<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222909c7e80680e0c0302jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>Lions in Africa have been known to use quicksand to trap prey. For example, it is when a wildebeest finds itself mired in mud that the lioness approaches for the kill.There is an uncanny parallel between the wildebeest and today’s youngsters who encounter Instagram or TikTok for the first time, unaware of what they are getting into. Watching a funny reel on Instagram, mindlessly scrolling through TikTok videos, or waiting for likes on a Facebook post – they all deliver instant gratification.The addiction rides stealthily on the algorithms, fueled by feel-good hormones whenever the user procrastinates on important homework to watch YouTube or take a break from an assignment to post a #bored selfie.Dopamine rushes through the brain whenever they get a new like or a mention, resulting in a rush that is as addictive as a drug.  Studies have shown that it is when users seek to be constantly rewarded with such short-lived emotional highs that it starts to affect their personality and real life social skills.The human mental circuitry gets accustomed to frequent flashes of joy, and users find it increasingly difficult to concentrate and invest time in things that actually matter, that take time and energy to accomplish. Gratification is then not deferred, but is needed immediately and frequently.In Nepal and elsewhere, disruptions brought out by the Covid-19 pandemic and the home isolation of lockdowns increased screen time. TikTok video uploads and downloads alone take up a quarter of Nepal’s entire internet bandwidth.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-you-want-to-become-an-influencer/">So you want to become an influencer?</a>, Anjana RajbhandariEven as the virus wanes, social media users yearn to go viral. As young people get back to in-person classes and physical meetings, social media dependence now manifests in other spheres of life. Everyone wants fast results, top grades without putting in the work, a restaurant meal to share on IG, and to show friends how much fun I am having.Students spend most of their years waking hours swiping through reels, clocking likes, scrolling through stories. They are getting used to making fast judgements, only to realise that real life moves at a slower pace, and friendships are made face-to-face and not on Facebook.Of all the things that social media offers, the one thing it can never teach is patience and reflection. An adolescent then is deprived of real-life friendships, thinking and talking about career goals, going on a slow trek through the mountains – all this takes too much more effort than updating an Instagram feed or posting a TikTok clip.Deferred gratification is when we resist the temptation of short-term pleasures in the hopes of a lasting reward and it is so much harder because it requires patience.Just as the habitat of the wildebeest and the lion is the savannah, human habitat today is the cybersphere. Nearly 60% of the world’s population browses the net, and we spend an average of 2.5 hours a day networking on our phones. These numbers have shot up after Covid so that we are surrounded by posts, comments and notifications. We are lost without the device to access them.Social media algorithms ensnare users in the quicksand.Media literacy in schools would make today’s young be better informed about social networking sites, and how they cleverly reinforce preferences and reward choices. This could perhaps push them to understand the influence it has on their lives, and make a more rational use of this media resource.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-interface-with-information/">Nepal’s interface with information</a>, Kunda DixitSilicon Valley mines personal data for revenue, and the more time users spend on their sites, the more money they make. They call it ‘Improving user experience’ but that is just a euphemism for the algorithm that engulfs users in the quicksand.To be sure, there is much to be gained from sensible use of social media: promoting an enterprise, catching up with friends or advocating for a social cause. But how do we maximise its usefulness and avoid the swamp?<ol><li>The first step is a self-realisation and determination to improve our use of social media. You first need to want to kick the habit.</li></ol><ol start="2"><li>Mute notifications. We have been conditioned to react instantly to notifications. Checking a notification feels like unwrapping a present and getting a shot of dopamine. But what starts out as a quick check ends up being a binge watch of videos. Muting cuts this distraction at the source and short-circuits the algorithm.</li></ol><ol start="3"><li>The third step may be the hardest, and what makes the difference between taming the lion or being tamed by it. The best course of action for the wildebeest is to remain still. The more it moves, the more it sinks in the ooze. The more you are online, the more social media tracks you, keeping you engaged through clever customisation. Minimising use helps extricate users from the bog.</li></ol>Think before posting, don’t share unverified posts, resist double tapping just because you have nothing better to do, and self-examine your own social media use. Like many things in life, it is ultimately your own choice.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222939c7e80680e0c0303jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="78" height="109">Yugottam Koirala is a student at St Xavier’s College, Kathmandu.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/digital-discrimination/">Digital discrimination</a>, J B Biswokarma

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Avoiding the quicksand of social media

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221fd9c7e80680e0c02e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1280"/><figcaption>Illustration: GERD ALTMANN/PIXABAY</figcaption></figure>The advent of social media and its reach has meant that anyone can become an influencer today. The chances of succeeding in the creative field are better than ever before. Brands are investing billions of dollars in online content creators to advertise their products that would have previously been used on models and celebrities.But how does one become an influencer, and what does it really mean? It is not simply posting content on your social media frequently as youths are prone to these days. An influencer has a job to keep posting content online regularly to keep the audience engaged and monetise it.It sounds pretty easy. However, the success rate for an influencer depends on their followers and the engagement of the audience including likes, comments and purchases using the links.A report published in the <a href="https://morningconsult.com/influencer-report-engaging-gen-z-and-millennials/">Morning Consult</a> showed that three-quarters of American Gen Z and Millennial trust influencers when choosing brands and products. They don’t just trust the influencers more than celebrities, 54% would want to become one if they had the opportunity.On Instagram, someone with less than 50,000 followers is considered a micro-influencer, but if one has around 250,000 followers, they could make nearly $3,800 per post.It is impossible to talk about influencers and not mention Kylie Jenner. In 2019, Jenner was Instagram’s highest-paid influencer earning over a million dollars a post. She has her fair share of haters but Jenner has been so successful as an influencer because she continuously generates aspirational content while maintaining her authenticity. The family name doesn’t hurt either.Jenner’s posts mainly revolve around being a mother, her family and her love for makeup. Brands want to work with her because her use of social media to connect with her fans making them feel heard has turned her into an influencer you can trust. Love her or hate her, she has influencing figured out.But as appealing as it seems to generate an income and become famous by posting content on social media, very few succeed. So what happens to the faceless influencers who fail?Not becoming a successful influencer can negatively affect one’s self-esteem because they put a lot of time and effort into the process. If they cannot reach the status, they question their self-worth. They start estimating their value based on followers and sponsors.“When someone’s self-esteem is so wrapped up in their social media presence, it can be hard for them to see their value outside of that,” says Sindee Gozansky, therapist and founder of “A Simple Therapy” in Maine, USA.Young women start to believe they are not good enough, and failure in the social market is perceived as a rejection at a personal level. “This can also be harmful to a young woman’s mental health, reinforcing the idea that external validation is necessary for self-worth. Lack of influencer status affects self-esteem by causing feelings of inadequacy and low self-confidence,” adds Gozansky.This vicious cycle can lead to depression and anxiety and may also lead to other emotional disorders related to eating, body image and obsessive thoughts.Anisha Joshi, a dermatologist at Healthy Choice Clinic, often consults patients deeply affected by social media. She has had to tell most of her young patients that it is not possible to look exactly like a celebrity or an influencer.“Most patients have unrealistic expectations, and we have to counsel them about the treatments and procedure options regarding the time it takes and the outcome,” she adds.“Most patients I have counselled are not happy with their looks, they want to have perfectly symmetrical faces without any pores or pigmentation, they want fairer skin. And they are ready to go under the knife to achieve that.”The problem with spending too much time on social media platforms hoping to become the next Kylie Jenner is also that rather than thinking about college or career goals, young people get too busy promoting their lifestyle brand, building their audience, and checking their insights to spend time on anything else. And then, if they don’t make it, they can feel lost and without purpose.Social media is a dangerous platform for comparison and self-doubt, and not succeeding as an influencer can affect young women’s self-worth and other aspects of their lives.While some young women do succeed in the field, the danger is how it affects the lives of those who do not. Before putting all your eggs in one basket, it is essential to realise that there is a possibility of failure, and not lose sight of one’s authentic self.Social media analytics is not everything. It is essential not to let social media consume your life and to have a strong identity outside in the real world. Many women have gone on to achieve great things because they didn’t allow their self-esteem to be defined by more online analytics.Adds Gozansky: “Being an influencer is so seductive to young women because of the perceived social value, acceptance and importance it promised. And, what is seductive is not always in our best interest.”Anjana Rajbhandary writes this fortnightly Nepali Times column Life Time about mental health, physical health and socio-cultural issues.

