<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/6372230a9c7e80680e0c032ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>A house that toppled over in the aftermath of the disaster in Melamchi.</figcaption></figure>The flood in Sindhupalchok a year ago on 15 June swept away Asha Gurung’s dreams. The mother of three was swift enough to save her children but lost her house, cattle, eatery and all other valuables to the disaster.At Ambathang, nine people including Asha’s family were stranded after the debris flow receded. Helicopters started hovering over them early the next morning, but were unable to find a spot to land and could not airlift them.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/6372230d9c7e80680e0c032fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption>Ratopul bridge in Helambu's Chanauta Bazar was swept away by last year's melamchi flood. All photos: SONAM LAMA</figcaption></figure>The family was trapped with no chance for rescue. So they made a desperate walk to the village of Timbu because the alternative was to die of starvation. “We had many sleepless nights, we walked for hours knowing that there was no escape since the road were entirely blocked,” recalls Gurung.Gopal Tamang also lost his home and elder brother Purna Tamang, 38, in the flood. Purna was swept away by the Melamchi River from a trout farm near his home in Halde. Despite many days of search, his family could not retrieve the body, compelling them to perform the death rituals in its absence.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223109c7e80680e0c0330jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption>Gopal Tamang helping out locals of Halde with relief materials. He lost his older brother to the flood.</figcaption></figure>The disasters in Helambu and Melamchi and their scale were unprecedented, residents had never before seen the river rage like swallowing settlements, farms and infrastructure. Although the region is prone to flooding and landslides, the fact that the monsoon started comparatively earlier in 2021 caught many by surprise."The Melamchi River swallowed my brother and left an irreplaceable void in the family,” says Gopal. “We neither received any early warning nor had any idea how to respond to the disaster and seek safety."The floods destroyed a total of 259 enterprises, including Nepal's biggest water supply project and several trout farms. The municipality alone lost nearly 180 hectares of farmland which served as a lifeline for the region's subsistence farmers.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223149c7e80680e0c0331jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="648">At least 25 people were killed in the Melamchi-Helambu disaster but the toll would have been much higher if the local government had not issued early warning about floods.“Even then such measures are insufficient for disaster-prone areas like Sindhupalchok,” says environmentalist Rabin Raj Niraula who studied the landslide in the Bremathang area which had eventually led to the catastrophic debris flow on the Melamchi river, adding that new technology can be used for more accurate predictions of impending cloudbursts, floods and landlsides.Disasters are multilayered and precipitation patterns have changed due to the climate crisis. This means responses should be even more prompt, accurate and tech smart.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223179c7e80680e0c0332jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3507" height="2480"><figcaption>An OpenStreetMap highlights a community's disaster risk areas.</figcaption></figure>“Tools like OpenStreetMap could provide crucial topographical details, identify disaster-prone areas and inform us on the status of roads on whether they have been washed out after a flood,” explains Niraula. “All of these are live-saving information for community people, for them to be prepared for untoward situations.”OpenStreetMap (OSM) is an important tool to enhance community engagement, it is free and an open web map that anyone can edit as required. Its significance was first realised during the 2015 earthquake response where more than 7,500 contributors worldwide supported logistics of the Nepal Government and non-government organisations involved in the relief.Many OSM-related data mapping and validation projects have been run in coordination with local government and non-government organisations in a few municipalities including Chautara Sangachowkgadi and Melamchi in the Sindhupalchok district.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-needs-weather-stations-in-the-himalaya/">Nepal needs weather stations in the Himalaya</a>, Rijan Bhakta KayasthaThese municipalities have developed a BIPAD portal to enhance disaster preparedness and coordination post-incident, strengthen disaster communication and emergency response. To improve the database of the municipalities, the portal has used free tools, open street maps and stored geo-data of schools, hospitals, banks and other infrastructures located within the municipality.