Nepal’s vertical topography has always made it difficult to get vaccines and medicines to hard-to-reach settlements. The road network is spreading, but there is serious concern about its quality and safety.&nbsp; The dense jungles of the Tarai are a refuge not just for wildlife, but also poachers. Foot or elephant patrols provide limited visibility, and census of predators and prey density tend to be estimates. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/the-monsoon-mess-in-melamchi">Melamchi </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">Thame flood</a> disasters were caused by glacial collapse. Future infrastructure projects must map upstream risk.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">Lives on the line in the Himalaya</a>, Sonia Awale Popular peaks like Mt Everest and Manaslu get bad international press because of garbage piling up due to over-tourism. It is dangerous and expensive to bring down the trash for disposal. There is now a solution to all these problems Nepal faces: drones. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2024/09/17/russian-dolls-fpv-drone-carrying-drones-are-now-in-action-in-ukraine/">First-person view (FPV) </a>drones are changing the nature of warfare, as seen in <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/02/europe/ukraine-big-drone-attack-russia-intl-hnk/index.html">Ukraine’s defence against Russian invasion</a> and conflicts in West Asia. But like all technology, military hardware always has peacetime applications.&nbsp; Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are already proving to be a great leap forward in simplifying connectivity and providing cheaper solutions to a vast array of problems in Nepal. &nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024092105090_4be9b0249bfee3b5d0eb9493290001fe73808bcea0c1612d1dd8a28a75a57bf3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024092105090_4be9b0249bfee3b5d0eb9493290001fe73808bcea0c1612d1dd8a28a75a57bf3" data-rendition-name="original" width="4928" height="3264" loading="lazy" alt="Drones over Nepal NT 5"> <figcaption>Park rangers and army personnel learn to fly UAVs to monitor wildlife poaching. Photo: WWF NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  For example, when a massive debris flow on the Melamchi in June 2021 killed dozens and destroyed the headworks of Nepal’s most expensive infrastructure project, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/drones-to-the-rescue-in-melamchi">UAVs were used to assess the damage</a>. The Nepali non-profit<a href="https://flyinglabs.org/nepal/"> Nepal Flying Labs </a>could take high resolution images of the disaster zones even before relief teams could reach due to destroyed roads, cloud cover grounding helicopters and blocking out satellites. Drones were also used to explore the upper reaches of the glacier-fed Melamchi and Pemdang rivulets to see where the flood originated. Similar drone footage helped locate the glacial lake overflows that unleashed the Thame flood last month.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-not-so-permanent-frost">The not-so-permanent frost</a>, Wilfried Haeberli and Alton C Byers Large scale deployment of UAVs in Nepal started after the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/photos-nepal-earthquake-2015,2207">April 2015 earthquake</a> to assess damage, and in search and rescue in remote areas. Later, they proved invaluable to Kathmandu-based organisations like NSET (National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal) and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in planning reconstruction and relocation of damaged neighbourhoods. International media also used aerial shots of the destruction from drone cameras for their broadcasts.&nbsp; In 2018, Mahabir Pun’s National Innovation Centre got the Robotics Club of Pulchok Engineering Campus to test drones to deliver medicines to remote areas, and this application saw some promise.&nbsp; In one of many recent examples of Nepal’s laws being overtaken by technology, the government scrambled to formulate guidelines. And as usual, the response was to regulate and control rather than facilitate their legitimate use.&nbsp; Officials worried about drones buzzing around heritage sites, near airports and over military areas. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and the Ministry of Home Affairs cited security and privacy threats, as well as concerns about drone signals disturbing communication channels. Within a month of the earthquake, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-government-crack-down-on-drones,2716">strict rules were drawn up</a>. Drone operators needed permissions from a slew of ministries, as well as the Army, and to follow strict rules like not landing near people and flying out of sight of the operator. This did not stop drones being used, especially as the devices became small enough to be held in the palm. Rules were relaxed in 2019 and made more comprehensive in 2021. (See below) This allowed Nepali companies to launch drone operations: Nepal Flying Lab, Dronepal, Geovation Nepal, Madhukaa Drone Services, Airlift Technology, and others.&nbsp; The companies offer various services, some of which overlap. All provide mapping and surveying options, such as high resolution images of municipalities, natural features like lakes and rivers, topo and contour mapping, and Digital Surface Models that precisely capture natural and man-made surface objects.&nbsp; Dronepal and Airlift Technologies both specialise in 3D modelling, both of larger urban or mining sites and more detailed models of culturally important sites and monuments, like the Changu Narayan Temple. Companies are able to turn drone images and footage into 3D models through softwares that stitch aerial images and videos. Drones can also be fitted with cameras that detect depth, or use LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that bounces laser pulses off surfaces for detailed mapping.&nbsp; “Most of our clients are construction companies, although there are some independent developers too,” says Milan Karki of Dronepal.&nbsp; “There are a lot of hydropower companies. We can give them access to information about what kind of progress is happening on their projects through our models.” Madhukaa Drone Services also provides surveying and inspection services as well as agricultural, delivery and rescue. Its drones can spray ‘nano-urea’ to fertilise maize fields. The company claims that this method is not only five times faster, but also reduces the amount of chemical seeping into groundwater. Drones have also been used to plant seeds to help with reforestation after wildfires. Last month, the Ministry of Forests and Environment tested broadcast seeding of uttis (Nepali alder) from drones over the watershed to reduce landslides that wash down stone, gravel and sand into the lake (pictured, below).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240921040952_dcd47ccbd7cc8aaf2cabfa44717d7e8f460a289f0995686cda55b469eda6aed0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20240921040952_dcd47ccbd7cc8aaf2cabfa44717d7e8f460a289f0995686cda55b469eda6aed0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Drones over Nepal NT"> <figcaption>Photo: UNDP</figcaption> </figure>  TB airlift Drones have important applications in health. The Birat Nepal Medical Trust (BNMT) employed UAVs for an award-winning Drone Optimised Therapy System (DrOTS) experiment in 2019. It tested the collection of sputum samples, and treated patients infected with tuberculosis in the remote mountains of Piuthan district.&nbsp; Funded by the Nick Simons Foundation, the drones carried the samples from remote homesteads in the mountains in bio-hazard safe containers (pictured, below) to Swargadwari District Hospital. The sputum was lab tested and patients who were positive were placed under the remote Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) program that used smart pill boxes to keep track of if the medicine is being taken as prescribed.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240921040952_d41d6b12efd7465152bc44957d8a1c50709334dc8c0c4c6e128cf9d5fa3923e8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20240921040952_d41d6b12efd7465152bc44957d8a1c50709334dc8c0c4c6e128cf9d5fa3923e8" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Drones over Nepal NT3"> <figcaption>Photo: BIRAT NEPAL MEDICAL TRUST</figcaption> </figure>  DOTS was credited with reducing Nepal’s TB infection rate in the 1990s, but there were remote areas of the country still out of reach of the surveillance, diagnosis and treatment system.&nbsp; “Getting the community to understand and trust in the project was very important to its success,” recalls Maxine Caws, principal investigator of BNMT’s IMPACT TB project that has been running for seven years. “People were quite proud that this new technology was being used where they live, and it even seemed to overcome their qualms about the stigma of being diagnosed with TB.” The program ran out of funding, but showed great potential. BNMT is now working on reducing costs and finding new sources for grants.&nbsp; The main hurdle for drone operators in Nepal now is not range anxiety, but to negotiate the bureaucratic maze for permits from 12 different government agencies – including five ministries and four local governments.