Anjana Rajbhandary

So you want to become an influencer?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/637219349c7e80680e0baa88jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"/><figcaption>Photos: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>A new survey of media trends in Nepal conducted nationwide earlier this year shows that the use of social media networks has left radio, tv and the print press trailing further behind. But even though they interact with and share social media content, most citizens have little trust in it.Sharecast Initiative Nepal conducted the survey among 5,582 respondents above 18 years in face-to-face interviews. They were selected from 351 local wards, rural municipalities, municipalities, sub-metropolitan cities and metropolitan city proportional to the population size from 77 districts. The sampling of the survey is based on the 2021 census results.The 2022 results are useful for tracking media consumption trends by comparing them to previous surveys and seeing the changing popularity patterns among various groups.Most dramatic changes have been in the decline in the audience for national and international news on radio, television and print in just two years. Compared to 2020, the percentage of respondents saying they watched television news fell from 47% to 31%. Newspaper and magazine readership for national news, already small, decreased further from 8% to 4%.Radio, which was once the main source of local news for Nepalis, especially in rural areas, has now fallen from 44% to 26%.Users seem to have migrated en masse to the internet. When asked about which medium they relied on for local news and information, respondents saying YouTube increased from 4% to 15% in two years – signifying the proliferation of channels on that platform that have usually sensationalised news and current affairs content.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-new-digital-landscape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s new digital landscape</a>, Sonia AwaleThe percentage of respondents saying they got their information from Facebook rose from 21% to 41%, although the caveat here is that they may be clicking on links to the Facebook accounts of the mainstream media.Despite this surge in users of social networking sites, there appears to be a trust deficit. Radio, tv and print media still top the ranking for credibility, with only 3% of respondents saying they trust content on social media.Interestingly, trust in online portals is also a low 8%.In answer to another survey question, most respondents who said they do not read print media (85%) said they did not read newspapers and magazines because they were not available in the area or delivered at home. Other reasons for not reading were: stale content, boring, or they have other sources of news.On the other hand, while nationwide use of Twitter is very low, the number of print media readers who say they are also on Twitter is much higher (42%) than on Facebook (20%) or YouTube (20%).Left to their own devicesThe changing pattern of consumption of media content is determined by access to new information technology. Just as radio surged with Nepal’s rural radio revolution in the 1990s, and television took audiences away from print, the legacy media are now all in the same boat – competing with the internet for eyeballs and, therefore, revenue.Nepal’s mobile penetration rate is now reaching saturation, with 90% of individuals above 18 years in the survey saying they owned a hand phone. Of these, 67% were smartphones and can access data internet. Although this proportion has gone up sharply since previous Sharecast surveys, it shows there is still potential for growth if 4G access spreads and mobile data package costs come down.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-are-drifting-to-digital-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepalis are drifting to digital media</a>, Madhu Acharya and Bhumiraj Chapagain_________________<h2>An increasingly online nation</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/637219379c7e80680e0baa89jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640">More than one-third of respondents above 18 years in a nationwide survey conducted by Sharecast Initiative Nepal said they do not have access to the internet.When asked why they are not using the internet, 62% of the respondents said it was because they did not own a device, and 29% lacked the confidence or skill to go online. Of the other responses, 19% said they feel too old to learn, 14% had neither the interest nor the need of the internet, and 7% were too busy doing other things. 7% said that although they would have liked to have access to the internet, there is no connectivity where they are.These results show that there are still a substantial number of adult Nepalis who are not online (6.4 million), and most of them do not own a device. Although, in answer to another survey question, nearly 90% of adult Nepalis say they have mobile phones (and 67% of them are smartphones), showing that internet penetration in Nepal is lagging behind phone use and has not yet reached saturation.Disaggregating data for internet use, Gandaki Province appears to have the widest internet use, with only half the respondents (46%) saying they did not have online access because they do not have a device. However, 50% of them said they were not using the internet because they did not have the skill — much higher than other provinces.Surprisingly, only 12% of respondents in Karnali Province said they did not have the confidence to use the internet. Overall, few respondents without access to the internet said they were interested in using it.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepals-media-landscape-is-being-transformed/">Nepal’s changing media landscape</a>, Sharecast InitiativeMore than 5,500 respondents took part in the nationwide survey and they were asked if their children between 6-12 years used the internet. Nearly half (47%) said their children did, 39% said they did not, and 13% did not have children in that age group.Again, the proportion of children with access to the internet is highest in Gandaki (69%). Karnali and Madhes trailed in children not using the net (66%) and (61%), respectively. Despite Kathmandu Valley being situated in Bagmati Province, it is behind Gandaki and Province 1 in internet use among adults and children.The 62.5% of respondents who have access to the internet were asked unprompted which apps they used the most. Facebook is still scoring highest with 91%, with YouTube (89%) and TikTok (56%). Buried in the long tail is Twitter with only 2% — surprising given how Twitter seems to shape the national discourse on everything from elections to gender-based violence —proving that Twitter users are from the more influential class of urban-based movers and shakers.Comparing the responses with results from the 2020 survey, Sharecast Initiative found a dramatic increase in the number of TikTok and YouTube users. These results show that social networking platforms are increasingly displacing the mainstream press where people have access to information and entertainment.As expected, TikTok is most popular among the young, its usage dipping with the older population. Twitter has a slightly larger following among the 16-24 age group (8%) but trails far behind other social networking platforms. But what it seems to lack in popularity, it more than makes up for its socio-economic demographics.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mobile-nepal-is-hooked-on-youtube/">Mobile Nepal is hooked on YouTube</a>, Kunda DixitA sample of the estimated 12.2 million Nepalis who have access to the internet was asked if they regularly visited online news portals. Only 30% said yes (3.7 million). This is a surprisingly low result, which seemsto indicate that most internet use could be for entertainment or family engagement.Disaggregating this data by province shows that Bagmati has the highest proportion of internet users accessing news portals, with Karnali and Province 1 following close behind. Madhes Province has the lowest number (13%) accessing digital news sites.Despite having the highest internet use, Gandaki Province has the lowest proportion of respondents saying they accessed news portals which can only mean they use the internet for other purposes than as a source of news and information.The 30% of respondents who said they visited online news portals were asked what made them access those sites. Nearly half (48%) said they received push notifications to do so, while others just found the sites by browsing portals. But a majority (57%) clicked on links shared by friends on social media to visit news portals.The 62.5% of respondents who said they use the internet were asked if they thought the spread of disinformation was a problem in Nepal. More than 90% of them partially or fully agreed it was an issue. Only 7% of respondents think it is not a problem. Bagmati Province where Kathmandu Valley is located has the highest proportion (27%) of respondents who agreed fully that disinformation and misinformation was a problem.This would tally with previous surveys that indicate that although there is heavy use of social media platforms, the credibility of information they contain is considered low among most Nepalis.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/digitial-path-to-social-buffers-in-nepal/">Digital path to social buffers in Nepal</a>, Ashraya DixitNepal Media Survey 2022 covers consumption patterns of radio, tv, newspapers and internet platforms. Nepal Media Survey Report available from <a href="mailto:NMS2022@sharecast.org.np" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NMS2022@sharecast.org.np</a>