“The development of the portal was crucial and timely. We have free information sources at our fingertips if only we are aware and are trained to use them,” says Sujan Dulal, disaster focal person of Melamchi Municipality.The portal has geospatial data that has helped enhance understanding of navigating locations and infrastructure located within Melamchi. This means it can identify open spaces, emergency shelters to be used post-disaster, areas that can serve for relief distribution and also mark vulnerable structures.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/6372231a9c7e80680e0c0333jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption>Post flood glimpses of buildings destroyed in the Melamchi flood.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/6372231e9c7e80680e0c0334jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>For Asha Gurung and Gopal Tamang, openstreetmap could have helped them in timely rescue, identifying helicopter landing spots and tracking emergency shelters post floods.Moreover, monthly reports could be prepared using ward-specific data collected on Loss and Damage through the portal which can then evaluate the nature of a disaster to develop local plans, policies and strategies and mitigate risks or speed up preparedness.But while the municipality portal has an abundance of information, the system for data entry at the local level needs to be improved. Two wildfire incidents that occurred recently in the area could not be updated in the lack of access to the system.During the time of a disaster, there is often too much information and data coming in from varied sources. In such cases, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee (NDRRMA) BIPAD portal refers to the local police to reduce duplicity and maintain authenticity.The portal in itself is an effective tool to disseminate information to the public but the gaps in data sustain due to lack of coordination. “We are now forming a data management team that could collect and analyse data acquired from all different sources and cross verify to meet accuracy,” says Dijan Bhattarai, Under Secretary at NDRRMA.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223219c7e80680e0c0335jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Locals in Melamchi building a gabion fence to stop the velocity of water.</figcaption></figure>To accelerate disaster preparedness, NDRRMA and the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) recently introduced impact-based forecasting in a few municipalities across the country.The existing flood forecasting system is capable of only predicting floods in possible areas. But the impact-based forecasting conducts impact assessment and warns of associated risks if a flood hits a particular area, helping to mitigate disaster risks way before it occurs.The impact-based forecasting examines ‘potentially exposed area’ and ‘potentially impacted area’. The data for the exposed area of any municipality is taken from open street maps.“We are trying to engage local governments in disaster vulnerable districts with the usage of tech-friendly data platforms,” says Reena Bajracharya, Program Manager at Youth Innovation Lab.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637223249c7e80680e0c0336jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600"><figcaption>A school demolished by the Melamchi flood of 2021.</figcaption></figure>As for Sindhupalchok, one of the most disaster-prone districts of Nepal, particularly following the 2015 earthquake, a data platform called 'visualising risk' has been initiated at four local levels.Using this platform, viewers can identify buildings, bridges and areas vulnerable to floods and landslides. This is particularly important because many residential homes in Ambathang and Dhending in Helambu are at the highest risk this monsoon.It is crucial to understand hazards and their risk to better mitigate and manage them, especially for a country like Nepal with its topographical challenges. And because disasters hit local communities the hardest, mitigation should also start locally. And the most cost-effective way to do that is to put the locally available data to its best use.Says environmentalist Rabin Raj Niraula: “There has been several studies about last year’s flood and yet there is a dearth of information among the locals because they were not disseminated. The onus lies on local governments to break down the data into information and encourage communities to participate in disaster preparedness and save lives.”Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/a-disaster-resilient-nepal-is-possible/">A disaster resilient Nepal is possible</a>, Anil Pokhrel

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On high monsoon alert in Nepal

