<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1d209c7e80680e0af396jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="810"/>Jyoti Bikash Bank this week distributed warm clothing for the elderly at the Matatirtha Old-Age Home. Assistant General Manager of the Bank Ram Hari Acharya, Kathmandu Valley Regional Office Chief Dilip Raj Baral and Branch Manager of Balambu Prakash Shrestha were present.

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Jyoti for the elderly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIIsWYzgv4c&amp;feature=youtu.beOn the well-lit shelves of <a href="http://localprojectnepal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Local Project</a>, <a href="https://www.timro.org/timro-concepstore">Timro Concept Store</a> or <a href="http://alchi.co/">Alchi Ko Pasal</a>, shoppers encounter tastefully arranged rows of bags, clothes, games, jewellery and stationery designed and created by Nepali artisans.All these items have in common that they are minimalist, refined and chic. Many incorporate traditional Nepali themes into contemporary uses, taking Nepali handicrafts beyond their familiar forms. The social media posts of the companies that produce them show the products in action, creatively place them in everyday situations, and use them as a platform to promote a larger idea. This week, Nepali Times profiles some of these elegant new brands.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b74fd9c7e80680e0623c3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1383"/>Double Ribbed Woolen Hat(Lumu Wear)Gone are the days when wool was scratchy. Lumu Wear’s beanies, scarves and mittens are delightfully soft. Woven in sheep’s wool and lined with warm fleece, the Double-Ribbed Woolen Hat is available in an array of colours. Lumu Wear’s latest ‘Love is Love’ campaign featured straight, interethnic, inter-caste and LGBTQI+ couples and friends wearing their products while in an embrace or gazing at each other -- warmed by their love and the knitwear.A pity that winter is nearly over.Price: Rs800Available in: ash gray, brick brown, leaf green, midnight black,mustard yellow, muted beige, olive green, teal blueMakara USB (Allaré)Traditional Nepali iconography meets the digital age in <a href="https://allare.co/portfolio/usb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Allaré’s Makara USB</a>. The makar is a half-terrestrial, half-aquatic creature that is the vehicle of the water god Varuna and a guardian of gateways in Newa and other South Asian cultures. It features prominently in Kathmandu Valley’s traditional devotional art forms, including on stone water-spouts and Rato Machhendranath’s chariot. Allaré has engraved a makar on the wood that houses its USB.Price: Rs2,000Specifications: 16GB, 3.0 USB<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b74ff9c7e80680e0623c4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="726"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75029c7e80680e0623c5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="641" height="800">Dhampus Backpack (Yatri Supply)<a href="https://yatrisupply.com/product/dhampus-13l/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dhampus 13L</a> is a go-to backpack for city dwellers and spontaneous adventurers. It is lightweight and waterproof and it offers multiple spacious pockets. The smaller front pocket is easily accessible and the perfect place to keep your frequently used items; the larger pocket has a compartment to fit a 14” laptop and slots to keep your knick knacks organised.Price: Rs2,800Colours: Grey, Space BlackCold-Pressed Juice (Nochini)Instead of guzzling sugary, additive-filled canned or boxed juices, try <a href="https://www.no-chini.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nochini</a>’s healthier, sugar-free and preservative-free cold-pressed ones. They come in 13 different fruit and vegetable combinations, including the Hydrator (watermelon and chia seed), Beet It (beet and apple), and Revitalise (carrot, cucumber and pomegranate). When the company started in 2018, the juices came in glass bottles, but they were later sold in BPA-free plastic. Now the customer-favourite 250-ml glass bottles are back, so you can drink Nochini without worrying about creating a lot of plastic pollution.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75049c7e80680e0623c6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="640">Nochini also offers a one- to three-day juice cleanse that comes with detailed instructions. Also try their yogurt-based smoothies, which will energize you for the day. If you'd like, Nochini will even create a dairy-free option for you. The company will soon be launching +977wtr, a line of bottled water, and The Juice Wala, a more affordable version of its flagship cold-pressed juices.Price: Rs300 per bottleJuice Cleanse: Rs1800 (one day/three juices), Rs3600 (two days/12 juices), Rs5400(three days/18 juices)READ ALSO: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/upscaling-upcycling/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upscaling Upcycling</a> by Sanghamitra Subba<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75069c7e80680e0623c7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="560">Planters(Kala Kathmandu)<a href="https://www.facebook.com/kalakathmandu/?ref=br_rs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kala Kathmandu</a>’s minimalistic animal-shaped planters provide a cute home for small plants and succulents. The ceramic planters come in the form of beige-and-brown cats, tan capybaras, tan-and-grey elephants, and beige-and-white sheep. The company also sells a beautiful, earth-inspired espresso tea set, colourful vases and contemporary wall-clocks.Price: Rs950Payoo (Kazi Play)<a href="http://kazistudios.com/kazi-play/payoo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Payoo</a>, Kazi Play’s latest card game, tests customers’ reflexes and knowledge of Nepal’s endangered animal species. Suitable