Kunda Dixit

Nepal’s interface with information

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111120/637216cd9c7e80680e0ba9b3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1100" height="1269"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>The past two years have accelerated the trends already buffeting the media industry pre-Covid: migration of readers and advertisers from legacy to digital media, entertainment replacing information, a losing battle against fake content, and so on.Kitty videos went viral even as the virus shut society down. Social media became the new mass media.Till three years ago in Nepal, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepals-media-landscape-is-being-transformed/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepals-media-landscape-is-being-transformed/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1651624304899000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3t8DpuKSKgqz-bOvPRD1R3">‘Facebook’ was synonymous with ‘Internet’</a>. But in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-news/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-news/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1651624304899000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3CLJ3__F60u9ijYJAn_Bsz">2019 YouTube users overtook Facebook</a>, and now a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/huge-uptick-in-tiktok-during-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TikTok takeover</a> makes dance routines on the platform consume nearly a quarter of the country’s bandwidth.The power and reach of global digital platforms and online portals have transformed the way people stay informed, while <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-message-is-the-medium-2/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-message-is-the-medium-2/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1651624304899000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3_LES6c-wOoyW5ET4vUl3F">some prefer to be deliberately disinformed</a>. Since digital content can be manipulated and multiplied, it is easier for populism to replace pluralism.As algorithms radicalise voters and confine them to echo chambers, elected demagogues across the world threaten democracies, and despots get voted to power.The print media in Nepal went fully digital during the 2020 lockdowns, and even though revenue plummeted, readership hit the roof. Newspapers like this one resumed print editions and reclaimed <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/readers-editorial,1059" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/readers-editorial,1059&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1651624304899000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3UUu5VRVBiBEucIhJFjFPt">loyal hardcopy readers</a>, but there are many times more users online now for multimedia content. The economics of the media business has also changed, possibly forever.Nepal’s economy was just beginning to recover from the downturn caused by the pandemic when <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ukraine-crisis-hits-nepal-economy-hard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the war in Ukraine</a> scored another direct hit on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-geopolitics-of-food/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fuel and food prices</a> worsening hard currency reserves and the country’s balance of payments.New restrictions on bank loans and imports have hit businesses hard, and this has had a direct impact on advertising -- the main source of revenue for media companies.Just when its role in safeguarding democracy and press freedom has become more vital than ever before, journalism struggles to survive and retain its relevance. This ends up <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/censuring-censorship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">undermining the independent check and balance role</a> of the fourth estate in defending democracy.Nepal’s media practitioners need to be more vigilant than ever -- especially at a time when we see the largest, oldest and most vibrant democracies in the region and around the world being dismantled by leaders who have co-opted democratic institutions to propel themselves to power and remain there.All this may look pretty discouraging for those who believe in an open society, and value tolerance, inclusiveness, and the freedom to express themselves. But the Internet has always been a double-edged sword, like all other technologies that preceded it.Fake news, disinformation and gossip did not begin with the social web. They are as old as the written word itself. Elon Musk calls Twitter the global ‘town square’, but town squares through history have also been violent places – unleashing lynch mobs, witch hunts, burnings at the stake and public hangings.There are equivalents of early newspapers inciting pogroms in Russia and Germany, later of radio in Rwanda sparking genocide. The only difference with online posts is their instantaneous amplification and global reach. And effect of this can be fast and brutal, as seen by the calls for mass killings of the Rohingya in Facebook posts, and lynchings in India triggered by WhatsApp groups.Cancel culture, trolling and cyber-lynching by bot armies also dampen voices calling for moderation, science-based decision making, and acceptance of diversity.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/dont-act-on-the-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Attempts to regulate Internet content</a> collide head on with accepted norms of free speech. Where does one draw the line? It might first be important to distinguish between ‘journalism’ broadly defined on the one hand, and on the other, posts inciting violence or troll factories manufacturing hate on assembly lines.These and other issues will be the subject of the day-long ‘Connectivity in the Age of Disinformation’ conference at the Himal Media Mela on 7 May, marking Himalmedia’s own 25th anniversary year. Media practitioners will be taking stock of the media’s role in these changed circumstances.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-death-of-print-is-exaggerated/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">death of print media is exaggerated</a>. There is still power in print because the powerful read it. A survey in 2020 also showed that most Nepalis were not reading print media because <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-news/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-news/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1651624304899000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3CLJ3__F60u9ijYJAn_Bsz">roadside shops had stopped stocking newspapers</a> and magazines.That survey by <a href="https://www.sharecast.org.np/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sharecast.org.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1651624304899000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0zGgEqvlW8X0_WPVzK5j2c">Sharecast Initiative Nepal</a> revealed 96% of Nepalis had mobile phones, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-news/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-news/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1651624304899000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3CLJ3__F60u9ijYJAn_Bsz">showed that</a> 94% of those following the mainstream press are still reading the paper newspaper because they found it more ‘trustworthy’. Although respondents said they used social media platforms, more than 90% said they did not believe everything in it.And that is the niche that Nepal’s mainstream press now need to fill: to be the credible source of news, present verified facts, correct online falsehoods, as well as to explain, interpret and analyse events and trends.Gazing into the future, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-new-reality-of-nepals-virtual-celebrities/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-new-reality-of-nepals-virtual-celebrities/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1651624304899000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2KtE3bnQpem6LSBL3c-go4">social media</a> platforms will be useful dissemination tools, social media platforms will be even more entertainment-driven, and it will be the papers and their digital editions with credibility and exclusive content that will stay afloat.