Even in normal years Nepal has one of the highest fatality rates in the world from landslides and flashfloods. But even by that grim standard, 2020 has been particularly bad.[caption id="attachment_55055" align="alignleft" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-55055" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4a29c7e80680e07bbb3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="281"/> The latest landslide in Nepal’s Sindhupalchok district on 13 September took the total in the district in the past two months to 105, and the nationwide death toll this monsoon to 334 this monsoon. Photo: Bajir Singh BhandariDisaster management experts were just totaling the number of fatalities <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-deadliest-monsoon-in-recent-times/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-deadliest-monsoon-in-recent-times/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF7-yj-fOh1i7o9M3C57jZxEdbG4g">in this deadly season</a>, when news came on 13 September of yet another massive landslide in Sindhupalchok district 60km northeast of Kathmandu that may have cost 31 more lives.This followed huge slips on 8 July and 14 August that had killed a total of 58 people in the same general area of Sindhupalchok near the Chinese border. The total 334 deaths from landslides in Nepal this year surpassed the total of 247 in 2014, of which <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2014/08/02/a-flood-of-floods/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2014/08/02/a-flood-of-floods/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEYDEXASLIJYv-ks5IFMsndwguMUg">145 were killed in just one massive slide in Jure</a> of the same district.[caption id="attachment_55054" align="alignnone" width="800"]<img class="wp-image-55054" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4a49c7e80680e07bbb4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="578"> The Lidi landslide in Sindhupalchok on 13 August shows how road building on fragile slopes already made unstable by the 2015 earthquakes compounded the disaster. Photo: RSSThe disasters this year has been compounded by the Covid-19 crisis, which had killed 360 people as of Tuesday. A <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/heavy-monsoon-rains-forecast-for-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/heavy-monsoon-rains-forecast-for-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGwUc01omOxbfVw0zQdWZPABo4OxQ">heavier-than-usual pre-monsoon</a> had already saturated the soil in the mountains of Nepal when the main rains arrived in July.But what makes Sindhupalchok so prone to landslides and flash floods? Disaster management experts point to the after-effects of the two major 2015 earthquakes which killed 8,890 -- 40% of them in Sindhupalchok. They also blame the region’s fragile geology, as well as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/dont-just-blame-god-for-floods-and-landslides/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/dont-just-blame-god-for-floods-and-landslides/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHx0G6y2fRo9smVf_mOr7H_eNGzNQ">haphazard digging of poorly-engineered rural roads</a> that destabilise the slopes even further.Five years later Sindhupalchok was still being rocked in Wednesday morning by 6M aftershock.[caption id="attachment_55050" align="alignright" width="400"]<img class="wp-image-55050" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4a79c7e80680e07bbb5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="225"> The flashflood on a river in Dhorpatan on the night of 2 September, swept away 38 people, only 14 bodies were recovered.To be sure, other districts have also been badly hit this year. A flashflood in Dhorpatan municipality of Baglung district killed 14 people on 4 September, and there has been much loss of life in Myagdi, Tanahu, and Jajarkot after cloudbursts.In a paper, geologist Basanta Raj Adhikari at the Institute of Engineering says that between 1972-2016 a total of 5,190 people lost their lives in 3,419 recorded landslide events – 490 of them in the past three years alone.Relative to its population, Nepal has the highest fatality rate from landslides in the world. The country is one of the most-densely populated mountain regions in the world, and being the youngest mountain range, the Himalaya are inherently unstable as well as being battered by heavy monsoon rains from June to September.“There is a lack of prioritisation and willingness to see the depth of this problem,” says Adhikari. “We found that rainfall-triggered landslides are more than twice as likely to occur within 100m of a road, than landslides generated by earthquakes.”Nepal has built nearly 60,000km of rural roads in the past three decades, and the alignments of most of them are determined by local politicians, and not designed by engineers. They are also poorly maintained, and do not have proper drainage.‘In tectonically active mountains such as the Himalayas, natural landslides play a fundamental role in the evolution of the landscape. But there is a clear anthropogenic influence in the occurrence of landslides in Nepal,’ writes <a href="https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF-m6VvYGI3fMkhr2DCyIDbTUpabg">David Petley</a>, a professor at the University of Sheffield in the UK, and a global expert on landslides.