for players of any age, Payoo is a great way to learn about wildlife while enjoying some friendly competition. It consists of 57 cards with colourful<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75089c7e80680e0623c8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="989" height="387">illustrations of animals like the Bengal tiger and the Himalyan tahr, and players must find the match between their card and the card on deck. Kazi Play also has board games like Samrajya, which takes players on the journey of Prithvi Narayan Shah’s conquest of Kathmandu Valley, or Bhatti, a fun drinking game that can be an extension to Samrajya.Price: Rs600READ ALSO: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18657#.Xk5cfjIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arniko's skateboards</a>, Paavan Mathema<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b750a9c7e80680e0623c9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="266">Earrings (Sí by Sichu Khairgoli)Sí presents bold, minimalist, and geometrical handcrafted silver jewellery. These earrings are a favourite of designer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Si-By-Sichu-Khairgoli-1882241788569155/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sichu Khairgoli</a>, who sees them as embodying the refined simplicity and contemporary nature of the brand. All jewellery is made with genuine silver and semi-precious and precious gems from Nepal, India and Thailand. Khairgoli also custom-designs jewellery.Price: Rs6,800Price Range: Rs2,000-Rs15,000Skateboard decks (Arniko)​<a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://arniko.myshopify.com/collections/decks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arniko</a>’s sleek, modern and carved decks are not just skateboards, but works of art. Kathmandu Valley artisans intricately engrave the Indian Apple and Eucalyptus finish of the Canadian maplewood boards. You can opt for the standard geometrical designs with Arniko insignia or ask for custom work. Arniko also makes trendy apparel, bags and furniture.Price Range: Rs4,000-9000Variations: Pointed, Curved<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b750c9c7e80680e0623cajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="800"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b750e9c7e80680e0623cbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="800"><blockquote>Premium Dark Chocolate Mustang Apples and Roasted Pistachios (Nana’s Delight)<a href="https://www.facebook.com/nanasdelight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nana’s Delight</a>’s Mustang Apples and Roasted Pistachios variety is the first of its new Premium Dark Chocolate line. While the cacao is imported from the Philippines and India, the Mustang apples are from Jumla and the nuts from around Nepal. The apples add a sweet, tangy bite and the roasted pistachios give a pleasing crunch to the 70% dark chocolate bar.</blockquote>Price: Rs90 (small)/ Rs450 (large)

Made in Nepal

<figure><img width="1500" height="1020" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a40819c7e80680e04a625jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Nyatapola Temple</figcaption></figure>Located at the heart of Bhaktapur in Taumadi, Nyatapola is the tallest temple in Nepal at 30 metres. This five-storey 18th century Malla-era temple, also listed in the World Heritage Site, is a shrine of goddess Siddilaxmi, considered a manifestation of tantric power. The temple took seven months to complete between 1701 to 1702 BS, and did not suffer any major damage in the 2015 earthquake.Himalayan Destinations recently organised a cultural night where 34 foreigners dressed in traditional Newari customs showcased Newa lifestyle. Mahakali dance was performed during the program. <figure><img width="1500" height="879" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a40859c7e80680e04a626jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>A woman weaves traditional fabric in front of the temple</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a40899c7e80680e04a627jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>A woman plaits straw to make a mat</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="865" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a408d9c7e80680e04a628jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>An elderly woman spins thread out of cotton balls</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="1022" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a40909c7e80680e04a629jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Women in traditional Newar costume Haku Patasi demonstrate the way of making chiura or beaten rice using large wooden mortar and pestles</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="946" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a40939c7e80680e04a62ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>A woman prepares food in an earthern pot over traditional Newari mud stove </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="959" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a40969c7e80680e04a62bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Locals display pottery from Bhaktapur's famous pottery square</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a409a9c7e80680e04a62cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Artists perform Mahakali dance, a traditional masked dance from Bhaktapur</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="1018" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a409d9c7e80680e04a62djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Children participate in the Mahakali dance</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a40a09c7e80680e04a62ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Mahakali dance</figcaption></figure>All photos: Bharatbandhu Thapa

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Nyatapola alight

Who is accountable for teacher-student relationships?