Internet in everything

<img width="309" height="163" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1e619c7e80680e0af407jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><img width="349" height="144" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1e629c7e80680e0af408jpeg.jpg" alt="">WorldLink has introduced 600 Mbps internet, the fastest Internet package launched in Nepal so far. The company has announced that WorldLink's Internet speed will now be at least 150 Mbps, which users can afford at Rs 4,400 per year.

Worldlink with Khalti

<figure><img width="1125" height="844" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc5c9c7e80680e0a0b85jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: SAJANA BARAL</figcaption></figure>Lucrative financial rewards and the expansion of Internet services  are driving a ‘bug-hunting’  bonanza among Nepali youth who  have time in their hands during the pandemic lockdowns.  Once the exclusive domain of IT whizes , coders and programmers, bug - hunting has now become an open field for talented Nepali students who offer their services to find potential security gaps in computer systems  or websites of companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon .“Bug solving is logical and can be done without much technical background, needing only a knowledge of companies’ guidelines and how sites work,” says Ashok Chapagain, 22, a bug-hunter himself. “Senior expert coders handle advanced-level bug hunting, while we  find simpler problems and report them .”Bug-hunting is a form of ‘white hat’ ethical hacking in which researchers can be hired to look for and report bugs on company websites and applications. The trend began in 2002 when NetScape offered rewards for researchers, and  it gained popularity as companies found it cheaper and more effective to crowd-source  finding vulnerabilities to third parties.Many companies across the world offer rewards to those who find security risks or programming mistakes, sometimes running into many thousands of dollars. This has made bug-hunting a full-time profession for many Nepalis.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/privacy-is-power/">Privacy is power</a>, Saniaa Shah <img width="1125" height="844" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc5f9c7e80680e0a0b86jpeg.jpg" alt="">“Social media networks have spread the appeal of bug-hunting among youngsters, many of whom have time on their hands during lockdowns,” says cyber security expert Bijay Limbu. Social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter and large websites have sections that are too vast and difficult for employees to keep  track of, so the task is outsourced to independent researchers. Bug - hunters look into the sites, produce reports with video evidence, and send them to the companies.  After deciding whether the report is valid, ‘duplicate’  (already reported before ) , or ‘informative’  ( harmless but helpful  reports ) , the company rewards the bug-hunter appropriately via bounty platforms like <a href="https://www.bugcrowd.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bugcrowd.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628556555290000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGDeKEVdoXa5wSemFXkGDCbn4TM6w">Bugcrowd</a> and HackerOne. These companies act as brokers between researchers and the companies.  Facebook’s own bug bounty platform <a href="https://www.facebook.com/whitehat" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/whitehat&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628556555290000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFjptvjqvWDDNij7V9dkLfP27u0dw">WhiteHat</a> is the most popular among Nepali hunters, swelling in ranks especially after 2020 and the lockdowns. Names such as Sudip Sah, Ajay Gautam, Shantabahadur Gharti Magar, Prajwal Dhungana, Nirmal Thapa, Aayush Pokharel and Eliza Gautam have featured on WhiteHat’s list of External Security Researchers. Nepali bug hunters are also active in screening Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and even Oxford University’s websites for glitches.  Despite differing in magnitude, all bugs have the potential to create privacy breaches and data leaks for companies. As a result, bug hunters are rewarded handsomely for finding faults, with Facebook’s minimum reward starting at $500 and Apple awarding anywhere up to $1 million.  In 2020 alone, $1.98 billion was handed out to researchers from 50 nations for finding bugs across various sites and apps. Many Nepali bug hunters have struck gold digging for bugs, with one of the researcher earning over $100,000 in cash rewards for finding various bugs across one-and-half years of intense research.  Saugat Pokharel recently earned his 16th and largest payment , pocketing $13,125 when he reported a bug that violated privacy policies and erroneously displayed Instagram users’ dates of birth and email addresses.  Pokharel and another bug-hunter Naresh Lamgade have now joined forces to launch <a href="https://bugv.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bugv.io/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628556555290000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHE4p5CakYtZ0kUY7tqO_Wt7rPgGw">bugv.io</a>, their own vulnerability coordination and bug bounty platform.  <img width="1125" height="844" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfc629c7e80680e0a0b87jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1125" height="844" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfc659c7e80680e0a0b88jpeg.jpg" alt="">“The bank suspected I was laundering money when I received the large cash sum through SWIFT Money Transfer,” says Pokharel. “It was only once I reached out to Facebook and they wrote a letter verifying the source of funds that I could claim the money.” Inspired by Pokharel’s bounties, management student 24-year-old Prabha Basnet, has also decided to become a bug hunter. “Initially, I had many reports rejected, but then two bugs I reported were accepted together, and I earned $3,000,” she says. “This motivated me to report bugs in Instagram and Facebook stories clashing, and potentially revealing sensitive information about users.”Aside from the monetary rewards, bug hunting has also changed the landscape of cybersecurity. Increased vigilance from a growing army of spotters means potential bugs causing privacy or security breaches can be caught before they cause major damage. Nepal’s patchy <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/crossborder-cybercrime-and-punishment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cybersecurity</a> state is particularly boosted by this external research boom, as thousands of government sites often go down for hours. Private sites like <a href="https://foodmandu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://foodmandu.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628556555290000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGkG9zFzZ5u00aNX781Ud0Z2zUYsQ">Foodmandu,</a> <a href="https://www.vianet.com.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.vianet.com.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628556555290000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHkU94CchkFpCsMx5yOyFG8ED0lvA">Vianet </a>and <a href="https://www.prabhubank.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.prabhubank.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628556555290000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFXH92-teVKGhvcN0xOKQUWsMyd9Q">Prabhu Bank </a>were also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/thank-you-satan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recently hacked</a>. In response, some young Nepali bug hunters have developed a local bounty reward program to find breaches and fight hackers. Bug hunting and ethical hacking can also be a firewall against ‘black hat’ illegal hacking. Earlier, hackers with malicious intent would steal, leak or sell data obtained via bugs, explains Pokharel. “Black hat hackers would undermine the work of white hat researchers,” he says. “But with bug - hunting, even those previously black hat work have switched to just as lucrative legal white hacking.”Bug-hunting has its natural downside. The monetary rewards mean it sometimes becomes a competitive cyber-stampede, placing considerable strain on the mental health of researchers. The desire to earn more pushes some bug-hunters to their limits, often with undesirable consequences.  Santosh Bhandari was an accomplished bug-hunter, featuring regularly on Facebook’s list of External Security Researchers and even finishing 15th out of 404 worldwide participants in a live hacking tournament organised by Google and Facebook. However, he switched tracks and pursued other cybersecurity activities after suffering mental trauma from the competition and stress. He says: “Bug bounty and mental health are connected. You compile a bug report with so much of your effort and your time and wait so many days for a reply. If the report is accepted, it is all good, but if not your hard work and time are completely wasted and that can disturb you.” Prakash Pant from Chitwan has also featured on Facebook’s list, after finding three bugs at once on Facebook in February. Before that, however, he had more than 50 reports rejected as ‘duplicates' or ‘informatives’. Prabha Basnet also reports  suffering anxiety after her painstakingly written reports were rejected in the past. She says, “I had 15-16 reports rejected when I started, pushing me to the verge of quitting.”  Bijay Limbu also warns that the competitive nature of bug-hunting may make youngsters money minded, and some are tempted to demand ransom for bugs they have uncovered. In any case, arbitrarily searching websites and apps for bugs without company invitation could spell legal trouble.Translated by Kaustubh Dhital from the Nepali original in <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/122334" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Himal Khabar</a>.