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-55044" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4a99c7e80680e07bbb6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="622" height="415"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-55045" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4ac9c7e80680e07bbb7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="622" height="415">VISIBLE FROM SPACE: The Bhote Kosi landslide in an image taken in 13 September 2013 shows smaller precursor landslips, and one taken on 18 September 2014 shows the size of the slide and the impounded lake on the Bhote Kosi. Photos: NASAIn 2017, Nepal imported 12,712 excavators, bulldozers and cranes, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/dozers-and-nepals-development/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/dozers-and-nepals-development/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHM3-0ucCAvMvnE87HaeG4vGWBEwA">a 30% increase</a> from the previous year. One of the importers, MAW Earthmovers, sold the most JCB equipment in South Asia in Nepal, and the second-highest amount globally.Anil Pokhrel, who heads the recently established <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NDRRMA/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/NDRRMA/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEBOGo5oX1e2jFDdxKOaGdaXkWhEQ">National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority (NDRRMA)</a> under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has been flying around the country with top politicians handing out relief packages to landslide victims. He says: “Everywhere we visited, local leaders blamed haphazard road construction for endangering their lives, but there is pressure from the communities themselves for road access.”There is also evidence that many local leaders are themselves contractors and own heavy earth-moving equipment which they are keen to rent out to themselves. These poorly built roads are often triggers for landslides.Watershed expert Madhukar Upadhya says: “It is not local individuals putting pressure to build roads, it is mostly a nexus between local leaders and contractors.”Geologists say that many villages in Nepal’s mountains are located along the path of old landslides, but people tend to forget quickly and start to grow crops on the debris field and soon new settlements rise on high-risk slopes.Recent landslides also show that many villagers get a false sense of security from the belief that planting trees above the village will protect them from landslides. While community forests have benefits, they are not a panacea.[caption id="attachment_55051" align="alignright" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-55051" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4ae9c7e80680e07bbb8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="207"> Forest cover does not necessarily prevent landslides as this photograph of Durlung of Parbat district in June shows. Nine people were killed in the disaster.“Heavy monsoon downpours cause mass failure of inherently unstable slopes on a large scale and at depths far below the root zone of trees,” says Upadhyay. “Forest cover, while desirable, plays little or no role in stopping such mass wasting. We covered slopes with forests but forgot about soil management, leading to more destructive landslides.”Indeed, photographs of many of the landslides this year show deep scars that start in forested slopes tumbling down to settlements below. In Durlung village of Parbat district, it was a densely forested slope that failed in June and swept away a settlement killing nine people. Forests also did not protect Jajarkot villages from monsoon cloudbursts.“Nobody would imagine that such a heavily-forested slope could have failed, we should remove this deeply-rooted belief and put other appropriate measures to control landslides,” said Pokhrel, who visited the area after the event.Landslide early warning systems (LEWS) do exist, and have saved lives in pilot projects in Nepal before. The solar-powered equipment can measure land deformation, soil moisture content on slopes and trigger a siren after it crosses a threshold.“This is not rocket science,” says Adhikari. “It can be installed easily, and it will not cost more than a minister’s chopper visit after each of these landslides.”[caption id="attachment_55053" align="alignnone" width="800"]<img class="wp-image-55053" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4b09c7e80680e07bbb9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600"> Landslides scar a slope in Jajarkot after a cloudburst in July. Twelve people were killed.More than 90% of landslides in Nepal occur during the monsoon between June and September, peaking in July and August. Several <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167498711400036X" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167498711400036X&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGLROni0PbrAIGDnL8j6kIykvhlXQ">studies</a> suggest the climate change is causing freak storms and more frequent cloudbursts in the Himalaya, increasing the vulnerability of people who live in the mountains.A version of this report appeared in <a href="https://www.thethirdpole.net/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thethirdpole.net/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600256399940000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHPHxfBDRpmSHSz5_oDfnrNjB0JlQ">thethirdpole.net. </a>

