital after he refused permission to fell 56 pine trees in a private property. He added that CIAA officials helped him write his application and showed him how to carry out the sting operation. As with many other cases, Tamang framed Dhital with the active collusion of the agency mandated to fight corruption. Dhital was suspended from his job.Not only does this show that media headlines about corruption may be misleading, it has also exposed questionable practices at the CIAA. Records show that the anti-corruption agency is regularly using sting techniques in petty offences to catch small-time criminals. Last November the agency arrested traffic policeman Nabin Kumar Jha of Dhanusha, while receiving a Rs1,000 bribe. Jha was arrested shortly after receiving ‘bribe’ planted on him by a CIAA driver.In Kaski the CIAA’s Pokhara Regional Office acting on a complaint, planned a sting operation against land revenue officer Dipak Subedi by getting an official posing as someone needing a job done. Subedi was caught while accepting a Rs3,000 bribe from an undercover CIAA official, and agency filed a case against him.The CIAA has even conducted a sting operation to arrest a messenger at the Land Reform Office in Itahari. In a clear case of entrapment, it offered Arjun Mandal Rs2,000 for a service, which he accepted. He was arrested and charged.Instead of going after officials and politicians who embezzle billions with impunity, critics say, the CIAA is targetting corruption. They say the agency is carrying out these operations so it can boast about the number of corruption cases it has cracked. Indeed, the CIAA’s annual report for 2018-2019 cites ‘a record number of corruption cases’.At a press conference in January, CIAA spokesperson Pradeep Kumar Koirala patted himself on the back by saying that the agency had performed “a great achievement” by busting so many corruption cases. Out of 351 graft cases filed by the CIAA last year, 147 were bribery and of these in 40% the accused was apprehended using sting tactics. This year, the number of sting operations has shot up to 181 cases – of which half were cases involving less than Rs25,000 in bribes. Of the total 277 arrested 69 were junior civil servants and 16 were messengers and peons.“Previously, cases of fake academic credential used to top other corruption cases,” said Gauri Bahadur Karki, former chair of the Special Court, ‘these days, they have been replaced by sting operations.”Details of the CIAA’s own annual report reveal that the powerful constitutional body that is entrusted with controlling graft and malfeasance in government and ensure good governance is busy with petty bribes, and arresting junior-most government employees.The CIAA is obviously taking the easy way out to fulfil its case quota, while trying not to ruffle any feathers. It is not going after powerful officials involved in tax evasion, investigating ill-gotten wealth, or following the money trail in corruption involving senior officials. It is enticing low-level officials who put their hands in the honey pot.“CIAA has not followed the instructions of parliamentary committees to go after big fish in high-profile cases like the Airbus deal, Ncell tax and Yeti Holdings. None of those scams were investigated, but it is targeting petty corruption just to show that it is meeting targets,” said Karki.The sting operation has raised ethical issues of whether entrapment is an acceptable way to nab public officials. Should the CIAA even be tempting junior bureaucrats by using a bribe as a trap. Is it even legal?As per Article 239 of the Constitution the CIAA can investigate wrongdoings of any public position holder and file corruption case against them if charges are established. Section 30 of the regulation states that the CIAA can provide money to informers if any public position holder seeks bribe. But there is no provision of legal action against bribe receivers and providers.The CIAA has been using this Section to conduct sting operations whereas Section 3 of Corruption Prevention Act-2002 clearly states that both bribe receivers and providers should be punished for bribery. Ironically, this may actually make the CIAA also liable for corruption.“CIAA can file corruption case if someone is caught taking a bribe,” said constitutional expert Bhimarjun Acharya, “but a constitutionally empowered body’s involvement in using cash to trap someone is not really acceptable matter in any civilised society, and it goes against the rule of law.”Another advocate Bishnu Prasad Ghimire argues that the CIAA’s sting operation is guided with the intent of improving its success rate in controlling corruption by trapping citizens.  “State agencies should not be involved in such activity, and the use of state coffers to entrap citizens is not acceptable,” said Ghimire.Ghimire says sting operations by a state agency is actually illegal and objectionable. As per Nepal’s criminal law, only Parliament can determine which act is a crime and which is not.Acharya recalls that sting operations have been used in the United States and India, but the courts there have set a precedent by annulling the provision of providing money to trap criminals. He says as democracy with the rule of law, Nepal should follow that practice.The US Supreme Court in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/503/540/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/503/540/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1595658441786000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH07kw3Z3XtVIHIDEfMKSIkPMbtAg">an order issued on April 1992 states</a>: ‘In their zeal to enforce the law, government agents may not originate a criminal design, implant in an innocent person's mind the disposition to commit a criminal act, and then induce commission of the crime so that the government may prosecute.’In a ruling, India’s Supreme Court has also raised moral questions about sting operations with the <a href="https://indiankanoon.org/doc/120178732/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/120178732/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1595658441787000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFD_9ZxQf78QImt73MtvIr34R_USg">order</a>: ‘Being essentially a deceptive operation, though designed to nab a criminal, a sting operation raises certain moral and ethical questions. The victim, who is otherwise innocent, is lured into committing a crime on the assurance of absolute secrecy and confidentiality of the circumstances raising the potential question as to how such a victim can be held responsible for the crime which he would not have committed but for the enticement.’ ,” states theIn Nepal, too, a case has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the CIAA’s use of stings. However, Pradeep Koirala at the CIAA defends the practice saying the agency provides money to victims of corruption to break the chain of bribery. “We facilitate it only when service seekers do not have the money for the bribe and approach us with an application,” he added.Even former police chief Hemanta Malla who has worked at the CIAA says the agency’s use of stings goes against the basic principle of ‘secret action’. He admits that sting operations can be used to expose serious crimes like match fixing, human trafficking and drug trafficking, but says the use of sting operations against petty crime is ‘overkill’.“The target of secret action should be to break organised crime networks, but the CIAA’s operation seems just focused on arresting junior-ranking officials. This should be stopped because the sting tool can be misused,” Malla added.Advocate Bhimarjun Acharya is clear about how to complain about corruption in Nepal: “There are so many ways citizens can lodge complaints against bribery, but entrapping someone as part of an investigation is not the way in a civilised society.”<a href="https://cijnepal.org.np/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cijnepal.org.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1595658441787000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFNx-tiTfqcQt1OnemJShWk6Bp_yQ">Center for Investigative Journalism-Nepal</a>

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CIAA traps small fish, lets big ones go

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e8a9c7e80680e04fcbejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1584"/><figcaption>Illustration: BHANU BHATTARAI</figcaption></figure>When Prime Minister KP Oli and NCP co-chair Prachanda had a luncheon meeting at the home of business tycoon Durga Prasai last year, a photo posted on social media (pictured below) went viral spawning memes and widespread ridicule. The word ‘marsi’ for the red rice they were seen eating entered the Nepali lexicon as a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/whats-so-funny/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">synonym for sleaze</a>.This was not the first time politicians have been wined and dined by captains of industry, nor were Oli and Dahal the only leaders to do so. Such politico-business nexus has been standard operating procedure no matter what form of government Nepal has had in its history. The only difference is that these days they do not even try to hide the collusion.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e8d9c7e80680e04fcbfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Private medical colleges are a glaring symbol of this symbiosis. Durga Prasai was accused of attempting to lobby for laws to open his B&amp;C Medical College in Jhapa. In fact, medical colleges have become such a lucrative way to rake in money that political connections are essential for those investing in this medical-industrial complex.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/red-rice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Red rice</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/whats-so-funny/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What's so funny?</a>, Nepali Times<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e8f9c7e80680e04fcc0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="652"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Businesses provide politicians with the funds they require at election time, the intention being that they will extract their pound of flesh when the politician comes to power. "This negative culture of paying politicians and influencing policy is growing in Nepal, and is at the centre of the corruption epidemic," says political scientist Krishna Khanal.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-power-and-pull-of-pathibhara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death of Ang Tsering Sherpa</a> of Yeti Airlines in a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/helicopter-carrying-tourism-minister-crashes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">helicopter crash in February</a> was a big blow to Prime Minister K P Oli, who had close personal dealings with him. Sherpa served as a fixer for Oli, and bagged coveted real estate and other deals for his conglomerate in return.Sherpa allowed the UML and now NCP to work out of his Ring Road villa. Last month, Oli inaugurated a monastery (pictured below) in Sherpa’s memory in Lumbini, and appointed relative Dawa Futi Sherpa ambassador to Spain. Sherpa's company Thamserku has leased several hectares adjacent to Narayanhiti Palace, which the Attorney General's  report says cost the government Rs5 billion. The lease renewal gives Thamserku the upper hand.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e919c7e80680e04fcc1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="320"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>NCP leaders now often meet at the house of businessman Capt Rameshwar Thapa, and that was where negotiations for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/one-body-two-heads/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">party’s unification</a> took place last year. Construction contractor Sharada Prasad Adhikari is untouchable because of his proximity to Pushpa Kamal Dahal -- even though most of his projects are abandoned half-complete.Dahal is also known to hobnob with businessman Ajeya Raj Sumargi, who often acts as a frontman for the politician’s business dealings. Sumargi's Nepal Satellite Telecom got a license for cheap and has refused to pay Rs740 million in taxes it owes to Nepal Telecom. There is political pressure on many organisations to legitimise Sumargi money transfers into the country without disclosing their source. But due to political pressure most investigations are stalled.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e939c7e80680e04fcc2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="770"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e959c7e80680e04fcc3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="333" height="316">Nepal Communist Party co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda with businessman Ajayraj Sumargi during an inauguration of Prasad Homes in Pashupati (left) , Kathmandu and at the factory of Himalaya's Spring Water in Rasuwa district (right). Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/absolute-power-numbs-absolutely/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Absolute power numbs absolutely</a>, Damakanta JayshiThere are many other examples of what critics call ‘crony communism’ which has  flourished especially after the NCP government took power. The impunity and corruption associated with this style of governance has made the neo-rich richer, and the Nepali middle class sink into poverty."When the distance between politicians and businesspersons is blurred, policies are made not in the favour of the general public, but specific interest groups," admits Yubaraj Gyawali, who himself is an NCP leader. "That is where the plunder of the country's resources for personal benefit begins."After Nepal’s sugar barons convinced the government that imported sugar was harming domestic industry, politicians first raised the taxes on imported sugar, then completely banned it at the behest of business. The price of sugar soared immediately from Rs65 to Rs100 per kg. The new budget also protects domestic tea, coffee, dairy producers as well as the footwear and cement industries -- even when domestic cement is 30% more expensive than Indian cement, and double the cost of the same grade of Chinese cement.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/crony-communism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crony communism</a>, Editorial<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e979c7e80680e04fcc4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="838">All this is, of course, nothing new. UML Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari was criticised in the 1990s for serving the interests of businesses. Adhikari’s Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal resigned then during a budget formulation process, accusing industrialist Binod Chaudhary of exerting undue pressure on state policy. Chaudhari is now Nepal’s only dollar billionaire, #1349 on the Forbes List of the world’s wealthiest men, and has just wangled a license for CG Telecom.Real estate broker Shobhakanta Dhakal is also in the news for transferring a part of public property in Baluwatar to NCP general secretary Bishnu Poudel. Khanal is influential enough to gain a berth in the UML’s list of proportional representation candidates in the 2017 election. Poudel claims to have bought the land, but critics claim it was transferred to his name for free in return for unspecified favours.Nepal may have gone from monarchy to republic and seen many changes in governments, but that does not seem to affect Deepak Malhotra and his businesses. He accompanied PM Oli on visits to China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Even while he was being investigated for involvement in the gold smuggling racket, Malhotra was leased airport real estate to build a commercial complex. (see box)."If a country's democracy is well developed, then a politician's career plummets if he or she is seen to have unethical dealings with business," says former Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal. “That is not the case in Nepal.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e9a9c7e80680e04fcc5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="251"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Businessmen like Suraj Vaidya of the Vaidya Group, Chamber of Commerce President Rajeshkaji Shrestha, former NRN president Upendra Mahato, and construction magnate Madan Adhikari all have multifarious political connections. Some freely admit that being close to power is the only way to do business in Nepal.Even opposition leaders like the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba have close links in the business community, although he is not with them much these days because he is out of power. Deuba was embroiled in controversy for trying to rush a contract for the Kathmandu-Tarai highway to the Indian company IL &amp; FS, and was also accused of pressurising bankers to waive almost Rs2 billion in loans taken by hotelier Piyush Amatya.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131140/636a4e9c9c7e80680e04fcc6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="345"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepal’s tycoons are now not satisfied with just influencing politicians, some are becoming politicians themselves. Rajyalaxmi Golchha became a member of parliament through then UML’s PR quota, and publicly admitted she paid Rs70 million to the party for the honour. Many other businessmen in Parliament today have also paid their way into the legislature.Punarjan Acharya a former political adviser to the NC is aghast. "This growing unhealthy nexus between businesspersons and politicians does not just hurt the economy, it puts democracy itself in danger," he says.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/illiberal-ills/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illiberal ills</a>, EditorialNepal's only international airport hostage to business interestsSharad OjhaIn December 2018, PM KP Oli declared that Tribhuvan International Airport would be made a "boutique airport." However, a 5-storey building in front of the airport, built not just against 'boutique' aesthetics but also against regulations, makes a mockery of his declaration.The building is constructed by 'Rasuwa KD Joint Venture' company, owned by controversial businessman Deepak Malhotra, alleged gold smuggler Bimal Poddar, and MP from Rasuwa, Mohan Acharya. The company was supposed to construct a parking lot, a modern park, a waiting area, a playpen for children, and other infrastructure. But except for a tall building and a parking lot that is highly inconvenient to arriving passengers, nothing else has been constructed.After much protest from airport officials themselves, an investigation committee was formed under the airport's Deputy Director, Jagannath Niraula. The committee submitted its report in April 2019. The report concluded that the building had been constructed against agreements and should be demolished if needed, and that its impacts on airport security should be investigated.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/try-visiting-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Try visiting Nepal</a>, Sewa BhattaraiBut more than a month later, the recommendations have not been implemented. "We know the building goes against regulations, but what can we do if the person we are supposed to investigate hobnobs with the Prime Minister?" says an engineer who did not want to be a part of the investigation committee. He was referring to Malhotra, who is seen accompanying PM KP Oli on many international visits.Malhotra's company had started enjoying impunity after Lokman Singh Karki became the head of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of in April 2013. Anyone who dared question his company was called for questioning by the CIAA instead. But even two and a half years after Karki was deposed, Malhotra's influence continues to grow stronger through his associations with even higher political connections. He evades investigation despite being accused of VAT corruption and gold smuggling.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/kathmandu-airport-is-nepal-in-a-microcosm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu Airport is Nepal in a microcosm</a>, Anil Chitrakar