Nepalis go bug-hunting on the web

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d061a9c7e80680e0a5f45jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2554" height="1434"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Over the past year-and-half, concerns about lockdowns, economic collapse, limited healthcare and shortage of vaccines have taken centre stage. Almost forgotten are millions of Nepali children who have been out of school for that long.Except for a few weeks earlier this year, there have been no classes since 23 March 2020. Meanwhile, the government and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/ministry-of-education-gets-an-f/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Ministry of Education</a> has been behind a fig-leaf of remote classes, when surveys have shown that 80% of children do not have any access to classes online, by radio, tv or mobile.After the first wave, there was enough time to ensure wifi connectivity for public schools at least in urban centres, and prepare for alternative methods of teaching such as remote radio, tv classes and Zoom classes.None of that was done. Instead, there was a blanket shutdown of schools nationwide, even in sparsely populated mountain districts with negligible Covid-19 spread where classes could easily have been held with mandatory masks and physical distancing.“Nepal is a federal state, the decision to open or close schools should be a matter for local governments, but Kathmandu forced schools nationwide to close. This has resulted in unnecessary loss for students,” says former education secretary Mahashram Sharma.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-z9K0iuDdoBefore the Covid-19 crisis, students used to have 180 days of school. Attending class with fellow students and interacting with teachers was an essential part of their upbringing and personality development.The lack of physical classes and face-to-face learning have meant that even students who are attending online classes have suffered. But a majority of students, especially in government schools, have not had any classes at all.Most urban private schools have been conducting <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/learning-during-the-pandemic-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">online classes</a> now for more than a year, teachers and students adjusting and learning to the new technology as they go.But <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/digital-divide-exposes-class-divide-in-nepal-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s digital divide</a> has also created an education divide. Most of the 80% of government school children have not attended classes – online or otherwise. Even if they have mobile phones there is not enough bandwidth for digital classes.“We tried everything from Zoom, Facebook messenger and Google meet to Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams. We also trained our teachers to conduct classes online,” says Batuk Lal Tamang, Principal of Annapurna School in Bharatpur. “But barely 50% of our students attended their classes, the number was much lower for lower grades.”Annapurna School later surveyed its 700 students to find out how many of them had access to the internet or electronic devices. Less than 20% had internet at home, and only 10% could access data via smartphones. And this is in a city in Chitwan with fairly good infrastructure.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d061d9c7e80680e0a5f46jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1233" height="680"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>All 280 students at Yasodhara Baudha School in Lalitpur are from rural areas, mostly children of either daily wage labourers or who work as household help. They gave their meagre earnings to parents, and even before the pandemic did not even have enough for stationery and uniforms.“Alternative learning is just not possible for us, and our experience is that online classes do not work in government schools, attendance was very low despite the free data scheme for the students,” says Yasodhara’s assistant principal Bina Shakya.She adds that the students have lost interest in studies, many have been forced into child labour, helping their families survive.If that is the situation in Kathmandu Valley, it cannot be much better elsewhere. At the Mangal Prasad Secondary School in Nepalganj, teachers have tried online and radio classes its students who come from 10 districts of western Nepal. But many of the pupils have been out of touch for the past year.“We have tried our best for students who are still in contact with us, but it is a small proportion of the total student body,” admits Sandhya Sharma, a teacher at the school.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06239c7e80680e0a5f47jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="504"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There was a class divide in Nepal’s education even before Covid-19. The pandemic <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/online-classes-may-widen-digital-divide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">just widened the gap</a> between urban-rural, private-government, rich-poor.There are six million students enrolled in schools across the country, a majority of them in government or community schools. Educationists had told the government that the pandemic actually offered an opportunity to upgrade IT facilities in classrooms, train teachers in online instruction, and narrow the digital divide.For the second year in a row, schools have not been able to hold Secondary Education Examinations (SEE) and have allowed teachers to conduct internal assessments. But in many schools students have not attended neither online nor physical classes.Higher-level students across the country are also at breaking point, uncertain about their future after more than a year of postponed papers before they graduate.There is also a risk of higher dropout rates of students once things normalise, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-decade-of-work-lost-in-4-months/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">undermining Nepal’s decades-long effort</a> to increase school enrolment in rural areas.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06259c7e80680e0a5f48jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2556" height="1440"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-real-cost-of-nepals-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">second wave is cresting in Nepal</a> even if daily new cases and fatalities are much higher than when the new lockdown was placed on 29 April. But public health experts are already asking the government to prepare for a possible third wave of the pandemic in which new coronavirus strains put children at risk.According to official records, some 21,000 children were infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first wave in Nepal. This number rose to 27,000 in the second wave. Less than 3% of Nepalis are fully vaccinated, and there is not even a WHO-approved vaccine for those under 18.Experts say that since the second wave has peaked, focus should now shift to restarting physical classes in areas with minimum Covid-19 spread, while maintaining strict mask wearing with physical distancing in well-ventilated classrooms where possible. Elsewhere, schools should upgrade their technical and teaching capacity for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/face-to-face-classes-online/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">online classes</a>, and equip students with devices and connectivity.The Education Ministry should have already done all these things, of course, but ministers have changed so often in the past two years due to political turmoil that there is no continuity.Children in Nepal have missed 61 weeks of school, whereas even countries worst affected by the pandemic like India and Brazil have had fewer weeks of closure: 56 and 53 weeks respectively.<h2>Devolution for education</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06299c7e80680e0a5f49jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="369"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Kanak Mani Dixit of Himalmedia’s tv magazine Saglo Samaj interviewed former education secretary Mahashram Sharma about the role of local governments in revamping Nepal’s education sector post-Covid. Excerpts:Kanak Mani Dixit: The gap between private and public schools is increasing, more so after the pandemic. How worrying is that?Mahashram Sharma: From 2000-2015, the world over, the focus was on increasing school enrolment, especially of girls. Nepal did well on score, but not so much on quality. We have not prepared our education sector for times of crisis like this.Private schools are more accountable to parents and students, but government schools do not have a system to incentivise teacher performance. Until that happens, quality will not improve.But quality was supposed to improve after federalism put education under the purview of local governments. This is a textbook case of being given rights, but not resources. Local governments are woefully under-funded. A few municipalities have education experts. At the end of the day, just devolving responsibility doesn’t solve anything. The focus should be on capacity-building and empowering local governments.Local leaders are politicians, no educators. Even then, their priority is to deploy excavators to build more roads so they can be re-elected. Something long-term like education is not in their priority.Can the pandemic be an opportunity to rebuild our education sector?The pandemic did force us to assess SEE students based on internal evaluation instead of mandatory sit-in physical exam. This is a start, it will be the norm now. Similarly, we have been lagging in information technology, and the pandemic could kick-start a campaign to set up computer labs and connectivity in all schools. Digital instruction is the way forward, and the pandemic may spur our acceptance of that fact, even if we eventually get back to the physical classroom.But it looks like the pandemic has actually widened the digital divide.Yes, and that is precisely why the government should be playing a leadership role here. It not just to talk about it but implement plans to help poor and disadvantaged children with resources. Local governments should take the first step, and make an inventory of electronic devices and connectivity of each family at the local level and plan accordingly.Why did we have to close all schools during the pandemic? First and foremost, education is not on the agenda of local governments. What made matters worse was the blanket closure by the central government. Just before the lockdown, I was in Manang, Lamjung and Syangja, they had no Covid there. Yet schools had been closed for months.Nepal is a federal state, the decision to open or close schools should be a matter for local governments, but Kathmandu forced schools nationwide to close. This resulted in unnecessary loss for students. The centre is responsible for developing policies but the management of schools is up to the local governments, they just need to be facilitated, especially when it comes to community schools.

