<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410118/637205b09c7e80680e0b28cejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1118" height="531"/><figcaption>Kathmandu's dense settlement as seen from Halchok.</figcaption></figure>Owning a house is a mark of success in Nepal — much more so than elsewhere. And if that house is in Kathmandu Valley, then you have really made it.You might have a stable job and family, but unless you have a roof over your head that you own you are not settled by society standards. It could be a small house and the tiny plot, as long as it is yours.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15757#.YfSXGS2B2t8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Owning a house</a> is part of our everyday conversation in households. There is always someone talking about how they are building their house, how there is no water coming out of an expensive bore well, how a neighbour built a multi-story structure and blocked out all the sunlight.Homes hold a special place in our society that very few other things can match and it is reflected in our numbers too.Nepal may lag in several economic and human development indicators, but when it comes to home ownership rates, it is far ahead of the rest. Some 85% of Nepali households live in homes they own. Proportinately, more people in Nepal own the houses they live in than in the US, UK, and Germany.Most other countries with higher home ownership rates than Nepal, such as Singapore and Russia, were able to achieve it due to their strong social housing programs. The fact that so many Nepali families own their <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6200#.YfSXGS2B2t8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">own houses</a> with little governmental support is remarkable. Nepalis prize homes as their most important investment.But even with this high home ownership rate, thousands of new houses are built every year, feeding <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-vanishing-land/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the urban sprawl</a>. New apartments and housing projects come up to address demand.And yet, there are never enough houses to meet that growing demand. More and more cultivable agricultural land and green space are being turned into housing plots.Economically, it makes more sense for Nepalis to own their own house, even if it is at the very edge of the city. Unlike wealthier nations where buildings generally follow a standard national code for health and safety, most homes in Nepal function as isolated and self-sufficient units.Germany, for example, has laws that require housing units to have regular access to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/getting-our-shit-together/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">water and sewage</a>, Nepal has no such centralised directive. A house in a Berlin neighbourhood will have roughly the same level of access to water and garbage collection as the one next to it.A house in one Kathmandu neighbourhood may have a running water and sewage system, but only if the owner is able to drill for water and have a septic tank.In the US, if landlords build a house with cheap construction materials and endangers the lives of tenants, they can be taken to court and prosecuted. In Nepal tenants are completely dependent on the whims of the landlord.So, it makes sense that people would want to move into their own house where they can make their own choices rather than live under the tyranny of someone else.Even if the landlord is agreeable and the living environment acceptable, renting is not a long-term, financially sound solution. Given how the rents have soared in the cities, it makes more economic sense to build one’s own home.Houses in Nepal are not just places of shelter, but also of income. Owning a house doesn’t just save rental money it can also earn rental cash. In a country with very few mature investment opportunities, a home is a nest-egg. Many Nepali families sell off their homes in times of acute need: to send a family member abroad, pay hospital bills or marry off children.Homes become important at festival time, and Nepali culture places a lot of emphasis on communal gathering and cooking, all things that are more conducive in personally owned houses.Nepal has always had a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ground-reality-of-landlessness-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">historical home-ownership culture</a>. Until very recently, most of Nepal’s population lived in rural areas where land is plentiful and houses are built with local materials. There were few constraints on building and owning a home. Houses were within the reach of many people, creating a cultural legacy towards home ownership that has persisted.Ultimately, there is a universal and innate desire to own your own home.  In archaeological remains all over the world, we see human settlements created with a meticulous level of care.From the earliest cave paintings, humans have been decorating and creating a material environment. Building technology may have advanced, but this fundamental human desire to elevate personal space from a place of rest to one with meaning has not changed.Homes are where we spend the most time, they are where we create memories. They are an extension of ourselves. How they are built and look end up becoming a reflection of how we think, act and behave. That is why we seek to permanently own this extension.By owning our own house, we give ourselves more freedom. In the end, home is where the heart is, and who would not want to own their own heart?Avani Adhikari is a student of Economics and Urban Planning in Singapore.

