<figure><img width="1382" height="584" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111144/636b84909c7e80680e0677a0jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Daily Covid-19 confirmed cases in Nepal. Source:WORLDMETER.ORG</figcaption></figure>Even as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-nears-10k-daily-cases/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 surge devastates Nepal</a>, the government has extended restrictions of international air travel till 31 May, and lengthened the lockdown in Kathmandu Valley and other districts by two more weeks.
The move comes as the number of new daily Covid-19 cases in Nepal has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lockdown-may-be-extended-in-kathmandu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stayed above 9,000</a>, with hospitals across the country stopping admits because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-life-or-death-o2-quest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">serious shortages of beds with oxygen</a>, and patients sleeping on corridors and verandahs. They are now reporting shortages of masks, PPE and essential medicines as well.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) wrote to all international carriers serving Nepal not to take any new bookings ‘till further advice, and to refund or extend the travel date as required by passengers’.
The notice does not include domestic airlines, but sources said they would also remain grounded as long as the lockdown in Kathmandu and other cities remain in effect. A meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur decided to extend the lockdown in the Valley for two more weeks from Wednesday, and announced complete bans on marriages and other ceremonies.
Only <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/as-covid-19-cases-rise-nepal-stops-all-flights/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">two flights a week between Kathmandu and New Delhi</a> are allowed under the India-Nepal air bubble agreement by carriers of the two countries, and some cargo charters and rescue flights are also permitted.
The Ministry of Health announced another 9,486 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, out of the 21,313 people tested. This shows the positivity rate has come down slightly. There were also 5,400 recoveries on Tuesday, and among them was former king Gyanendra who was discharged from Norvic Hospital after two weeks, while queen Komal is still in hospital. Both had attended the super-spreader Kumbh Mela festival in India last month.
Another 79 people died in the past 24 hours in Nepal's hospitals, adding to the funerals of 146 bodies across the country over the past few days managed by the Nepal Army. The total fatalities in the past year of the pandemic in Nepal crossed the 4,000 mark on Tuesday.
Despite the recoveries, the number of active cases nationwide is now approaching 100,000. It had fallen to less than 600 active cases in late March, when the number of daily deaths was zero for several days in a row.
Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi hinted during a virtual meeting on Tuesday that the government may have to declare a “health emergency” since the steps it had taken so far were not adequate in addressing the extent of the crisis.
Tripathi admitted that because of the number of serious patients, Nepal was now not just facing a shortage of oxygen cylinders, but all the 22 oxygen plants in Nepal also did not produce enough oxygen to meet the increased demand.
“Patients are facing problems because there is now a gap between demand and supply of oxygen,” Tripathi said.
The first consignment of 400 oxygen cylinders out of the 20,000 promised by China was<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/concern-in-china-over-nepal-covid-19-surge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> flown in from Beijing</a> on Tuesday by a Nepal Airlines jet which also brought ventilators, oxygen concentrators and other equipment.
Tripathi said talks were underway to import vaccines from China, Russia, and the United States. He said India had assured that Nepal would be on the priority list for a shipment of the remaining 1 million Covishield AstraZeneca vaccines Nepal has already paid for. 
Nearly 1.3 million people in Nepal who have received the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/1-6-million-vaccinated-20-million-to-go/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first dose of Covishield</a> are not certain when they will get the next jab because of India’s ban on its export.
Tripathi also denied that a commission fee had been paid to any agent to import Covishield vaccines from the Serum Institute of India. “If anyone can supply (Covishield) for $4 per dose, this government is ready to order 10 million doses,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has announced that it will resume vaccinating people in Kathmandu Valley with the Chinese Sinopharm VeroCell vaccine on 15 May. The vaccine received WHO approval last week, and the vaccinations will be from the 800,000 doses donated by China last month. Some 300,000 people have already got their first jabs of the vaccine.
Of Nepal's 30 million population, only 2.1 million people have so far been vaccinated, and 438,000 who got the Covishield in the first phase have got their booster jabs. The government says it hopes to get the rest of the Covishield under the COVAX initiative by end-May.