Lessons not learned from the pandemic

<img width="1044" height="1258" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b90ca9c7e80680e06f0adjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated the digitisation process of government services from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14608#.YLXHbC8RoWo">telehealth</a> to telework, online meetings to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/learning-during-the-pandemic-in-nepal/">remote education</a>. Rarely in modern history have we seen so many virtual experiments in governance around the world rolled out at such a pace and scale.Industrial age governance, which dominated public sector organisations in the past century acted as a drag on digital transformation. But the pandemic has hastened the shift towards a digital economy.Nepal’s own <a href="https://mocit.gov.np/application/resources/admin/uploads/source/EConsultation/EN%20Digital%20Nepal%20Framework%20V8.4%2015%20July%20%202019.pdf">Digital Nepal Framework (DGN)</a> came into the policy radar during the tenure of Yubaraj Khatiwada who held the two important cabinet portfolios related to the agenda- Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. After Khatiwada was appointed ambassador to the United States, apart from one-off <a href="https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/government-releases-full-version-of-nagarik-app">progress</a> , focus has not been on tougher issues of fundamentally re-engineering public service delivery and institutionalising digital services. The momentum has therefore been lost on planning for a digital framework, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/online-classes-may-widen-digital-divide/">addressing the digital divide</a> between municipalities and inadequate digital skills, the lack of governance framework, and absence of champions in the government.  The DGN requires strong inter-departmental ownership, which it has yet to receive. It has not been popular with senior bureaucrats, and department bosses because it tramples on their fiefdoms. The steering committee organised to take it forward is under-resourced, and extrapolates the DGN framework document as a replica translation of an IT plan developed to strengthen public service delivery in the country. Whilst digital and IT are not the same, the DGN is designed to establish an overall superstructure for digital services, often requiring a high-level view of interactions among people, process and digital infrastructure.Says <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldBankNepal/status/1296264530633224192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1296264530633224192%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F54iventures.com%2Fa-journey-accelerated-by-covid19%2F">Faris Hadad Zervos</a>, country director of the World Bank for Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka: “As<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nepal?src=hashtag_click"> Nepal</a> responds to the Covid-19 crisis, digital development will play an even greater role to build back better, decrease inequality, increase access and opportunity.” <img width="640" height="900" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b90ce9c7e80680e06f0aejpeg.jpg" alt="">Very few  subnational governments in Nepal today have the required digital infrastructure. The magnitude of the challenge is evident as <a href="http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/485591576101383264/pdf/Nepal-Development-Update-Envisioning-a-Future-Data-Ecosystem-in-Federal-Nepal.pdf">a survey of 115 local governments</a> showed that many rural and urban municipalities lacked internet access or electricity via the national grid or generators” <figure><img width="745" height="445" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b90d09c7e80680e06f0afjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> Internet and electricity access for local government. Source: Nepal Development Update (2019), the World Bank </figcaption></figure>Most local governments do not have enough fiscal cushion to finance <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/now-a-digital-karnali/">digital connectivity</a> and rely on federal and provincial contributions. Persistent federal-municipal divide is therefore not helping digital transformation. These limitations will hinder future connectivity, and widen the digital divide. Effort will need to go beyond infrastructure, however, to also provide enough incentives to government agencies/actors, businesses and households to connect with the full range of digital services. National and local leadership will need to address existing barriers to adoption, such as the lack of digital skills and capabilities.Institutionalising digital services can help the government improve delivery of health and education in geophysically diverse Nepal to ‘build back better’ after the pandemic, thus supporting social inclusion and decentralisation in the young republic. In addition to an inclusive economy, digitising government services can make the country attractive to foreign investors. <figure><img width="768" height="335" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b90d29c7e80680e06f0b0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>E-Government Development Index and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Source: IMF (2021) - How e-Government services can pay dividends</figcaption></figure>Although Nepal has a relatively high Digital Adoption Index and a modest Global Innovation Index in its peer-group, the use of digital signatures, and governance framework considered as the bedrocks to advance digitisation of government services is at a nascent stage. The UN E-Government Development Index 2020 ranks Nepal 132nd  among 193 countries on e-government development.  <figure><img width="760" height="450" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121136/636b90d49c7e80680e06f0b1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Digital Adoption Index and Global Innovation Index. Source: Nepal Development Update (2019), the World Bank </figcaption></figure>Of course, it is not realistic to expect that the government will leap-frog to higher levels of digital maturity overnight. Institutionalising new technologies and digital governance will require coordinated action between the  government, development partners and the societal ecosystem as a whole.The post-pandemic reality will require the Nepal government to take a policy and regulatory lead in digitising services. The government will have to lead by example synchronising an enabling environment for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-e-shopping-booms-under-covid-19/">e-payment systems</a>, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/long-distance-medicine-in-nepal,3521">telehealth</a>, demand for digital services, including<a href="https://kathmandupost.com/columns/2020/09/14/the-future-of-the-classroom-is-online"> online education</a>. We must not let the past shackle us and move confidently ahead to implement transformational change in state services through digital processes. As <a href="https://www.ynharari.com/">Yuval Noah Harari</a> says: ‘Future historians will see Covid-19 as a turning point in the history of the 21st century. But which way we turn is up to us.’  For Nepal, as immobility grips the economy and traditional processes are disengaged, it is fitting to ask if the government will cling to the past, or advance towards a bold new digital future.  Ashutosh M Dixit is an economist based in Nepal.