Early on Monday morning, a bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu plunged off the highway in Dhading killing 19 passengers. Two weeks ago, another bus fell into the Tama Kosi in Manthali, killing 12. A few days before that a bus crash in Baitadi killed 13 people.&nbsp; In just the month before Nepal's election, more than 50 people have been killed in road traffic accidents. Most of these cannot be called 'accidents'. They are a direct result of poorly maintained highways and lack of enforcement of traffic discipline. Political parties in Nepal have rolled out their election manifestos, and voters are once again presented with a flood of promises. Page after page, these documents list megawatts and microcredit, highways and airports, jobs and investment. In these manifestos, growth is quantified, projects itemised, revenue forecast — and there are even threats to beat up contractors who do not finish their jobs. But when everything is declared a priority the stale promises are empty. The voter is left confused as to where the party’s loyalties really lie. Will any of these plans and pledges actually ever materialise and help Nepalis live longer, safer, healthier lives? The main job of any accountable government is to protect its citizens, not so much from foreign enemies but from domestic mismanagement. And this means the most basic test the new government should be made to pass is whether it can ensure basic well-being and protection for all its people. The problems of safety, health, and survival remain unresolved for most Nepalis, and are quietly eroding their lives. In the past year alone, the country’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/roadkill">roads and highways claimed more than 2,300</a> lives. An estimated 41,000 Nepalis die each year directly because of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-is-invisible-is-more-dangerous">air pollution</a>, and their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/air-pollution-killing-season-starts-early">lifespans are lessened by 3.4 years</a>.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health">Non-communicable diseases</a> now account for well over half of total deaths in the country. And even where survival has improved, deprivation remains. Chronic malnutrition continues to haunt communities in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mass-migration-from-muktikot">Nepal’s western mountains</a> despite progress in maternal and child health.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260223130240_4f4ef83a31c3c4ae36ecdffb33a355e2fa3de9e98244b840a895af2d95c35ac0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260223130240_4f4ef83a31c3c4ae36ecdffb33a355e2fa3de9e98244b840a895af2d95c35ac0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="683" loading="lazy" alt="A life-first manifesto for Nepal NT"> </figure>  These are the lived realities of most Nepalis, and it is here that development can deliver its most immediate returns. A rising GDP, in and of itself, does not make roads safer, clean polluted air, or provide enough nutrition to children. Such outcomes demand intentional, granular policies that confront the specific, everyday problems shaping people’s lives.&nbsp; Macroeconomic growth, trade and investment are important, but these alone cannot guarantee improvements health and safety. The word ‘growth’, after all, is also synonymous with malignancy. Economic progress and human protection are correlated only when governance deliberately links them. Impact on life is the unit in which ordinary Nepalis calculate progress. What is needed, then, is a governing philosophy measurable in these same terms: a ‘life-first’ standard where every policy, budget, and reform can be understood and judged by its impact on protecting and extending human life. Such a ‘life-first’ approach would scrutinise three aspects of every policy. First, whether the policy prevents loss of life. A death is termed preventable if better, more coordinated response systems and regulations could have avoided it (vaccines, drugs, road safety, clean drinking water). A newly built six-lane highway <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/highway-accidents-are-no-accident-in-nepal">can be a death trap</a> due to poor design or lax enforcement of safety rules. If neonatal deaths continue in a district despite hospitals being present, or if malnutrition claims lives in predominantly agricultural regions, they too are failures. Preventable deaths also cluster where accountability is less direct. Just last year, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/suicides-a-pandemic-within-a-pandemic">Nepal recorded 6,866 suicides</a>, with