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Nepal extends flight ban till 31 May

<figure><img width="1382" height="584" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131120/636cecb19c7e80680e09ad7djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Daily Covid-19 confirmed cases in Nepal. Source:WORLDMETER.ORG</figcaption></figure>Even as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-nears-10k-daily-cases/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 surge devastates Nepal</a>, the government has extended restrictions of international air travel till 31 May, and lengthened the lockdown in Kathmandu Valley and other districts by two more weeks.
The move comes as the number of new daily Covid-19 cases in Nepal has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lockdown-may-be-extended-in-kathmandu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stayed above 9,000</a>, with hospitals across the country stopping admits because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-life-or-death-o2-quest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">serious shortages of beds with oxygen</a>, and patients sleeping on corridors and verandahs. They are now reporting shortages of masks, PPE and essential medicines as well.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) wrote to all international carriers serving Nepal not to take any new bookings ‘till further advice, and to refund or extend the travel date as required by passengers’.
The notice does not include domestic airlines, but sources said they would also remain grounded as long as the lockdown in Kathmandu and other cities remain in effect. A meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur decided to extend the lockdown in the Valley for two more weeks from Wednesday, and announced complete bans on marriages and other ceremonies.
Only <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/as-covid-19-cases-rise-nepal-stops-all-flights/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">two flights a week between Kathmandu and New Delhi</a> are allowed under the India-Nepal air bubble agreement by carriers of the two countries, and some cargo charters and rescue flights are also permitted.
The Ministry of Health announced another 9,486 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, out of the 21,313 people tested. This shows the positivity rate has come down slightly. There were also 5,400 recoveries on Tuesday, and among them was former king Gyanendra who was discharged from Norvic Hospital after two weeks, while queen Komal is still in hospital. Both had attended the super-spreader Kumbh Mela festival in India last month.
Another 79 people died in the past 24 hours in Nepal's hospitals, adding to the funerals of 146 bodies across the country over the past few days managed by the Nepal Army. The total fatalities in the past year of the pandemic in Nepal crossed the 4,000 mark on Tuesday.
Despite the recoveries, the number of active cases nationwide is now approaching 100,000. It had fallen to less than 600 active cases in late March, when the number of daily deaths was zero for several days in a row.
Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi hinted during a virtual meeting on Tuesday that the government may have to declare a “health emergency” since the steps it had taken so far were not adequate in addressing the extent of the crisis.
Tripathi admitted that because of the number of serious patients, Nepal was now not just facing a shortage of oxygen cylinders, but all the 22 oxygen plants in Nepal also did not produce enough oxygen to meet the increased demand.
“Patients are facing problems because there is now a gap between demand and supply of oxygen,” Tripathi said.
The first consignment of 400 oxygen cylinders out of the 20,000 promised by China was<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/concern-in-china-over-nepal-covid-19-surge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> flown in from Beijing</a> on Tuesday by a Nepal Airlines jet which also brought ventilators, oxygen concentrators and other equipment.
Tripathi said talks were underway to import vaccines from China, Russia, and the United States. He said India had assured that Nepal would be on the priority list for a shipment of the remaining 1 million Covishield AstraZeneca vaccines Nepal has already paid for. 
Nearly 1.3 million people in Nepal who have received the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/1-6-million-vaccinated-20-million-to-go/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first dose of Covishield</a> are not certain when they will get the next jab because of India’s ban on its export.
Tripathi also denied that a commission fee had been paid to any agent to import Covishield vaccines from the Serum Institute of India. “If anyone can supply (Covishield) for $4 per dose, this government is ready to order 10 million doses,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has announced that it will resume vaccinating people in Kathmandu Valley with the Chinese Sinopharm VeroCell vaccine on 15 May. The vaccine received WHO approval last week, and the vaccinations will be from the 800,000 doses donated by China last month. Some 300,000 people have already got their first jabs of the vaccine.
Of Nepal's 30 million population, only 2.1 million people have so far been vaccinated, and 438,000 who got the Covishield in the first phase have got their booster jabs. The government says it hopes to get the rest of the Covishield under the COVAX initiative by end-May.