Avani Adhikari

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Home is where the heart is

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14219c7e80680e0a9961jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="2000"/><figcaption>The terminal building of Pokhara’s new airport with its sweeping steel roof nears completion amidst a dramatic backdrop of the Annapurnas.</figcaption></figure><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19515#.YZ22olVByJC">Forty years after it was first proposed</a>, Pokhara’s new airport is finally nearing completion to connect the scenic tourism hub to regional capitals by July 2022.With an investment of Rs22 billion, China’s CAMC Engineering has now finished the runway, apron, taxiway and terminal work and all that remains to be done is to<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/cabinet-indecision-delays-pokhara-airport/"> slice off the top of a hill on the eastern approach</a> to the airport, which will be able to accommodate Airbus 320s and Boeing 757s.Nepal’s third international airport after Kathmandu and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-buddha-was-born-in-lumbini/">Lumbini</a>, the project was <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Pokhara-waits-for-take-off,4136">delayed</a> by decades of turf battles, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/pokhara-airport-takesoff,2965">bureaucratic hurdles, local opposition, corruption in high places,</a> and finally the pandemic last year.The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is planning a soft opening in mid-2022 for domestic flights and then allow international flights from China, India, Malaysia and the Gulf countries.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c32WjMV3InYHowever, there are now questions about current airport, with the Pokhara Airport Office, CAAN and the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation undecided about what to do with the prime real estate.The chief of Pokhara Airport, Bikram Raj Gautam, who is also coordinating the task force to prepare for the transfer of operations, says there are no firm decisions yet."We have sent appropriate suggestions to the higher authorities," he said evasively, "ultimately, we follow what they decide. It could continue to be used for other aviation-related work."Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/">Pokhara: Nepal’s new aviation gateway</a>, Kunda Dixit<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14249c7e80680e0a9962jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="475"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/cleared-to-land/">Pokhara airport</a> is the second busiest airport in the country after Kathmandu, with an average of 31 flights a day connecting Jomsom, Bhairawa, Simara, Bharatpur, Nepalganj and Kathmandu.Out of 54 airports across the country 19 are currently inoperative, and locals have turned a majority of these into grazing areas for livestock. In addition, CAAN is not up to speed on the utilities, land, and infrastructure that remain in those airfields. This raises doubts about whether it can handle the vested interests that have eyes on the present airport’s valuable real estate.“The necessary infrastructure and staff of the closed airports have all been shifted and repurposed to the nearest open airport," says CAAN’s Raj Kumar Chhetri, who adds that it is necessary to prevent encroachment and pressure from the land mafia."Such expensive property in the middle of the city cannot go to waste," he says. "If pressure on the new international airport were to drastically increase, the old airport could be brought back into service for domestic flights and sports aviation," he says.Read more:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/cleared-to-land/">Cleared to land</a> <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-will-be-a-game-changer/">"Pokhara will be a game changer"</a><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14269c7e80680e0a9963jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1688"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Unfortunately, the delay in decision-making means the airport may be subject to the same misuse seen in other government properties. Examples like the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/legal-niceities/">Baluwatar land scandal</a> in Kathmandu show that politicians and legislators often have their eyes on cashing in on national property.Pokhara’s civil society wants to keep the airport as an open space in a city that is urbanising fast and losing its greenery. Indeed, municipalities across Nepal are fond of erecting concrete monuments, build shopping centres and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-war-tourism-is-a-scam/">view towers</a>, or just haphazardly selling the land piecemeal.Chhetri says Pokhara’s current airport will not be abandoned like other closed airfields across the country."After appropriate research, the airport can be used in the public’s interest," he says. However, these matters are yet to be discussed with local representatives and Pokhara’s businesses.Pokhara’s deputy mayor Manju Devi Gurung is adamant about preventing unnecessary development at the site. She says: “It should be preserved as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/open-spaces-and-open-society/">an open space</a>. Even if it is the property of the national government, it should be used for the benefit of the locals of Pokhara."Local stakeholders agree that the airport should be converted into a green area with a public park. Infrastructure expert, Suryaraj Acharya sees this as an opportunity to enhance the beauty of the city, and says: "<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-green-city-is-a-smart-city/">Open spaces are integral for families and communities.</a> There is no need to even think about adding more concrete to the area."Translated from <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/126704">the original</a> by Aryan Sitaula.