Deadly monsoon in Nepal turns deadlier

Nepalis worship the sun, and mark its seasonal passage with festivals. Adding to that spiritual reverence now is the economic relevance of solar power. Fast-flowing Himalayan rivers give Nepal a total feasible hydropower generation capacity of 48,000MW, of which only 3,600 has so far been harnessed. Yet, Nepal’s total solar power potential has been calculated to be nearly 10 times higher at 432,000MW. &nbsp; With over 300 days of sunshine a year, the country could produce 3.6 to 6.2 units of electricity per square meter based on its solar radiation levels.&nbsp; This potential, combined with decreasing installation costs of Chinese-manufactured photovoltaic cells and other means, is a viable and affordable alternative to Nepal’s over-reliance on hydropower which faces concerns about the destruction of riverine ecosystems, as well as risk from glacial lake floods caused by climate breakdown. However, restrictive domestic energy policies and geopolitical sensitivities mean Nepal is failing to diversify fast enough to tap this tremendous solar energy potential. Nepal’s hydropower generation is almost entirely from run-of-river projects that do not have large reservoirs. Many such projects in Nepal and across the Himalaya have been swept away by glacial lake outburst floods in recent years.&nbsp; Such risks and limitations to hydropower should have prompted the Nepal government to jump-start investment into solar farms, but the main reason is that the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) caps solar power at just 10% of total capacity. There is no official explanation, but it is likely due to the outdated perception that solar technology cannot supply a consistent energy stream at evening and morning peak loads.&nbsp; But today, there are plenty of ways around it, including pump storage schemes that use daytime solar power to pump water from a river to a reservoir and drain it to generate electricity at night. Battery technology is now more advanced, and affordable enough to make grid-scale batteries feasible.&nbsp; But then there is an issue of tariffs, which are much lower for solar at Rs5 per energy unit, and competitive bidding forces companies to lower it even further. But there is no bidding process for hydropower and licenses are given out on a first-come, first-served basis with a fixed rate of Rs6.5 per unit regardless of location.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025112303118_c3280cddae6f3305d07319011dd9c187005822a9b905bb849c36b95e3ad0d516.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025112303118_c3280cddae6f3305d07319011dd9c187005822a9b905bb849c36b95e3ad0d516" data-rendition-name="original" width="1109" height="887" loading="lazy" alt="Here comes the sun"> </figure>  SUPPLY VS DEMAND Hydropower is supply-driven, while solar responds to demand, so under such a discouraging scenario, solar power accounts for only 5% of Nepal’s total energy mix. “Given the environmental risks to hydropower, investors are now demanding tariffs on hydropower to be increased. So the question to the government is, are you paying more money for hydropower or willing to buy more of the cheaper solar power,” said energy entrepreneur Kushal Gurung. Solar investors are lobbying the government to raise the cap on solar power to 30% and expand zoning policies so that solar plants can be built in areas with high potential, such as Dolpo and Mustang in the trans-Himalaya. These regions are sparsely populated, arid, have a cold climate and high solar radiation levels — ideal conditions for photovoltaics. Solar power’s biggest advantage is its cost-effectiveness compared to hydropower, with the operating cost of a hydropower plant up to four times higher than of a solar plant of the same generation capacity. Investors are no longer assured of a return on investment on hydropower due to climate risk which have increased insurance premiums. “Last year, when the government opened a bidding for 800MW of solar power, the private sector was ready to invest 3,000MW. Both banks and investors were convinced about the potential for solar energy, but the government and especially the bureaucracy, was not on the same wavelength,” added Gurung.&nbsp; Interim Energy Minister Kulman Ghising is said to be interested in increasing the cap on solar energy, but there is a question whether he will remain in office since he has launched his only Ujyalo Nepal party to contest elections in March. GEOGRAPHY AND GEOPOLITICS In 2018, Nepal’s only foreign private equity form Dolma Himalayan Climate Fund (DHCF) pitched a proposal to generate 150MW from a solar farm and store 20MW of it in battery systems in Mustang to meet seasonal and daily peaks. It got approval from Investment Board Nepal (IBN) and had already poured millions into the project when the Department of Mines instructed all developers in Mustang to halt their projects, citing the discovery of uranium ore. But insiders say the real reason was due to pressure from the Chinese government’s security concerns about a Western investor being involved so close to the border with Tibet.