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea279c7e80680e087901jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1999"/>2020 began well for me. I had started a new job, got an apartment in Lincoln Park, Chicago and joined a yoga studio. I made plans to come to Nepal in the spring, and I was ready to start a new chapter in life.Then <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/fear-goes-viral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19</a> took over the world.My yoga studio shut down. My plans to come home was shelved, and I spent many hours staring at the walls of my apartment, while working from home.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/yoga-in-the-time-of-covid-19/">Yoga in the time of Covid-19</a>, Anjana RajbhandaryEvery state and city in the United States came up with its own set of restrictions regarding Covid-19. Chicago went back and forth between closing and re-opening businesses, depending on the number of people who tested positive. Many establishments had to shut down permanently and millions lost their jobs.Most countries around the world were under lockdown. Nepal had also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/domestic-flight-resumption-put-off/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suspended</a> most international flights from March 2020.Fast forward to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-has-decided-to-live-with-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">September</a> when flights resumed in Nepal, but with the new protocols in place, I would first need to do my research on the new rules and precautions.When I bought my tickets, only Nepali citizens, ex-pats, and mountaineers were being allowed to fly in. No one else. Everyone had to submit a negative PCR test result, done within the last 72 hours before boarding.I also had to complete the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CMCC) form, in which I had to explain who I was visiting and where I was planning on staying during my visit. The form would have to show a 14-day reservation at the hotel if one did not present a negative PCR test. One would not be allowed to meet their family without a negative PCR test.I bought travel insurance for unforeseen emergencies. In life, you never know. I was aware that some people would think me irresponsible for travelling during this time, and that my action would be met with anger and resentment.I was prepared for it mentally because I really wanted to see my family. I took every safety measure, because I did not want to risk infecting anyone, including myself.Due to the increase in people testing positive in the US in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/covid-19-and-the-new-great-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">October</a>, results for tests were taking 24 hours to 7 days. I decided to get tested at three different places to make sure that I would have at least one result before my flight. This meant that I got my test results a day before my flight, on the day of my flight, and the last one a week after my arrival in Kathmandu. I tested negative in all three.The Chicago O’Hare International Airport was quieter than I remembered. It took me just 15 minutes to get past security, so I had three hours of wait. Sipping a favourite beverage at the airport lounge, I toyed with countless thoughts that crossed my mind. The next 36 hours of my life was going to be a long stretch.I was ready with multiple little bottles of hand sanitisers and moisturisers as security provisions for three flights and two layovers. The flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was practically empty.Frankfurt airport was busier than O’Hare, and travellers appeared confused. There were lines at almost every information counter. Also, they did not allow any eating or drinking, but it wasn’t like people were going to listen. Fly, eat, failed attempt to sleep, and repeat.On my 29-hour long flight (excluding the layovers), I was asked to keep my mask on always, except during brief meal times. I was nervous and excited. Thanks to wifi at airports and onboard, I was able to keep myself distracted with social media and podcasts. I also discovered that since the start of the pandemic, my usage of social media had gone up by over two hours a day.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lockdown-may-be-over-but-pandemic-is-not/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">flight to Istanbul</a> was empty, too, even though Istanbul airport was busy. It was as if the pandemic had never hit. There were so many people there and all the duty-free shops were filled with people buying Turkish delights and souvenirs. I got myself an evil eye pendant.The flight to Kathmandu, in contrast, was packed. It looked like the diaspora was all headed home.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea2b9c7e80680e087902jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="916" height="516">Once we landed, the staff from Bir Hospital checked our PCR test reports. At immigration, they collected the CMCC form and revised it with me. They stamped my passport and threw it at me, and I knew I was back in Nepal.Anjana Rajbhandary lives and works in Chicago. She is starting this fortnightly Nepali Times column Life Time about mental health, physical health and socio-cultural issues.