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What to do with Pokhara’s ‘extra’ airport?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110814110/636a53459c7e80680e052341jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="836" height="1262"/><figcaption>Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/weather-warning-for-climate-meeting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC) issued its Special Report on land last week in Geneva that has an important warning for Nepal’s food security and how the country’s agriculture should adapt to the climate emergency.Nearly 80% of Nepal’s farms are rain-fed and were already vulnerable to droughts, but the climate crisis has made <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-is-the-monsoon-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">monsoons more erratic</a> with more extremes in weather. But while the climate affects crops, farming methods and cropping patterns also emit greenhouse gases, the report says.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/cash-for-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cash for climate</a>      Land and the vegetation on it absorbs carbon dioxide, but the soil and crops are also responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. This complex two-way process is the focus of the latest Special Report, which carries a stark warning that inter-linkages between climate, land degradation and food production need to be addressed together to achieve a sustainable future for land and humanity.“For Least Developed Countries like Nepal which are exposed to food insecurity and subject to desertification and land degradation, there is no sustainable future without sustainable land use,” says Manjeet Dhakal, adviser to the Least Developed Countries (LDC) support group at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.The report warns that under the current emissions trajectory that will bring the planet to 3°C of global warming by the end of the century, high to very high risks are to be expected with tropical crop yield decline and food shortages. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-climax/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Limiting warming to 1.5°C</a> can effectively limit those risks.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/living-below-nepals-melting-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Living below Nepal's melting mountains</a>, Alton C Byers<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-climate-threat-multiplier/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The climate threat multiplier</a>, Ajaya DixitThe report says it is important for land to remain productive for food security as the world’s population expands, and crops are affected by the impact of global climate change. But this also means that there are limits to how much alternative land use can help in reducing global heating through the changes in cultivation patterns and through afforestation to expand carbon sinks.The report shows how managing land resources sustainably can help address <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-damage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate change</a>, said Hans-Otto Pörtner, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II that issued the report. “Land already in use could feed the world in a changing climate and provide biomass for renewable energy, but early, far-reaching action across several areas is required also for the conservation and restoration of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/between-existence-and-extinction-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ecosystems and biodiversity</a>,” he said.But land is already under growing human pressure and climate change is adding to these pressures. At the same time, keeping global warming to well below 2ºC can be achieved only by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/decarbonise-now/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reducing greenhouse gas emissions</a> from all sectors including land and food, the IPCC Special Report said.The solution is better land management but reducing greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors is essential if global warming is to be kept to well below 2ºC, if not 1.5oC.The Special Report titled Climate Change and Land will be presented to the a conference on desertification in New Delhi in September and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Santiago in December.“Climate change has already directly affected pastoral systems in Africa, as well as food security in high-mountain regions of Asia like Nepal,” says Dhakal, “we are already seeing a vicious cycle of land degradation contributing to food insecurity.”The report says that when land is degraded, it becomes less productive, restricting what can be grown and reducing the soil’s ability to absorb carbon. This exacerbates climate change, while climate change in turn exacerbates land degradation in many different ways.“Ecosystem restoration as well as re- and afforestation can provide key avenues for land-based mitigation and adaptation if implemented sustainably,” Dhakal adds.Roughly 500 million people live in areas that experience desertification. Dry lands and areas that experience desertification are also more vulnerable to climate change and extreme events including drought, heat waves, and dust storms, with an increasing global population providing further pressure.The report sets out options to tackle land degradation, and prevent or adapt to further climate change. It also examines potential impacts from different levels of global warming.“New knowledge shows an increase in risks from dry land <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-silent-emergency-springs-going-dry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">water scarcity</a>, fire damage, permafrost degradation and food system instability, even for global warming of around 1.5°C,” said Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group I. “Very high risks related to permafrost degradation and food system instability are identified at 2°C of global warming.”Coordinated action to address <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-damage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate change</a> can simultaneously improve land, food security and nutrition, and help to end hunger.  The report highlights that climate change is affecting all four pillars of food security: availability (yield and production), access (prices and ability to obtain food), utilisation (nutrition and cooking), and stability (disruptions to availability).A large part of the problem is over-consumption, with one third of food produced is lost or wasted. Causes of food loss and waste differ substantially between developed and developing countries, as well as between regions. Reducing this loss and waste would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve food security.“Some dietary choices require more land and water, and cause more emissions of heat-trapping gases than others,” said Debra Roberts, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II. “Balanced diets featuring plant-based foods, such as coarse grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, and animal-sourced food produced sustainably in low greenhouse gas emission systems, present major opportunities for adaptation to and limiting climate change.”The report finds that there are ways to manage risks and reduce vulnerabilities in land and the food system. This can be the result of dietary changes or ensuring a variety of crops to prevent further land degradation and increase resilience to extreme or varying weather.Reducing inequalities, improving incomes, and ensuring equitable access to food so that some regions (where land cannot provide adequate food) are not disadvantaged, are other ways to adapt to the negative effects of climate change. There are also methods to manage and share risks, some of which are already available, such as early warning systems.An overall focus on sustainability coupled with early action offers the best chances to tackle climate change. This would entail low population growth and reduced inequalities, improved nutrition and lower food waste.