The business of politics undermines Nepal’s democracy

<img width="1050" height="696" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a25c89c7e80680e0439dfjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>The Supreme Court’s verdict on Wednesday requiring the Malaysian company Axiata and Ncell Nepal to pay billions capital gains tax on their purchase of Nepal’s largest private telecom provider Ncell will end a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/06/03/taxing-time-for-ncell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">controversy</a> that has dragged on for three years, but is expected to further chill <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/making-nepal-fdi-friendly,853" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal’s foreign investment climate</a>.A full bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana decided after two days of hearings that Reynolds Holdings Ltd was a shell company and the real owner of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/05/16/the-tax-in-question/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ncell</a> was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/12/21/axiata-buys-80-stake-in-ncell/comment-page-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axiata</a>, and it was liable to pay the tax along with Ncell Nepal.Justices Rana, Mira Khadka, Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Tanka Bahadur Moktan were deliberating on a public interest litigation writ filed by former secretary and advocate Dwarika Nath Dhungel and six others that Ncell Nepal and Axiata were responsible to pay capital gains tax when they bought the company from the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/Nepal-very,1104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Swedish-Finnish telecom company TeliaSonera</a> in 2016.When TeliaSonera sold Reynolds Holdings shares in Ncell to Axiata for over $1 billion, Nepal’s Large Tax-payers’ Office had said Reynolds owed the government Rs35 billion in taxes and demanded it pay the amount and fines to a total of Rs61 billion.Ncell Nepal refused to pay that full amount, and transferred only Rs21 billion capital gains tax. After this, the writ was filed, and the Supreme Court on Wednesday also rejected a case filed by Ncell.The case became controversial after two foreign investors traded ownership of a Nepal-based telecom company. Since TeliaSonera has already left Nepal, the Court found that the buyer is liable to pay capital gains tax if the seller did not.Senior advocate Surendra Bhandari says that it is international practice that the seller has to pay capital gains tax on any sale of assets, but says the Supreme Court is right in assessing that the seller was allowed to leave the country without paying tax and to put the onus on the buyer.Wednesday decision now sets a precedent for the buyer to also be responsible for paying capital gains tax. Officials at the Internal Revenue Service say that although the country’s treasury will benefit from the tax payment, there has been no investigation into why the seller was allowed to get away without paying taxes, and fears that the case will have negative repercussions on future investment.Eighty percent of Ncell’s ownership is with Reylonds Holding registered in the British Virgin Islands and 20% with Niraj Govinda Shrestha. Ncell’s main promoter was Reynolds Holding through TeliaSonera’s office in Norway.According to Nepal’s tax laws, TeliaSonera’s sale of Ncell to Axiata had a capital gains tax liability of Rs35 billion. Axiata had written to the Internal Revenue Office before the sale if it was liable to pay capital gains tax in Nepal, but there was no reply from its director at the time, Chudamani Sharma.After that the tax controversy got mired in politics, with various party leaders and former CIAA chief <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/parliament-and-court-plays,822" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lokman Singh Karki</a> vying for underhand deals that would let the guilty go free. Says advocate Bhandari: “The Supreme Court decision seems to be driven by the logic that any buyer should first inquire about the liabilities of the seller before any purchase.”However, other retired revenue officials say it is unfair to blame Axiata, and ask it to pay capital gains tax that should have been paid by TeliaSonera. He says the really guilty party here are the politicians who allowed TeliaSonera to leave without paying taxes, and this will dim Nepal’s investment climate just before an Investment Summit planned for next month, and after <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/to-davos-with-hammer-and-sickle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prime Minister KP Oli’s visit to Davos</a> with the message that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/crony-communism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal was open for business</a>.The Surpeme Court verdict has also exposed a loophole in Nepal’s tax laws that allows shell companies to get away without paying taxes. TeliaSonera had its dividends frozen in Nepal by the Large Tax-payers’ Office, but the Supreme Court allowed the company to repatriate its profits.   According to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-in-tax-havens-swiss-banks-money-laundering/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal Leaks exposes</a> by the Centre for Investigative Journalism and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Ncell owners had used the company to launder money as foreign direct investment. Ajeya Raj Sumargi, a businessman close to the former Maoist party and Birendra Mahato of the Federal Socialist Forum Nepal and brother of billionaire overseas Nepali Upendra Mahato were implicated in documents leaked through the Panama Papers about tax havens.The verdict this week opens the door for Nepal to tax FDI that is coming in from offshore tax havens.   Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/making-nepal-fdi-friendly,853" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Making Nepal FDI friendly,</a> Shyamal K Shrestha<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=962#.XFwMylUzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fight for FDI</a>, Ashutosh Tiwari<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Ncell-has-complied-to-all-obligations,3047" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Ncell has obliged to all obligations"</a>

Supreme Court weighs in on Ncell tax dispute

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

Thousands of Nepali students dreaming of an American education have been forced to look elsewhere as the Trump administration’s visa restrictions make their future uncertain.