Covid crisis can spur digitisation

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5739c7e80680e09670bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="734"/><figcaption>Illustration: BHANU BHATTARAI</figcaption></figure>Internet shutdowns have often been used by governments to clamp down on citizens, and the trend is becoming more common around the world, including in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/south-asia-tightening-press-controls-amidst-covid-19/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/south-asia-tightening-press-controls-amidst-covid-19/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618638815229000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVqfsMNginKpOOjYXS6El6gzgsSw">Nepal’s neighbourhood. </a>Following practices by countries in the region, the Nepal government tabled its own Information Technology Bill law to ‘regulate the use of social media’ in 2019. This followed laws that can criminalise free speech under the Penal Code, as well as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/censuring-censorship/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/censuring-censorship/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618638815229000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGtI7hhyTY8kjL-f27N76GmxfYgUg">Media Council Bill</a>. After <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/ifj-asks-nepal-to-revoke-media-gag/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/ifj-asks-nepal-to-revoke-media-gag/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618638815230000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEAQouVTdSdnGTdqZs0djrnTzacCA">strong backlash</a> from journalists and activists, some of these provisions were shelved.Had it been endorsed into law, the bill would have given the government unprecedented <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/in-a-surveillance-state/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/in-a-surveillance-state/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618638815230000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG_6Qr0cyPntkCHJBXHHmGlKvVaKg">surveillance power </a>to monitor activities of citizens through their internet and social media use. The IT bill would have also allowed the government to censor online content, and punish anyone it did not like with five years imprisonment and up to Rs1.5 million in fines.This was not the first time since the NCP government came to power three years ago that it has tried to push through such curbs on free expression. The attempts to ‘regulate’ the internet is seen as a camouflaged attempt at blanket censorship – including on the mainstream media which also have online editions.Historically, too, Nepal has regressed back to<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-undermining-free-expression-hrw/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-undermining-free-expression-hrw/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618638815230000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGb7xEsZMzRWC1VB6nLnXujw-8ABw"> intermittent media controls</a> even after the end of the Panchayat in 1990. Most notable was the internet and mobile blackout after King Gyanendra’s military coup on 1 Feburary 2005. The army also imposed strict censorship on news, banning FM radios from broadcasting news and sent soldiers into newsrooms to monitor and censor content.Nepal is sandwiched between the Great Firewall of China through which Beijing controls the internet, and India which has the dubious distinction of being the country that has cut the internet most often.Kashmir has experienced one of the longest internet blackouts in the world. The net has not come back fully since it was put out on 5 August, 2019. This was aimed at suppressing protests that followed Modi government’s decision to nullify the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.With the internet blackout, most criticism of the government on social media platforms was blocked, and there was also censorship of the online news media. After 18 months, internet services are slowly being restored to certain parts of the state.India proves that a government does not have to be authoritarian to gag the media. Elected governments elsewhere have also suppressed freedom of expression and got away with it. Hong Kong and Burma are just the most recent examples. The Burmese military has not only ordered a total shutdown of the internet, but also mobile phone services.Ironically, governments justify their curbs on free speech by using the excuse of ‘preventing fake news’. Internet Service providers (ISP) therefore have a moral obligation to protect the right of the public to access the internet. ISP companies are forced to by reigning authorities to shut down the internet, and in many cases, within hours of public protests or critical online debates.Very often they comply with these requests as they are under the pressure of losing their licenses. So far, there have been very few reports of any ISP in any country standing up to the authorities, and defying a call for shutting down the net.A cut to net access are not only a major threat to the democracy of a nation, but also a breach of international human rights. The UN Human Rights Council rules that cutting people’s access to the internet as illegal.‘Governments are increasingly resorting to shutdowns in times of crisis, arguing they are necessary for public safety or curbing the spread of misinformation...’ says <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/global-5" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/global-5&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618638815230000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFgH9dy5Nn_FpZOGvJTgCqrhvmB0Q">Human Rights Watch</a> in a report. ‘When the internet is off, people’s ability to express themselves freely is limited, the economy suffers, journalists struggle to upload photos and videos documenting government overreach and abuse, students are cut off from their lessons, taxes can’t be paid on time, and those needing healthcare cannot get consistent access.’During emergencies like a pandemic, having access to the internet is even more crucial since most activities are online. At such times, the internet can actually save lives. People all over the world are now even more heavily reliant on the internet for health, education and jobs.Yet, activists say, there were 1,706 days of internet disruptions and 213 net shutdowns across 33 countries in 2019.  India, for example, had 121 shutdowns, followed by Venezuela with 12, and Yemen with 11 closures.ISPs must stand together to file collective lawsuits against any government and demand evidence of legitimate laws that allows this action. They should also be transparent with their customers, informing them of the pressure from governments to shut down their service.This information should be circulated widely via news outlets, activists and social media before these companies are forced to obey the illegal demands of the authorities. ISPs could also team up with non-profit organisations like Internet Without Borders, Access Now, and Human Rights Watch to challenge and reverse illegal laws forced on them by governments.Internet shutdowns are emerging as the next big threat to democracy in Asia, and the region’s ISPs are morally obligated to stand up against government-imposed shutdowns to protect and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/media-muzzle/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/media-muzzle/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618638815230000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFaLylEROOQNkuh6B_JOlIO_RJrcg">preserve democracy and free speech. </a>The public and ISPs must not just stay vigilant to prevent future shutdowns, but also more general suppression of freedoms, and the invasion of  individual privacy through data access.Shivani Basnet is a Master of International Affairs candidate at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs in New York.