IPCC report and Nepal’s food security

This issue of Nepali Times focuses on growing inequality in Nepal. The income and wealth gap has been widening around the world, and Nepal is no exception.A few people on top of the wealth pyramid have a lot more than the numerous at the bottom. Governments and INGOs use the data to get aid which helps, in a strange way, to create a new category of people called the ‘Lords of Poverty’. Without too much generalisation, it is safe to say that poverty has become an industry in itself. Those who go to work every day to end <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/security-reduces-poverty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poverty</a> would be unemployed and poor if they were successful.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/mind-the-gap-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mind the Gap</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=21837&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal’s great income divide</a>, Ramesh Kumar<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/gadfly-opinion/removing-poverty-with-jobs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Removing poverty with jobs</a>, David Seddon<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-rich-mans-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It’s a rich man’s world</a>, Ramesh KumarWe need to start with a general agreement that there is, was, and will always be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nothing-to-lose-but-their-chains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inequality</a> in human society. But we can create a safety net so that no one should ever have to live below an agreed standard and quality of life. This is the role of the government.There are proven ways to do this, but in Nepal there is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/political-quagmire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lack of political will</a> to make it happen. Hence we struggle. Trickle up works better than trickle down, and concentrates wealth in the hands of fewer people. Redistribution has to be by design. Tax money spent on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/after-quantity-nepals-education-needs-quality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">education</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/poor-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">health</a>, infrastructure, information technology are all great equalisers, but not sufficient by themselves.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a26e79c7e80680e043a3fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="505" height="1024"/><figcaption>Subhas Rai</figcaption></figure>We know that in the United States and Nepal where there is poor state health care, families have been known to go bankrupt when a member contracts a serious illness. Medical expenses not just drain their savings, but some sell land or take children out of school to pay hospital bills.What can we do about poverty caused by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/go-easy-on-the-booze-this-holiday-season/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alcoholism</a>, crime, disability, accidents, fraud, drugs and other addictions and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/stigma-and-silence-mental-health-nepal,3486" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mental conditions</a>? When parents separate, terrorists attack, industrial accidents occur, people are pushed below the poverty line.Take the example of a village where everyone is equal till one family buys a tv set and puts up an antenna. The neighbours without tv are suddenly poor.The Sherpas are not rich because <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mt Everest</a> is up the trail from their village, but because the world made climbing mountains a business for the adventure minded.The people of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-karnali/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karnali</a> became poor because of the militarisation of the India-China-Nepal border after the 1962 war leading to the loss of trade and livestock movement with Tibet. The people of Kathmandu became rich because the land they owned became very expensive mainly due to failed rural development over the past five decades, and the insurgency that drove people into the valley to buy small parcels of land.The Thakalis of the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16488#.XG5kzqIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kali Gandaki</a> Valley are richer than other ethnicities in that region because they traded in salt when the British were ruling in India and had a virtual monopoly on this critical commodity. Did these create the inequality we see today in Central Nepal? It most certainly contributed.Our ancestors were rich or poor depending on how much land they owned. Today with a new idea and entrepreneurial qualities, a person can become very rich very fast. Many still do not understand the difference between property and intellectual property.The author of the Harry Potter books or the founder Facebook do not count their wealth in ropanis of land. How do we then define wealth? Few people will tell you how much money they actually have. The same people who plead poverty in front of the potential donors will prove to the US immigration officer that they can pay for a four year college degree, to obtain a visa.The world and Nepal consist of those who have a lot, those who have little, but the biggest group of people are those in debt, and have not yet paid for what they have. The US may appear rich, but it is $22 trillion in debt. Next door, more than 57% of India’s GDP is owned by 1% of its population. Does it mean anything? Building fancy modern hospitals in Kathmandu may contribute to GDP, but it is also an indicator that people are sick from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polluted air</a>, water and food poisoned with <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/pesticide-laced-vegetables-continue-to-poison,1555" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pesticides</a>.Anil Chitrakar is the President of Siddharthinc.