The US was long considered a top destination for higher studies, making Nepal the 10th biggest country of origin for international students in America.&nbsp;
However, that number has seen a significant decline with the total for Nepali students now at 16,482. Some 8,000 Nepali students obtained no-objection certificates to study in the US from the Ministry of Education in the past year.&nbsp;
India, Australia, Canada, South Korea, United Kingdom and Japan are the other popular destinations for Nepali students. There are no clear numbers for Nepalis going to India, but a slight decline was noted this year after the deaths of two female students.
The US State Department has issued a circular to its embassies not to issue new visas to applicants until further notice. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the directive stated that the department planned to expand the screening of applicants' social media.&nbsp;
While new applicants are barred including those applying for visitor visas, students with scheduled interviews are allowed to proceed.
“Many of our students are affected by the new restrictions, but those who had applied for student visas earlier have got interview dates,” one Kathmandu-based college counsellor told us.
Meanwhile, even foreign students with spotless records already in the US have not been spared, as visa scrutiny intensifies under the new policy. In a move that underscores the growing sense of insecurity, many US colleges advised international students to carry their passports and documents at all times, even when traveling locally.
“Me and my friends did not go home this summer because we were not sure we would be allowed back, so we just went to Niagara Falls,” said a Nepali undergrad in Ohio, who like many interviewed for this report did not want her name used for fear of repercussion.
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Nepali students have adopted a cautious stance, with many choosing not to return home during summer vacation due to fear of visa revocations as well as travel bans. Meanwhile, over 7,000 Nepalis with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will have to come back to Nepal by 5 August or face deportation. Thirty-seven were flown back to Kathmandu on Omni Air last week.
“The US is one of the most sought-after destinations for higher education, and the ban will definitely impact bright students,” says Narottam Aryal of the King’s College in Kathmandu.
Indeed, Nepali undergraduates admitted into Ivy League colleges for the 2025 academic year have been asked to look for alternatives. The entire Fulbright Foreign Scholarships Board resigned on Wednesday citing interference from the Trump administration on the selection of this year’s cohort. Some Nepali students already on Fulbright scholarships have noted disruptions, delays and even cancellation of stipends.&nbsp;
The student visa restrictions were initially just for foreign students admitted to Harvard University, but it was later extended to all Chinese students and now to all students. Universities like Columbia which actively recruit foreign students, face sharp enrolment declines, threatening their financial stability and diversity.
An Indian female PhD candidate at Columbia University had her visa revoked by the US State Department, and said she was targeted on the basis of her social media posts on Israeli military attacks in Gaza. Social media vetting of political activism has raised concerns about privacy and freedom of expression in a country where such rights were a given.
Many students have been informed via email that their visas have been revoked for getting speeding or parking tickets, but even others with no criminal record have been affected. The fear of deportation looms large amongst international students, including those from Nepal.&nbsp;
For most Nepalis who migrate to the US for education, the journey is a high-stakes investment. They come largely from middle-class families, often rely on a patchwork of scholarships, work-study programs, loans, or even the sale of family assets to afford fees.
Most Nepali students pursue STEM subjects which offer extended Optional Practical Training (OPT) periods that help fund their education. But with the US backsliding on education and humanitarian matters, countries like the UK and Canada are becoming more attractive despite their own recent stricter controls on student visas.&nbsp;
The UK universities saw a 63% rise in Nepali students’ admissions in 2024. Japan is another popular destination with 64,816 Nepali students enrolled as of 2024.