The internet gag on Asia

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd8da9c7e80680e092e66jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>The Internet is possibly the greatest invention of our time, and the reason is simple yet powerful: it provides access to an immense amount of information. While daily news, social media, business purposes, communicating with friends across the world, and unlimited entertainment are all perfectly wonderful reasons to use the Web, let us not forget about learning for free – something that makes the Internet, truly a blessing.Not all of us can pay thousands of dollars and fly across the world to pursue an amazing course or degree; thus, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are a saviour. From Introduction to Machine Learning (York University from Canada offers this) to Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries (designed by the University of Cape Town), courses offered online range across subject areas like: the social sciences, history, science, IT, math, business management, arts, health, education, personal development skills, and even specific fields of study like architecture, law, psychology, religion, philosophy, astronomy and natural sciences. These aren’t casual blog style educational videos but actual courses with professionally-designed curriculums, weekly syllabi, homework assignments, student discussion forums, user reviews and ratings, and official certificates from the institute that you can receive upon successfully completing the course – but of course, you have to pay for that last one.Two of the biggest names in the online learning platform market are Coursera and EdX. Both offer courses from some of the biggest institutional names in education, such as Yale, Stanford, Harvard, University of Michigan, UC Berkeley, Wharton, Cambridge and more. Coursera currently offers 3000+ courses by partnering with universities across the globe, while EdX, a non-profit company, offers about 2,650 and was born from the idea of free and accessible education for all. Coursera’s strength lies in computer science and business courses while EdX excels at humanities and earth science courses, but both provide a wide gamut of courses that need to be sifted through using their website search bar and filters.For those who don’t want to commit long hours and prefer bite-sized videos, TedEd is perfect. From the makers of the famous Ted Talks, TedEd spreads ideas with animated video lessons that feed curious cats and offer great content for teachers and school students. Teachers can also create customised lessons, structure an assignment around a video and assess students’ engagement online.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/back-to-school-season-goes-remote/">Back-to-School season goes remote</a>, Saniaa Shah<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd8df9c7e80680e092e67jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1333" height="1000">OpenCulture is a great aggregator website of excellent free educational resources, with over 1500 courses listed on it, along with over 1000 movies, free ebooks, and much more.Udemy is a great option for those who want short, skill-smart videos that help build skills and navigate the job market or let you pursue a hobby you always wanted to, such as learning the ukulele. The platform takes a democratic, by-all-for-all approach, which means that the course creators and instructors aren’t academically recognised but trained by Udemy to effectively administer a unique course. Udemy courses aren’t free, but they are extremely affordable and a bang for the buck.FutureLearn is England’s answer to Coursera, a lesser-known quality-conscious platform that partners with leading British and Australian universities or organisations to offer 2500 odd online courses to over 10 million learners and counting.For those looking for something off the beaten track, Alison and Udacity offer courses developed by themselves that are gentler paced, and they’re well-known for online programming courses. They also offer diploma courses and learning paths that offer related courses so that you can specialise better.Kadenze is cool option for those who are interested in the arts and creative technology. It brings together artists, musicians and engineers to deliver niche creative arts education with passion and professional excellence. Kadenze fills the gap of arts-focused platforms, reassuring students and parents that arts and technology can also lead to immensely successful, fulfilling careers that aren’t the conventional definition of a promising path.Some of us want to spend time learning but also use the opportunity to add value to our LinkedIn profile. For this, look no further than MOOCs from the best American universities; Harvard Extension, Stanford Online, Open Yale Courses, UC Berkeley Class Central, MIT OpenCourseWare and the Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative are all great names to note.Being able to log into class in your pajamas at any time of the day or night, saving time on commutes, maintaining digital records of all learning material and being able to use video, a highly engaging format, to process information, are all excellent advantages of online courses. But lack of peer-to-peer collaboration and real interaction, being unable to raise your hand and ask questions and not getting an immersive classroom experience are all valid drawbacks. Nepal is still a place where a college degree and “real institute” are considered legitimate and valid, whereas online courses aren’t trusted enough, making it questionable on the resume.

Saniaa Shah

The internet : A land of free learning

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

If you were raised in Nepal, you must have picked up its unique set of vocabulary: आन्दोलन, चक्का जाम, बन्द, राँके जुलुस, आफ्नो मान्छे, हाम्रो दल, कर्फु and many more words connoting political protest.
We became familiar with the acrid smell of burning tyres, and eyes smarting from tear gas. And yet, everyone speaks of another revolution in the making. Not by desire, but by suffocation.
We heard speeches about नयाँ नेपाल, but the New Nepal never arrived. The governance system changed, but it did not reflect on people’s lives — except for those close to centres of power. The state is still unreachable and is not bothered about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/matter-of-life-and-debt">victims of loan sharks</a>, cooperative scams and other injustices.
Politicians continue to speak in sound bites, but fail to deliver. They have mastered the game of pointing fingers towards an external enemy and convincing people that they are never at fault. The political narrative is so disconnected from the actual analysis of the problem that suffocation doesn’t go away after every revolution.
No genuine effort has been made to deliver at all, which is why there is a palpable sense of disillusionment in the air forcing us to seek another revolution, even if Nepal may not be able to afford it.
How has the current system successfully held power, even if the public is deeply frustrated? How is it that for three decades we continue to be led by the same faces, who have time and again, proved to us that they may be great politicians but not national leaders?
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/improving-internet-governance-in-nepal">My experience at the epicentre of politics</a> has led me to identify three cultures that have enabled political parties to keep a tight hold on power: acceptance, silence and dependency.
We accept things the way they are. We use fatalistic phrases like “नेपालमा यस्तै हो” or “नेपालको कानुन दैब जानुन”. While this resilience enables us to rise back up from devastating calamities, it is also a reason for our compliance with the status quo.
Despite so many ‘revolutions’ that have led to significant reforms, these phrases keep getting reinforced, to the point that the upcoming generations have made it their lingo.&nbsp;
This acceptance is not a symbol of law-abiding citizens, but citizens living in fear of those in power, unable to ask the whys and why-nots.
Innovation suffocates in this culture of acceptance of the status quo. This is manifested in remarks like “but we don’t have any laws for this,” or “we don’t have the capacity to implement this”. An innovator or entrepreneur therefore has to spend that energy to become a political lobbyist, often educating and convincing the bureaucracy.&nbsp;
Remember when locally assembled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/designed-and-made-in-nepal">Yatri motorbikes</a>, despite having willing customers, had to suffer to secure license numbers because of a lack of regulations? Instead of creating new laws, the government kept chanting the “We will promote Nepal-made goods” mantra, leaving entrepreneurs in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. The weight of acceptance of the law lies heavily on innovators. Fatalism is a tactic used by those in power to generate mass fear in society.
When we accept, we become silent. This is a pervasive phenomenon. We are trained to keep quiet, lest we ruffle feathers, burn bridges, or not get the help we need in future. We know, yet we don’t speak.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">Bureaucratic hurdles in researching Nepal's bureaucracy</a>, Daniel W Edwards
Here is one example: the 2021 census shows that the number of baby boys born for every 100 baby girls is 112. This is a clear indication of female foeticide because of boy preference in society.
Despite such horrifying realities, there is finger-pointing within the government between the Ministry of Health and Population with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the citizen level, we know those who are involved in killing girls. Yet, we don’t speak up. The Nepal Medical Council reports state that despite this gender imbalance at birth, there is no indication of any action.
But why would anyone speak against one's own fraternity, no matter how vile the act is?
When we accept and keep quiet, we become dependent on those who yield power. From getting our government procedure completed on time to getting transfers, to accessing any of our legally protected rights as well, we are forced to depend on our networks of चिनेको मान्छे people we know by blood, village, relations, political affiliation.
The culture of dependency has been the established way in Nepal. If you drive a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, and you get into a small accident, you will be asked to sort it yourself, dialing up the most powerful person you know. It becomes a competition of who knows who.
Recently I was told that there were calls from the Ministry of Health and Population and another from the Prime Minister's Office for just one medical position in a private hospital. Each was pushing its own candidate. Guess which candidate got the position.&nbsp;
The dependency of people is not on the laws or the state, it is with people in power, a reliance on the network of somebody who knows somebody, including those not officially in power.
These cultures are deeply ingrained in our heads, and in society. Collectively they form a vicious circle that helps those in power to retain power. This is not the society we want to live in.
Then, what do we do as a collective to break away from this? How do we break away from the cultures of acceptance and silence that have created this dependency? What can we do to ensure that our children do not have to learn the jargon of आन्दोलन before they learn about the state?
These are the cultures political parties need to shed rather than use them to perpetuate their power. This is what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/an-alternative-to-alternative-politics-in-nepal">alternative politics</a> needs to be about.
Sumana Shrestha is a member of Parliament’s Education, Health and Information Technology parliamentary committee and represents the Rastriya Swatantara Party.

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