nearly 20 lives lost every day, yet these deaths fail to prompt any serious examination of governance. The same holds for fatalities linked to domestic or communal violence, alcohol and substance misuse, or ‘natural’ disasters, which register as ‘tragedies without remedy’ rather than as outcomes policy can influence. But when avoidable loss of life recurs at scale, isolated incidents become patterns, and patterns reveal systemic neglect. Saving lives, however, is only the first step, and what matters just as much is the quality of years lived. Nepal’s life expectancy now stands at 71 years, yet many citizens spend years in avoidable disability, untreated chronic illness, or mental distress. A life- first government must ask not only whether people live, but whether they thrive. Are citizens able to pursue education, work, and family life without fear of preventable harm? Do communities have access to clean air and water, nutritious food, and basic healthcare? Can a teenager anywhere in Nepal imagine a future not foreclosed by premature marriage, or untreated depression?  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260223130240_157d72b80b82a07699b6bffbb30036b86f0f767a5674cc3db3d5c20343442940.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20260223130240_157d72b80b82a07699b6bffbb30036b86f0f767a5674cc3db3d5c20343442940" data-rendition-name="original" width="2529" height="1427" loading="lazy" alt="A life-first manifesto for Nepal NT"> </figure>  Thriving requires policies that prevent suffering and promote well-being in addition to ensuring survival.&nbsp; Finally, governance must consider graceful aging. Elderly Nepalis should not be left to navigate disease, poverty, or isolation alone. Social systems, healthcare, and community support must enable their continued participation and dignified well-being. Adopting this three-layered standard would gradually reorient how success of any new government is defined. Transportation would be judged by fatalities reduced on the roads. Electricity generation would be measured by whether households can switch from firewood dependence to smoke-free electric stoves.&nbsp; Increase in annual rice harvest must translate into better nutrition, reducing the prevalence of chronic diseases like diabetes. Accountability must follow problems rather than stop at Singha Darbar. Only then will politicians and bureaucrats eventually recognise that their work converges on the same human endpoint. Critics will argue that economies are complex, trade-offs are inevitable, and that governance cannot be reduced to a single metric.But, as Acemoglu and Robinson show in their book <a href="https://ia801506.us.archive.org/27/items/WhyNationsFailTheOriginsODaronAcemoglu/Why-Nations-Fail_-The-Origins-o-Daron-Acemoglu.pdf">Why Nations Fail</a>, the key difference between prosperity and poverty lies in inclusive institutions that empower citizens and create broad incentives for well-being.&nbsp; Extractive institutions concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a few while keeping the majority trapped in neglect. Nepal’s governance has remained a striking example of extraction. If lawmakers in the new Parliament continue to resist changes that would save and improve the lives of ordinary citizens, the same systemic rot will persist for generations to come. A life-first mentality can cut through this inertia by clarifying the moral centre of governance and reminding policymakers that behind every policy failure lies human cost. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-hunger">Every mother in Bajura</a> with a child going hungry at night, every farmer in the Madhes unable to afford medical care, and every family that has lost <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/saving-kidneys-to-save-nepal">a migrant son to kidney failure</a> understands the true <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/dirty-dangerous-difficult-and-dehydrating">value of a life saved</a>. Life is the one metric that transcends ideology, ethnicity, and region. Centering governance on this single, focused metric, can shift an election from a contest of rhetoric to a contest of evidence. Which party ensured access to safe water and basic healthcare? Which made work at home and abroad safer and less exploitative. Which measurably extended healthy years of life for ordinary citizens? Health is wealth. By improving the healthy lifespan of citizens economic prosperity would follow naturally. A ‘life-first’ governance model would therefore compel Nepal to address the underlying structural failures across all sectors, rather than merely alleviating their symptoms. The GenZ protest that toppled the government last September was, at its core, a demand for accountability and a rejection of politics as usual. But as the country edges closer to the polls, that clarity has started to dissipate. Parties are now echoing the language of reform, but the public discourse remains dominated by promises that feel disconnected from Nepal’s most immediate and basic priorities. Every preventable death, every hungry child, and every neglected elder becomes a direct failure of governance and a moral debt the state must answer for. It is how we can make sure we keep the next government in check. The writers are Nepali GenZ students of biomedical engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Nepal’s life or death election