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Already, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are poised to benefit from the increased scrutiny of US student visas. Several Hong Kong universities are offering unconditional admission to affected students, while Malaysian institutions are targeting previously US-bound Asian students. China and India have 330,000 and 280,000 students respectively in America, but the numbers for China have seen a sharp drop in the past year.
Elsewhere, branch campuses of American institutions such as NYU in Abu Dhabi, Georgetown in Dubai and Northwestern in Doha are getting more admission applications, and universities in the Gulf region are expanding infrastructure to accommodate those who would otherwise have gone to the US.&nbsp;
Even educational institutions in Nepal are hopeful that the US visa restrictions can be an opportunity to at least keep Nepali undergrads in Nepal, and also attract foreign students from the region.&nbsp;
“Many students might choose to complete their undergraduate degree here in Nepal and then move abroad for their Master’s degree later,” says Aryal of King’s College. “There was a need for quality higher education in Nepal anyway in terms of innovation and opportunities, so this could be the time to reduce our dependence on other countries.”
Nepal’s strategic position between India and China makes it sensitive to US policy shifts. India, a key ally, is also under US scrutiny for potential student travel restrictions. Chinese universities are already offering more scholarships to Nepali talent to capitalise on the US retreat.
American universities have challenged student visa restrictions in the courts. A federal court in Boston revoked the blanket ban on Harvard, and the State Department has ordered the resumption of processing student and exchange visitor visas.&nbsp;
Some are still hoping that President Trump will backtrack on the student visa restrictions, just like he has done with many of his more drastic executive orders.
Even so, the visa see-saw and longer-term uncertainties about living in the United States and its education system means students across the world are making alternative plans.
Says Aryal: “Policies of foreign countries change according to their needs, so excessive dependence was never a good idea. We should work to create different opportunities and choices of higher education within Nepal, so students are retained.” &nbsp;

America no longer prime destination for Nepali students

While Nepal was hosting the Sagarmatha Sambaad international climate conference in Kathmandu this month, on Mt Everest it was pretty much business as usual.&nbsp; The signs of climate breakdown are all there: a river now runs through Base Camp in summer, the Khumbu Icefall is more unstable, and there are more &nbsp;frequent avalanches. When expeditions arrived in March, the mountains were bare: it had not snowed since September, but then blizzards dumped unseasonal snow in May. And despite climate worries, such is the pull of Himalayan mountaineering that the Everest Industry showed no signs of slowdown. More than 600 international climbers and their Nepali guides had made it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. At one point there were an estimated 2,000 people in the tent city on the Khumbu Glacier. All the ropes and ladders on the Icefall came down on Thursday, marking the official end of the spring climbing season, and just in time to avoid a monsoon cyclone approaching from the Bay of Bengal. It has been an action-packed season. One factor could be that Everest fees will go up from September: each foreign climber needs to pay a $15,000 royalty, up from the present $11,000. The cost for a Nepali climber on the South Col route will also go up: from Rs75,000 to Rs150,000.&nbsp; The fee to climb Everest in autumn is $7,500 (up from $5,500), but most climbers still prefer spring. Winter permit fee (December-February) is only $3,750 per person and the mountain is now also open for monsoon (June-August) climbs, when the fee is ever lower at $2,750. The revised rule also makes it mandatory for every two climbers on an 8,000m peak to hire one Nepali mountain guide.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046" data-rendition-name="original" width="931" height="732" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry graph 1"> </figure>  In addition, climbers also have to pay for porters and guides, equipment, Base Camp costs, Ice Fall and fixed rope team fees, so climbing Everest does not come cheap. But such is the draw of climbing the world’s highest peak that some say the increased fees will not diminish the crowds next year. The government has tried to spread expeditions out to other seasons and other 8,000ers, but with not much success. Earlier this year, Nepal unilaterally increased the number of 8,000m peaks to 14 by adding six more sub-summits to broaden the choice for climbers. Added were: Yalung Kang (8,505m), Yalung Kang West (8,077m) &nbsp;Kangchenjunga Central (8,473m), Kangchenjunga South (8,476m), Lhotse Middle (8,410m) and Lhotse Shar (8,400m).&nbsp; The announcement could go against the accepted topographic criteria that a stand alone peak has to be at least 300m higher than an adjoining prominence, and at more than 3km isolation from it. The UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme) still recognises only 14 mountains as eight-thousanders, and only eight of those are in Nepal, or on the border with China. Nepal’s revised mountaineering regulations also increased the insurance coverage of high-altitude workers to protect porters and high altitude guides who usually take more risks on the mountains. Rescue teams and clean-up campaigners to collect trash and remove bodies of dead climbers up to Camp IV of Mt Everest do not need permits.