Anjana Rajbhandary

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Flying home in a pandemic

<figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109131156/636ba42f9c7e80680e073655jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>Although the government had announced that regular domestic and international flights would open from 17 August, the uptick in coronavirus cases in Nepal and around the world may force the government to revise the decision. There is also uncertainty about frequency of flights and destinations that will be allowed. With two weeks to go for lifting flight restrictions, seven international airlines have applied for slots from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), and the number of flights will be determined by the capacity at Kathmandu airport to handle arriving passengers, as well as customer demand. Although the government allowed hotels, restaurants, trekking and mountaineering groups to open two weeks ago, confusion about inbound flights have forced most operators to put bookings for the autumn season on hold. As a result, airlines that rely mostly on expatriate Nepalis and tourists are expected to have limited flights, while those that rely on Nepali migrant workers from the Gulf, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan will have higher bookings. But even here, the government has not yet clarified if Nepali migrant workers leaving on job contracts will be allowed to fly out. So far, 40,000 stranded Nepali workers have flown home since <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-struggles-to-make-repatriation-easier/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-struggles-to-make-repatriation-easier/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596517697718000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFBNcBcINhrTh-wiQHW47W4i2hnog">repatriation flights</a> were allowed from 15 June, but none <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/more-stranded-tourists-evacuated-from-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/more-stranded-tourists-evacuated-from-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596517697718000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHDQRlwjpiSzpde_fwt-5D2KY6JTQ">have been allowed to join jobs overseas</a>. Till this week, Turkish Airlines to and from Istanbul, Air China, and China Southern have asked for only once-a-week flights from Chengdu and Kunming. Budget carriers like Fly Dubai of the UAE, Salaam Air of Oman, and Indigo of India say they want daily flights. However, the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) has not yet decided about allowing flights from New Delhi. “Because there is still two week’s time for flights to start, we expect more airlines to apply for slots,” said CAAN spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri. “Since the pandemic situation is still fluid in many countries, the government will decide which airlines will be allowed to bring passengers from which cities.” However, airline sources say that the real reason more carriers are not yet asking for slots is because of the uncertainties due to the rise in coronavirus cases in Nepal and the region, as well as a lack of clarity from the government itself about the criteria for regular flights. According to the existing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-kathmandu-airlift-begins/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-kathmandu-airlift-begins/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596517697718000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG6MjbXj3P9YWeptwIgLz2pVaAm0Q">CCMC protocol</a> for inbound flights, all passengers are required to have a PCR negative test 72 hours prior to departure, but even if they have that certificate, Nepali passengers and diplomats will have to stay 14 days in home isolation or 7 days in a hotel in Kathmandu after arrival. Tourists and returning overseas Nepalis will have to undergo 7 days in hotel isolation and will be allowed to move about only after another PCR negative test. This is ostensibly to make sure that passengers did not get infected en route. However, many Nepali workers have been allowed to board repatriation flights back to Nepal in the past month even without PCR negative tests. Foreigners will also need valid Nepali visas prior to