Of the nearly 19 million eligible voters in next week’s election in Nepal, an estimated 5 million are abroad and cannot cast their ballots. Many others within Nepal must travel to their home districts, and might decide not to because of the cost.
Flights into Kathmandu these days are full of global Nepalis returning just to vote, but almost as many are leaving for overseas jobs. Most of those coming or going are in the 20-40 age group, and a majority want Nepal to see a change in leadership.
Bangladesh held an election this month in which citizens overseas could vote by mail.&nbsp;
“Bangladesh made maximum use of technology not just for campaigning but also for polling itself. We could have also managed this, so people within Nepal did not have to travel to their home districts to vote,” says Mohna Ansari, former head of Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission who was an election observer in Bangladesh.
A 3-day holiday has been declared so people can travel to their home constituencies to cast ballots. Even if there was not enough time to manage ballots for overseas Nepalis, it could have been done for Nepalis within Nepal.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel reckons that physical voting in countries with a large Nepali diaspora would have been a logistical nightmare, but in the PR system, using electronic voting machines or paper ballot could have been piloted in some places. It is not possible to manage the entire voting process until we introduce the internet voting system.
“First of all, there needs to be political will to bring the policy and be ready to undertake that level of investment and it is not a one-time cost,” Pokharel says. “A government formed by the GenZ could have atr least issed an ordinance ensuring this right, piloted out-of-country voting where possible, which could have built pressure for the future Parliament and the government. It would have given people hope. It is a lost opportunity.”
All major political parties called for voting rights for global Nepalis in their manifestos, but these very leaders blocked legislation allowing it despite a 2017 Supreme Court ruling out of fear that it would be anti-incumbent.&nbsp;
<h2>Why so late?</h2>
Bangladesh delivered election results in just one day, but the final results of Nepal's last local polls in 2022 including that of Kathmandu constituencies took nearly a month.
Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said this week that the results of the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) ballot counting would “likely” be published within 24 hours of the poll closing at 5PM on 5 March. But many are skeptical.
“I wonder if we lack the capacity or know-how to announce results as quickly as possible,” says Mohna Ansari.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Pokharel says manual ballot paper counting in Nepal is inherently slow because of the large numner of political parties and/or candidates on the ballot, the counting mechanism, the political behaviour of the candidates/parties and some managerial issues during counting.
“Our present policy is to count all the ballot papers at the returning officers' officies, located at the district headquarters. It requires collecting ballot boxes safetly first. This takes time, and there have been cases of ballot boxes being damaged or stolen during transport. In a few highly difficult, geographically remote polling centres, we use a helicopter or transport. But sometimes, accommodating the party and candidates' representatives remains challenging,” explains Pokharel. A solution could be counting ballots at the very booths where they are cast.
Another reason for the delay is simply the number of political parties, and the need for each ballot paper to be examined by booth representatives for consensus. In close races, the smallest difference can lead to tense situations, further delaying results, even though counting centres are protected by metal fencing so there is no disruption.