&nbsp; Caws adds, “Drones really seem to be optimal because they can zip between hills while health workers would have to walk long distances up and down to transport samples. That freed up their time to make an impact on the health of the locality in other ways.” Influencer drones Drone filming by YouTubers, travel vloggers and influencers have been the single most important contribution to post-Covid revival of Nepal as a tourism destination.&nbsp; &nbsp;Nepal’s mountains, river valleys, trekking trails, heritage sites and tropical national parks are ideal for drone filming. Footage of expeditions making their way up the Khumbu Icefall get millions of views around the world. Drones have also been used to promote Lumbini and provide an aerial view of Kenzo Tange’s plan for the Buddha’s birthplace.&nbsp; But over-tourism along the Everest Trail and to a lesser extent other popular base camps like Manaslu and Annapurna have created a waste disposal crisis.&nbsp; During the 2024 spring mountaineering season, Airlift Technologies collaborated with the local government to test Chinese drone company DJI's FlyCart 30 to haul trash to Base Camp. Heavier UAVs hold the potential to make it cheaper and safer to ferry garbage, and even bodies, from Nepal’s high mountains.&nbsp; One of the advantages about the drone scene is that it is still a relatively new technology and new applications seem to be coming up all the time.&nbsp; Worldwide, some of the more striking uses for drones include drone light shows, drone-based whale monitoring where UAVs are flown through mist exhaled by the giant mammals for non-invasive study, and volcano monitoring. In Nepal, drones have already proved themselves in agriculture, nature conservation and health services. The future holds other potentials as more powerful drones with heavier lift capability, longer range, higher operating ceiling and ability to work together are developing in swarms.&nbsp; Given the critical importance of transmission lines in evacuating Nepal’s hydropower, another potential application could be in laying, inspecting, and maintaining power lines in rural or hard to reach places, a technology already used in Canada and Norway. ­­ <h2>WHAT ARE THE RULES?&nbsp;</h2> The Nepal government is trying to play catch-up with rapidly evolving drone technology. As drones get bigger, more powerful and have longer range, or can fly in formations of hundreds at a time, new categories and rules are being made as we go along. Given the bureaucratic labyrinth and arbitrary enforcement by local officials, and as Nepali companies upgrade to the latest UAVs, it may actually be less of a hassle to just hire drones when here.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024092105090_4f6caeead31515db882a618877bfdc3904209607c4cb2340fe735e3299c84b5b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="2024092105090_4f6caeead31515db882a618877bfdc3904209607c4cb2340fe735e3299c84b5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="423" loading="lazy" alt="Drones over Nepal NT 4"> <figcaption>Photo: NEPAL ARMY</figcaption> </figure>  Before flying a drone in Nepal, operators must go through a lengthy, vague, confusing process that involves submitting a lot of documentation and obtaining many permission letters. The one official process is for applying with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) ‘Unmanned Aircraft System Requirements’ 2021 after which the ‘Unique Identification Number’ sticker must be attached to the drone. 1. A passport size colour photo of the applicant 2. Citizenship/Passport/Company Registration Certificate 3. Photograph of drone that shows its model and serial number. 4. Purpose of operation letter 5. Specifications of the drone, including the weight, the color, the payload type etc. 6. Copy of VAT bill if bought in Nepal, or Copy of Custom Clearance Certificate if imported 7. USD 10 + 13% VAT Registration fee But that is just the beginning. Operators need a ‘Remote Pilot License’ from CAAN based on experience or equivalent certificates. And then permits from the District Administration Office, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Tourism, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, etc. Further permits are based on what the drone is being used for from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation--plus, just-in-case--letters from the Chief District Officer, the Nepal Police and Nepal Army. Phew. The policy for getting caught flying an unauthorised drone is that CAAN can confiscate and auction the craft for revenue. But the fact that there are so many drones buzzing about trekking trails these days means people must have found ways to circumvent the rules.