&nbsp; The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee is now using drones to fly down trash in 20kg sacks. Each climber is also required to bring down at least 6kg of waste and not just their own, but this rule is erratically enforced. With five fatalities on Everest and Lhotse, Spring 2025 had a historically low death toll. Another five climbers died on Annapurna, Kangchenjunga and Makalu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a" data-rendition-name="original" width="665" height="740" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest industry graph 2"> </figure>  Journalist Ben Ayers who ran the Everest Live social media channel from Everest Base Camp with daily updates credited the low death rate to dramatic rescues of climbers from the ‘Death Zone’ by their Nepali guides and longline helievacs — the visuals all uploaded on YouTube.&nbsp; “Ironically, this perception of safety is bringing more and more inexperienced climbers to the mountain, and they need more rescues,” Ayers said in one of his dispatches.&nbsp; American expedition chronicler and summiteer Alan Arnette suspects there is a lot of under-reporting given that the jet stream and storms were lashing Everest even till late in the season. He told us: “I heard a lot about frostbite and rescues that were not made public. It’s become practically impossible to cover the details on Everest. All the teams report nice news, and they don’t talk about bad stuff to avoid hurting businesses.” Although trash on Nepal’s mountains makes headlines, what does not receive as much attention is the climate impact of so many expeditions. The Sagarmatha Sambaad conference sidestepped this issue, which is ironic given that the impact of climate breakdown is most evident on Himalayan peaks and their glaciers.&nbsp; <h2>Need for Speed</h2> The big stories this year have been about speed-running from their home cities to the top of Everest. Ukrainian entrepreneur Andrew Ushakov flew out of JFK on 15 May at 10:15AM Nepal time, and was on the summit 3 days, 23 hours, and 7 minutes later on 19 May at 9:22AM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry"> <figcaption>Andrew Ushakov at the summt. Photo: ELITE EXPED</figcaption> </figure>  “I could never find the time for the traditional 40-50 days of acclimatisation,” Ushakov explained matter-of-factly. His ‘Everest Sea-to-Summit’ climb was possible because he spent 400 hours in hypoxic sleep tents over the past four years in New York. However, Ushakov did use ropes already fixed, hired four Nepali guides, helicoptered to Base Camp, and used much more oxygen than an average climber. And after the climb, Ushakov was arrested at Kathmandu airport for being in possession of $20,000 of undeclared cash and spent a night in jail and fined $60,000.&nbsp; The other speedsters were Garth Miller, Alastair Cairns, Anthony Stazicker, and Kev Godlington, all former British Army commandos. They left London and summited five days later on 21 May, and flew right back. They also used hypoxic tents to simulate the thin air high on Everest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry "> <figcaption>All four members of the Furtenbach team at the summit. Photo: Sandro Gromen-Hayes</figcaption> </figure>  But more controversial was their use of xenon gas therapy in a German hospital to ramp up the production of oxygen-carrying haemoglobins in their blood. Xenon is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for being performance enhancing in sports. Expedition leader Lukas Furtenbach said this rule does not apply to mountaineering, as it is not a regulated sport like swimming. Nepal has no rules about xenon, but the Department of Tourism said it was launching an ‘investigation’ to decide on future policy since it is difficult to ban xenon, but allow oxygen. The controversy has also divided the mountaineering community, with some climbers saying they just want to maximise their chances of survival. Spending less time on the mountain could make climbing safer by reducing avalanche risk. It would also mean less trash on the mountains, but it would reduce the income of Nepal’s expedition industry. It is also unclear how much of the success was due to xenon therapy and whether the ex-special forces were already in good physical shape.&nbsp; The need for speed hides the fact that climbing in the Himalaya is dangerous business, and climbers cannot sprint to the top just by huffing xenon. But ultra-fast climbs could be charged more, and the revenue generated can be used to establish state-of-the-art rescue operations, and increase pay and insurance for guides. Two other speed chasers this season were Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff and American Tyler Andrews, both on Everest without oxygen. Andrews choppered to Base Camp to catch a weather window, but turned back from 8,500m due to high winds. Heavy snow and wind also forced Egloff to descend from 7,000m. Slow and steady climbers like Anja Blacha from Germany did make it to the summit without oxygen, while Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record with his 31st Everest summit as he led a 26-strong Indian Army group. There were 468 permits issued for foreign climbers from 48 expeditions to Everest this spring. Nepal’s other eight-thousanders together had only 17 expeditions. Nepal has more than 1,000 peaks above 6,000m, and has opened only 476 of them for climbing.&nbsp;

The Everest Industry