After this, then it is the turn of Proportional Representation (PR) ballots to be counted. Weeks pass by the time the results of candidates and parties are tallied and verified. But the most common delay is because election officers think ballot counting is a nine-to-five job.&nbsp;
“The efficiency of poll station officers is most important, and they are incentivised for this,” says Ansari, adding that counting can even start within an hour after voting closes.
In remote areas, local resources could be mobilised to make counting quicker, but there is a crisis of trust, adds Ansari.&nbsp;
That could be easily solved with electronic voting which the EC implemented in the 2008 polls but discontinued because political parties felt the machines could be hacked or manipulated.

Nepalis Select Who To Elect

On Saturday, Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar, a region where there are an estimated 2 million Nepalis working to send money home. In addition, thousands of Nepalis were preparing to board flights to Kathmandu from West Asian cities this weekend to vote in the 5 March election. Many are said to be stranded at various aviation hubs. A Qatar Airways flight from Doha took off just before the air space was closed, while Air Arabia and Kuwait Airways have diverted or cancelled flights. Nepalis in the West Asian region said things were relatively calm where they were, although some heard loud explosions at about noon local time. In Dubai, some thought they were Ramadan fireworks.&nbsp; In Kuwait, nearly 2,000 Nepalis working in the US military base as security guards and cleaners were evacuated before the strikes. In Bahrain where the US Fifth Fleet naval base is located and which was hit by two Iranian missiles, workers contacted by Nepali Times said the situation was under control and the authorities had told everyone to stay indoors and not use highways. The conflict also coincided with the beginning of Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering season, and tourists were either on their way or planning to leave European and North American cities for Himalayan hikes. Most of them transit through Doha, Dubai or Kuwait and all three airports are closed. Turkish Airlines flights via Istanbul are still operating.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260228130212_ab5e132d56da1df6a3fb1b6919648f845a168ad2c51d79f7587fb85a6e913b97.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260228130212_ab5e132d56da1df6a3fb1b6919648f845a168ad2c51d79f7587fb85a6e913b97" data-rendition-name="original" width="1864" height="826" loading="lazy" alt="Qatar and UAE airspace closed"> <figcaption>Qatar and UAE airspace closed. Credit: Flightradar24</figcaption> </figure>  However, the main impact for the world could be a spike in the price of petroleum products if the strategic Strait of Hormuz is blocked. China relies on Iranian oil for their refineries, and Nepal could be affected indirectly if the economies of its neighbours are hit. Nepal imports all its diesel, petrol, LPG and aviation fuel from India which sources it mainly from the Gulf, and until recently from Russia. Petroleum makes up 25% of the value of all imports, and that is more than Nepal earns from all its exports. Saudi Arabia this year overtook the UAE as the main destination for Nepali workers, with the number now totalling 400,000. There are said to be as many in the UAE, and another 350,000 in Qatar. There are another 100,000 mostly women in Kuwait, and 50,000 each in Oman and Bahrain.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260228130220_d24ae633ff84f283835434becdb2f1351f84c415ce87ca34378bd4e2669661b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260228130220_d24ae633ff84f283835434becdb2f1351f84c415ce87ca34378bd4e2669661b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="West Asia Iran conflict"> <figcaption>Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar on Saturday.</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal receives nearly $11 billion a year in remittances from overseas Nepalis (not counting India) through official channels, although the total is said to be much more. &nbsp;This makes up more than a quarter of Nepal’s GDP equivalent — one of the highest proportions in the world. More than half of the overseas remittances to Nepal comes from its workers in the Gulf, and it is the mainstay of the country’s economy. Nepalis in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE alone send home more than $3 billion a year, much of that helping support their families back home. An average Nepali worker in the Gulf sends home nearly $2,500 a year, and this is spent mainly for household supplies, children’s education and healthcare. There are also an estimated 7,000 Nepali caregivers and healthcare workers in Israel, and most of them are women. The Nepal Embassy has asked Nepalis in Israel to take caution and move to bomb shelters.