boarding because visa on arrival has been suspended for now. The contradictions and confusing criteria in the CCMC’s guidelines have frustrated tour operators who had been hoping to open trek and mountaineering bookings for the autumn season after regular flights reopened. <figure><img width="2016" height="1134" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109131156/636ba4329c7e80680e073656jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Photo: RAPKE SHERPA</figcaption></figure>Meanwhile, Nepal Airlines has drawn up a timetable for regular flights to five destinations starting 17 August: Dubai, Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo Narita and Hong Kong. The carrier is still trying to decide about the frequency of flights to these destinations.The other private Nepali international carrier, Himalaya Airlines had been operating repatriation flights from seven cities in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. After 17 August, it will be doing daily regular flights to Damam and five per week to Doha, Abu Dhabi and Kuala Lumpur, and one flight per week to Chongqing.Before the lockdown, 30 airlines from 15 countries used to fly in and out of Kathmandu. CAAN says limitations due to health precautions at Kathmandu means Nepal’s only international terminal can only handle 10-15 inbound flights per day.There is also much uncertainty about when domestic flights will restart because of the surge in cases in the main Tarai cities of Biratnagar, Birganj, Janakpur and Nepalganj, which are considered ‘trunk routes’ for domestic airlines.However, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/all-nepal-flights-cancelled-22-31-march/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/all-nepal-flights-cancelled-22-31-march/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596517697718000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHHoCOpTF1eoJPdodbRfzXNSgRjYQ">five months after grounding their planes</a> and suffering <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-airlines-may-merge-to-survive/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-airlines-may-merge-to-survive/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596517697718000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGeccsY-73WhgNfYFgTYQDFBDc9gA">great financial losses</a>, domestic carriers like Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines, Sita Air and Tara Air are preparing for regular flights in two weeks. CAAN has fixed an upper limit of 48 daily domestic flights keeping in mind <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/full-dress-rehearsal-for-flight-resumption/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/full-dress-rehearsal-for-flight-resumption/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596517697718000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFldeVDRWt2ZBhuaXOp3nKh1waSSw">physical distancing and other precautions.</a>Of these, 39 are said to be flights on trunk routes and nine to remote area airfields. Airlines have been given slots according to their pre-pandemic flight volume, which means Buddha Air gets 18 flights a day, while Yeti will conduct 11, and Shree Air will do eight flights. Smaller airlines will get three slots each to mountain airfields. This will only be 15% of pre-COVID traffic volume.The domestic terminal’s size means that although it can normally take 450 passengers an hour, that volume will have to be reduced by half to maintain physical separation. There is also the possibility that airlines may not even get enough passengers to fill their limited flights because of higher air fares and the fear of contagion during travel.“Even though CAAN has stipulated the slots, these could change at any moment if local authorities decide to take lockdown measures to prevent a fresh surge of the virus,” cautioned Anil Manandhar of Shree Airlines, citing the rise in cases in Tarai cities.CAAN says the permission for regular domestic flights has been given for only one week. The flight opening will be reviewed depending on how strictly COVID-19 protocols are followed by airlines, passengers and airport staff, as well as the number of infections.“We might increase flights depending on how the situation develops in terms of safety measures,” said Yograj Sharma Kandel of the Airline Operators Organisation.