While Nepal marked <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a> Day on 29 May, on the other side of the planet in the US state of Colorado dozens of Nepalis who have climbed the world’s highest peak multiple times were busy working as chefs and Uber drivers. Among them is Nima Doma Sherpa, who climbed Mt Everest in 2019 after her husband Tshering Wangchu was among 16 crushed by an avalanche on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu">the Khumbu Icefall</a> five years earlier. A large serac broke off the West Shoulder of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry">Mt Everest </a>and fell directly on a group of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/more-porters-sick-on-everest-trail">porters and guides</a> making their way up the Icefall at 5,800m. Their bodies were flown by helicopter to Khumjung where Tshering Wangchu was born. He was excited about climbing Mt Everest for the first time.&nbsp; In Khumjung, Nima Doma felt like her own life had also ended. This was the kind of news Sherpa wives, mothers and sisters dreaded every <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-climbing-season-2025-s4abrxny">mountaineering season</a>. She stayed home for more than two years grieving, but ultimately gathered up all her emotional strength to take care of her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. Nima had grown up in Khumjung hearing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/stories-of-nepal-s-summiteers">tales of adventure on the mountains </a>from their father, Ang Chubi Sherpa who had climbed Everest in 1993. He used to bring her and her sisters and brother European chocolates after every expedition, and used to tell them that the chocolate bars grew on the mountains. “It was only after we got older did we realise that he told us that chocolates grew in the mountains so we would not worry about him putting himself in harm's way,” Nima Doma recalled with a faraway look at her home in Boulder this week. Nima went to the school that <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/commemorating-edmund-hillary-in-nepal,4145">Edmund Hillary</a> opened in Khumjung till Grade 8, and then dropped out to help in the kitchen and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">tend yaks</a>. She was married off to Tshering Wangchu, who was also a high altitude guide. When Tshering went on expeditions, Nima also started working as a porter from Namche to Base Camp. It was perhaps her father’s tales of mountains of chocolates that had always attracted her to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/knowing-our-mountains-43v4iyvo">the peaks</a>. After her husband was killed ten years ago this month, being a widow with children was not easy for Nima Doma. But she was not alone: there were at least 200 single mothers in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/khumbu-since-1950-jaww4qn0">the Khumbu</a>, and 20 of them just in Khumjung whose husbands had been killed in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/tragic-start-to-himalayan-spring-nepal,3695">mountaineering accidents</a>. Some were not even 20 years old, and had children growing up without fathers. But there were also women in the 50s whose husbands had been killed in the 1980s. Nima found sponsors for her children’s education, and moved to Kathmandu. In the capital, Sherpa widows used to meet to help each other. Some of them had joined the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) training for rock and ice climbing. “I decided that it was no use sitting home and crying anymore, after meeting other single mothers I felt less alone,” remembers Nima, who joined the Juniper Foundation and enrolled in an NMA training camp in Manang. There she climbed Chulu East (6,584m) and met Furadiki Sherpa, whose rope-fixing husband had also been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/on-mt-everest-s-70th-records-and-fatalities">killed on Everest</a> in 2013. They set themselves the goal of climbing Everest one day, and started a fund-raising drive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2678" height="1274" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  “We decided we had to overcome society’s stigma of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/widows-personal-happiness-comes-last-in-face-of-social-financial-hardships,1855">widowhood</a> and prove that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-junko-tabei">women could also climb mountains</a>,” Nima said, adding that she was inspired by Nepal’s first woman Everest summiteer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, who died during her descent in 1993. Nima Doma and Furdiki climbed the technically-difficult Ama Dablam (6,812m) and then arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 2019 as part of their Two Widows Expedition with the motto, ‘So Can We’. While climbing up the Icefall Nima passed the spot where her husband had been killed. It was a jumble of constantly-shifting ice blocks bigger than houses. She closed her eyes and said a prayer. “I remember thinking, this is so difficult and dangerous. This is what my husband had to do to support our family,” Nima Doma said. “I was determined to fulfil my husband’s dream of climbing Chomolungma, and to prove to ourselves that we two women could do it.” It was 23 May 2019 when <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/world/two-sherpa-widows-scale-everest-and-smash-stigma-idUSKCN1SU0MV/" target="_blank">Nima and Furdiki stepped on the summit</a> and looked over into Tibet, and down at Tengboche Monastery to the south.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b.png" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2700" height="1522" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  Nima Doma hugged Furdiki, took off her mask and wept. But for the first time in five years, it was not from grief but relief — relief for being free of all the sadness and sacrifices and for fulfilling her husband’s dream. They had found <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-after-death">life after death</a>. “I felt this immense joy to be on top of the world, it was indescribable,” Nima Doma said, “I have wept only twice in my life. Once when my husband died, and once there on top of Everest.” The tears had frozen on Nima Doma’s cheeks, as she and Furdiki headed back down the mountain.