Vishad Raj Onta

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Drones over Nepal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf4OpwoblRc&amp;feature=youtu.beProblem: Some 70% of Nepalis are carriers of the tuberculosis bacillus and many of them have full-blown versions of the disease. Although diagnosis and treatment is available, the sick cannot travel to hospitals. How to test the sputum of patients, and deliver antibiotics in remote and road-less parts of Nepal?Solution: By drones.Nepal has been acclaimed for its directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) for treating tuberculosis, which demands a combination of antibiotics that are administered under supervision. However, TB is difficult to diagnose and treat in remote parts of this country.That is why the Britain Nepal Medical Trust (BNMT) is taking a big leap in treating TB with a pilot project in a remote part of Piuthan district in the mountains of central Nepal. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TB</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/tb-or-not-tb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TB or not TB</a>, EditorialThe Trust has cleverly recycled the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=294#.XPkeWBYzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOTS</a> acronym to DrOTS, this time to mean Drone Optimised Therapy System, and is running test flights in the district to collect sputum samples and deliver both diagnoses and treatment to patients living in up-country villages.The drone flies to health posts in the mountains, and returns sputum samples to the district hospital in Swargadwari Municipality and the public health centre (PHC) in Piuthan Municipality. The samples are tested using a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17747#.XPkeaxYzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GenExpert kit</a>. If they are positive, patients are given DOTS treatment using smart pill boxes, which keep electronic records of whether or not patients have taken the antibiotics.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a44c69c7e80680e04d34djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>Photo: RAMU SAPKOTA</figcaption></figure>“We are using the drones experimentally to ensure that we can reach the hidden cases of tuberculosis, since every untreated patient is a potential carrier of the disease and can spread it,” explains Shraddha Acharya, BNMT coordinator in Piuthan.During the pilot phase, drones will be used only to collect sputum samples from remote settlements. If the tests are successful, the Trust hopes to use the unmanned craft to also deliver medicine.Thanks to the initiative, health personnel will no longer need to walk for days to deliver sputum samples from health centres in the villages to the district hospital and PHC for testing, and then return with medicines for those who test positive. The current system results in delays in getting medicines to patients, and also lack of supervision administering the antibiotics.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/for-nepal-a-game-changer-in-tb-control/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">For Nepal, a game-changer in TB control</a>, Buddha Basnyat and Maxine CawsCommunity Health Worker Sita GC (pictured above) says the drones are god-sent because they can deliver samples in 25 minutes, where earlier it took 2-3 days. “Logistics was a huge problem because of unreliable transport; now it is easy to diagnose and treat quickly,” she adds.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a44ca9c7e80680e04d34ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">Maxine Caws (pictured above) of BNMT, an epidemiologist with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, says the drones are being tested in Piuthan because it is the mountain district in Nepal with the highest TB prevalence. Last year, the district treated 379 patients for tuberculosis, but 335 new cases were detected in the same period.The remote-controlled craft are handled by drone specialist Nepal Flying Lab. “We found this to be an exciting project because the drones are ideal for bridging distances to remote areas and the sputum samples and medicines are not too heavy,” says the lab’s Uttam Pudasaini, who adds this is the first time such deliveries are being tested in Asia.The drones weigh 9kg when empty and can carry another 7kg in a cargo hold designed to protect against biohazards; they can be airborne for 30 minutes. The craft flies at speeds of up to 1km per minute, and is controlled by a pilot at the takeoff point who coordinates with a health worker at the destination. In future, the project plans to train health workers to fly the drones themselves.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a44cd9c7e80680e04d34fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a44d19c7e80680e04d350jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a44d49c7e80680e04d351jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="359">The technology has been used for TB control in Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. In Nepal, the pilot project is funded by the Nick Simons Institute till December. “Further extension will be determined by whether it is successful and cost-effective,” says Caws.Sita GC says so far up to 35 positive cases of TB have been detected from sputum samples in Piuthan this month. However, many people refuse to give samples, and others do not follow instructions on taking antibiotics.The ministry of health is also involved in the drone trials. Spokesperson Mahendra Shrestha says that if the tests are successful the government will take over the program and try to replicate it for TB control in other remote areas.“If this project is successful, Piuthan and Nepal will be famous worldwide. But the biggest challenge is to first make the tests work,” says Shrestha.<h2>TB or not TB</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a44d79c7e80680e04d352jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There are 10 million new cases of tuberculosis every year, and the medieval disease still takes the lives of 1.5 million people annually worldwide.South Asia accounts for 40% of the global TB burden, with over 4 million cases as well as 40% of total fatalities, a third of them patients who succumbed after they failed to respond to treatment. But worsening air pollution, smoking and alcoholism are big risk factors for TB infection in the region.Some 11 Nepalis die every day from the highly contagious infection.There are 40,000 new cases of TB here every year, and Nepal also has a very high rate of latent TB infection. Despite antibiotics, it is often difficult to reach patients in underserved parts of the country and Nepal’s harsh terrain makes it hard to access diagnosis and treatment on time. Experts say there is huge under-reporting of cases.Nepal is a role model in the community-based DOTS (directly observed treatment short course), with its supervised administration of antibiotics to patients. Yet, experts say much more aggressive <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/for-nepal-a-game-changer-in-tb-control/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">case detection and an early treatment system</a> should be in place if the country is to meet the UN target of reducing TB mortality by 95% and cutting new cases by 90%, by 2035.This means developing techniques to reach the poorest in the remotest parts of the country, and also requires increases in Nepal’s TB control budget and prioritising the infection otherwise known as the ‘poor man’s disease’.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/resistance-to-live-saving-drugs-threatens-to-set-back-progress-in-nepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MDR (multi-drug resistant) TB</a> is also spreading, as patients develop resistance to commonly used drugs for treatment. The last survey in Nepal showed that among previously treated cases, anti-microbial resistance was found in 15.8% of cases, against the world average of 18%.Nepal also has the added challenge of an open border with India and migrant workers continue to bring infections home, while many patients from India come to this country for treatment.The UN General Assembly held its first-ever, high-level meeting on tuberculosis last year to draw attention and generate investment for TB research, treatment and diagnosis. The SAARC TB Centre located in Kathmandu focuses on prevention and control of tuberculosis and TB/HIV co-infection. Research is also needed for non-resistant drugs with shorter regimen.Sonia Awale

Nepal tests and treats TB with a flying pharmacy

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

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

drones

Drones over Nepal

Nepal tests and treats TB with a flying pharmacy

Turkish Basketball

The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art