Anil Chitrakar

Some are more equal than others in Nepal

<h4>How to make money in an unequal world</h4>		
					<figure><img width="1400" height="1050" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d67e9c7e80680e031489jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Kunda Dixit</figcaption></figure>Only a handful of people in the world have more wealth than the rest of humanity. The number of zeroes behind their net worth is mind boggling, but what is even more difficult to understand is how some people became so rich while others have nothing.For example, every person in Kathmandu who has a few annas of land in Kathmandu is a rupee billionaire while ropanis and bighas of land in rural Nepal are not worth much. This is why many Valley residents feel they do not need to work like the rest of the world.There are others who watch television, see images of North America and Europe and feel that the moment they get to these places, they will become as wealthy as the people on screen. They also do not feel they have to work till they cross the immigration desk at Kathmandu airport.Many of us are aware of a time when we were able to buy one tola of gold when our salaries were Rs1000 a month. These days, if you make about Rs55,000 a month you can buy only one tola. If salaries were in gold, nothing would have changed. Twenty years ago, if you sold land and bought a vehicle, you now have no land and the vehicle is banned.About 25 years ago we bought a piece of land near Bhaktapur and watched its ‘value’ go up. We recently sold it and got many folds in return. With the money we made, we went to buy more land and realised we could only buy half the area we had sold.Unlike in rural Nepal where a subsistence way of life is an option, urban poverty is really bad here because only cash can get you what you need to survive – including water in a bottle. With the expansion of roads, which are regarded as the ultimate symbol of development, the traditional namlo has disappeared but are people better off and more wealthy? Mule train drivers have been replaced by truck drivers. What used to be a village where travelers spent the night are now only a few minutes or hours of drive in between and have lost their economic relevance.Food and vegetables grown for local consumption are now out of reach of locals who have no cash. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Nepal-economy-supported-by-remittance-money,2874" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Remittance</a> from overseas workers plays a crucial role in ensuring that families have cash to pay for their basic needs. In some parts of Nepal, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bringing-in-two-miilion-tourists,3551" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tourism</a> has helped add to the income stream.Wealth creation becomes complex when we want to generate power from flowing rivers because it costs a lot of money up front and revenue does not come in for nearly a decade. There are market uncertainties which means you may not get the price you seek, or regulators who will not allow the power into the market because a particular country did not make the investment.Some want to create wealth by making a<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/products-made-in-nepal,3345" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> watch using rocks from the top of Mt Everest</a> for the dial. Religion and the fear of god seem to be a good means of wealth creation in the form of fees for rituals. Cold drinks, alcohol and processed food look like easy money makers as well. Nepal has a billionaire in the Forbes list who makes ready-to-eat noodles.But most Nepalis, like billions others around the world, make a living buying low and selling high. Most get by with a salaried jagir or renting out floor space. Artists seem to do really well when it comes to value creation. They take a piece of rock or a sheet of copper and create a masterpiece that can fetch huge returns. It is however not easy to find buyers. Most wealthy countries make money by making and selling weapons, and preventing others from doing the same. They need wars to stay rich.Some people in Nepal and the world are rich because they take resources such as trees, land, water, oil, minerals and people as a ‘free good’ and then monetise them. If you think wealth creation is complicated, wait till we discuss wealth distribution in the next installment.Anil Chitrakar is President of Siddharthinc

A wealth of meaning

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

Turkish Basketball

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

The Everest Industry

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

Everest summiteers find new life in the US

Chinese EV company Dongfeng Nammi has exported 12,000 units of the JF-S3 to over 40 countries, doing especially well in Norway, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. It is also setting up production facilities in South America and Southeast Asia.&nbsp;

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