Kathmandu airport reopens in 2 weeks

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141140/636bae289c7e80680e077fd8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="724"/><figcaption>Only one-tenth of estimated 300,000 Nepali workers stranded overseas who want to return home have come back in the past six weeks because of limits on the number of flights at Kathmandu airport.</figcaption></figure>Even though Nepal has decided to pay for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-kathmandu-airlift/">repatriation flights</a> for some of its workers stranded overseas due to the COVID-19 crisis, there are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-kathmandu-airlift-begins/">just not enough flights</a> to bring back the estimated 300,000 workers in the Gulf and Malaysia who want to come home.Only 30,000 Nepali workers have flown back in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/after-10-weeks-first-overseas-nepalis-repatriated/">repatriation flights since 15 June</a>, and even employers willing to pay for charter flights to send laid-off employees home are not getting permission from the airport authority in Kathmandu.For example, 3,100 stranded <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/uae-threat-to-send-back-workers-including-nepalis/">Nepali security guards in the UAE</a> have been unemployed for four months. While their employer, Transguard Group, is willing to charter flights to send them home, it has not received permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to do so.“So far, only 300 employees from the company have been repatriated in government arranged repatriation flights with support from our employer,” said one worker <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-quarantined-in-qatar/">still stranded</a> in UAE. “There are just not enough flights for all of us who want to return.”The government has a cap on the number of daily repatriation flights because of the limited capacity to test, quarantine and transport workers on arrival at Kathmandu airport. On Tuesday, the Cabinet decided to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ends-covid-19-lockdown/">gradually lift lockdown rules</a>, with regular international flights allowed with limited frequency and destinations from 17 August.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141140/636bae2b9c7e80680e077fd9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="661"><figcaption>A blunt notice by the UAE company Transguard Group to laid off workers that limited flights to home countries is delaying their repatriation.</figcaption></figure>Last week, Nepal issued a directive to pay for flying home some categories of Nepali workers stuck overseas <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/brokers-going-for-broke/">using the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund</a>. Even if this directive is implemented, it is not clear how workers will get home if there are not enough flights.The ‘Repatriation of Stranded Nepali Workers in the Course of Foreign Employment due to COVID-19, 2020’directive was prepared in response to the Supreme Court’s interim order earlier this month to judiciously use the Fund that now has over Rs5.7 billion in the kitty made up of contributions from all Nepalis going overseas for work.Nepalis with no means of returning to Nepal on their own, and without support from other stakeholders, deportation detainees, and amnesty beneficiaries will be eligible to return with support from the government (see box).<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141140/636bae2d9c7e80680e077fdajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="648" height="553"><figcaption>The Nepal government’s directive ‘Repatriation of Stranded Nepali Workers in the Course of Foreign Employment due to COVID-19, 2020’.</figcaption></figure>“We have set aside Rs750 million to fund repatriation of stranded workers, and we will add to it if necessary,” said Rajan Shrestha of the Foreign Employment Board (FEB), adding that it would not just cover international airfare costs but also domestic transport to home districts.The directive recognises that displaced workers in their first year of contract are some of the most vulnerable given that they are still struggling to pay recruitment costs associated with their employment, often borrowed informally at back-breaking interest rates.It tries to hold recruiters and employers who profit from foreign employment accountable. Shrestha explained: “For workers with valid contracts, employers have the primary responsibility towards workers including buying return tickets. The recruiter is also jointly liable. We have to exhaust these options and ensure everyone is playing their part.”Employers who breach contracts by not assuming responsibility for repatriation of  workersor clearing their salaries and other dues will be barred by the FEB from hiring Nepali workers for the next five years. It is not clear how migrant workers who were charged exorbitant recruitment fees but had to return prematurely will be handled.As with very thing else in Nepal, the challenge now lies in implementing the directive. It requires <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/preparing-for-nepals-returnees/">embassies and recruitment agencies</a> to be particularly responsive and proactive to help migrants who meet the criteria for repatriation support.Sujit Shrestha of the Nepal Association of Foreign Agencies (NAFEA) said: "We have a comprehensive Foreign Employment Act that holds all players responsible but a weakness is the lack of clarity when employers go into situations of force majeure invoking a situation like COVID-19.”He said the directive can be followed if the employer is still operating but has reduced workforce size, but it is not clear what happens when employers use the ‘circumstances beyond their control’ clause.“The Nepal government also needs to play a more proactive role via diplomatic efforts, especially with countries with which we have signed bilateral labour agreements,” Shrestha added.A downside is that workers who do not have valid labour approvals, and are some of the most vulnerable during this crisis, will not be able to benefit from this contributory fund. This includes domestic workers who traveled through irregular channels because of the ban, for whom an alternative like the Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Fund could be used.But there are also others could step in to set up a fund, like Nepal’s development partners and the private sector. Also, recruiters recently contributed Rs3.5 million to the Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Fund which could have been channeled for migrant-specific need if such a basket fund existed.The directive, if properly implemented, could serve as an example for other migrant-sending countries also facing challenges in repatriating vulnerable workers and have similar Welfare Funds. The pandemic has laid bare Nepal’s gross unpreparedness for emergency support to migrants.Previous attempts to set up a Rapid Rescue Team in the Ministry of Labour failed while lessons from earlier large-scale repatriations such as from Libya in 2011 are poorly documented and did not serve to inform the repatriation strategy during this pandemic.Like the Philippines, Nepal also needs a contingency plan for overseas workers and rapid response teams that activate during such periods for evacuation and welfare. The directive could be an important starting point.

Too many stranded Nepalis, not enough flights

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

flight-ban

Nepal extends flight ban till 31 May

Nepal extends flight ban till 31 May

Flying home in a pandemic

Kathmandu airport reopens in 2 weeks

Too many stranded Nepalis, not enough flights

Turkish Basketball

The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art