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025112303118_5946a5f1ba63f34c88f900c6d12b37d0101effb76e8a7a5397cd6451c16cd5b2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025112303118_5946a5f1ba63f34c88f900c6d12b37d0101effb76e8a7a5397cd6451c16cd5b2" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="450" loading="lazy" alt="Here comes the sun NT"> <figcaption>Photo: GHAM POWER</figcaption> </figure>  The same thing happened, but in reverse, when the Chinese company Risen Energy was interested in investing $190 million on a grid-connected 125MW photovoltaic generation system in Banke and Kapilvastu districts near the Indian border. Risen’s subsidiary, Risen Energy Singapore JV, was negotiating with IBN to commit $190 million in the project which would also store 20MW of daytime generation for morning and evening peak demand. But the agreement was not signed because the Indian authorities were concerned about Chinese involvement so close to their border. India has also refused to buy electricity from any hydropower plant in Nepal that has Chinese or other foreign investment or contractors. Indian state-owned companies are currently building or planning hydropower plants in Nepal to generate nearly 3,000MW, mostly for export.&nbsp; But not every Chinese-backed project has been blocked. In 2024, China handed over two solar-powered livelihood projects to a local community in Lalitpur — a community solar bathhouse and a rooftop photovoltaic power system. Funded by the Yunnan People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the projects aim to improve living conditions. The initiative forms part of the Chinese Embassy’s ‘Happy Community’ program (幸福社区, Xìngfú Shèqū) under the China–South Asia Poverty Reduction and Development Cooperation Center.&nbsp; Says Gurung: “Hydropower is a geopolitical mess, but it has well and truly started in solar power too. It now all comes down to how we handle it, and we need deft diplomacy to make sure our projects are not indefinitely delayed as has happened in the past.”&nbsp; LOW-HANGING FRUIT Despite domestic restrictions and geopolitics, there are still small-scale opportunities for solar energy entrepreneurs to cash in, such as net metering. Most industries in Nepal have enough rooftop space to generate 500KW to 1MW of solar energy. Combined, they would generate a substantial amount of energy to feed into the grid. Factories, supermarkets and chain stores are often bankable and trusted by financial institutions from which they could easily get credit.&nbsp; China could also take advantage of Nepal’s high solar power potential. Given that the United States has only imposed a 10% tariff on Nepal, China could set up PV manufacturing plants in Nepal.&nbsp; However, this requires government-to-government which could run into trouble, again because of geopolitics. The same applies for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism which is a carbon tariff on carbon intensive products, such as steel, cement and some electricity, imported to the European Union.&nbsp; Chinese products have suffered under this mechanism but Chinese products made in Nepal can be competitive in the European market given lower carbon tax for Nepal. Clean energy has long been an area where Nepal hopes to attract Chinese investment — not only in hydropower, but also in solar and wind energy.&nbsp; With contributions from Qian Sun, Global Voices.&nbsp;

Nepal, here comes the sun

Youth protestors who sustained injuries at the hands of state security forces during the September protest staged a sit-in at Maitighar Mandala on Friday, protesting what they have called the interim government’s inadequate efforts to address the demands of the GenZ movements. The demonstrators also sought to bar the UML from gathering at Maitighar, where party chair K P Oli was expected to announce its Youth Volunteer Force on Friday. The organisers consequently relocated the event. Friday’s demonstration at Maitighar comes as UML and GenZ representatives agreed to sit down for talks in Simara, where a curfew was imposed this week after youth protestors and party cadres clashed near the airport as demonstrators sought to stop UML leaders from flying in for a political event to Simara from Kathmandu.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251121131148_c0b3bfb861f73bee456efbd12f523af55ce3c258742c39e1dea7dbf768774ea5.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251121131148_c0b3bfb861f73bee456efbd12f523af55ce3c258742c39e1dea7dbf768774ea5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2160" height="1440" loading="lazy" alt="GenZ Maitighar"> <figcaption>Youth protestors who sustained injuries at the hands of state security forces during the September protest staged a sit-in at Maitighar Mandala on Friday. Photos: SUBASH SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251121131152_85f3606728d137b334d782ac1b5d1ed6383544493f96ebcc0398fcd9f0c5add7.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251121131152_85f3606728d137b334d782ac1b5d1ed6383544493f96ebcc0398fcd9f0c5add7" data-rendition-name="original" width="2160" height="1439" loading="lazy" alt="GenZ Maitighar"> </figure>  &nbsp;Nepal’s interim government is increasingly cautious about the nation’s sensitive security situation in the lead-up to the 5 March election, as evidenced by pro-monarchy businessman Durga Prasai’s midnight arrest earlier this week over his inflammatory remarks as he called for protests this month. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the government to present Prasai before the court within 24 hours.&nbsp; As it stands, the UML’s inauguration of a youth collective amidst its disregard for the demands of Nepalis for party reforms and a change in leadership highlights party chair and former PM K P Oli’s continued lack of remorse for the excesses of 8 September.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251121131144_aaa296e2e812ef5f6473064bc4b679bf605e14e06ac0ec9be1d6d047b56f96f9.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251121131144_aaa296e2e812ef5f6473064bc4b679bf605e14e06ac0ec9be1d6d047b56f96f9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2560" height="1707" loading="lazy" alt="UML Youth Volunteer Force NT"> <figcaption>The UML launched its Youth Volunteer Force on Friday. Photos: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251121131148_bfa8df3fc382195b4cdb9c4804cd67e169d2d9c0b8d218e61bbef0c4c9dbdaad.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251121131148_bfa8df3fc382195b4cdb9c4804cd67e169d2d9c0b8d218e61bbef0c4c9dbdaad" data-rendition-name="original" width="2560" height="1706" loading="lazy" alt="UML Youth Volunteer Force"> </figure>  Families of those killed and injured on 8 September have demanded that the ousted PM and home minister be held accountable for state brutality.&nbsp; This week, Human Rights Watch published a <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/11/19/nepal-unlawful-use-of-force-during-gen-z-protest" target="_blank">comprehensive report</a> concluding that security forces fired indiscriminately on youth-led protestors on 8 September.&nbsp; The human rights watchdog urged the Sushila Karki-led interim government to investigate the excessive use of force as well as arson, vandalism and mob attacks on individuals on 9 September. The government has created a judicial commission to inquire into the deaths of 76 people over two days of protests.&nbsp; “The recent violence in Nepal included serious human rights violations, and those responsible should be held accountable, whether they are security forces or political actors,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.&nbsp; She added: “The government should ensure that the investigations are independent, time-bound, and transparent, and that no one found responsible for breaking the law is unfairly protected from proper prosecution.” HRW’s investigation was based on testimony from 52 witnesses, victims, journalists, healthcare workers, politicians, and sources close to security forces. Researchers also verified photos and video footage shared on social media and with researchers; and visited the scenes of protests, properties subjected to arson and vandalism, and hospitals.&nbsp; A police officer said that officers opened fire with lethal force five minutes after the District Administration Office declared an emergency curfew around Parliament. Witness accounts and analysed footage did not show grave and imminent danger to life that would justify the intentional use of lethal force, stated the human rights watchdog in the report.&nbsp; The protestors and witnesses identified security forces who fired live ammunition at the protestors by their uniforms as members of the Armed Police Force (APF) and Nepal Police’s Special Task Force (STF). &nbsp; “They literally aimed at us and started shooting,” said one witness who sheltered behind a barricade as police continued shooting.&nbsp; A retired senior police official said police had failed to follow procedures for dispersing protests and using lethal force.&nbsp; Pathologists at a Kathmandu morgue told HRW that they determined 35 cases of death caused by “high velocity gunshot wounds” to the head, neck, chest, or abdomen.&nbsp; The witness recounted being taken into custody along with 33 other protestors by STF officers in riot gear, and said that police police personnel beat him with batons. Detainees were threatened and their IDs destroyed. Several witnesses said that the mob attacks on businesses, politicians, media companies, and educational institutions were very targeted, noting the absence of security personnel on 9 September as arson and violence raged across the capital.&nbsp; Some suggested that the violence may have been instigated by infiltrators associated with various political movements.&nbsp; On Discord, the platform where a significant number of demonstrators organised, participants noted that while there were calls for peaceful movement in the days leading up to the protest, some on the platform advocated for violence.&nbsp; Human Rights Watch has said that any credible allegations of criminal acts contributing to the violence must be investigated.&nbsp; Said Ganguly: “The authorities should recognise that widespread impunity for human rights violations in the past helped enable the violence that occurred this time in Nepal. It is crucial to reverse the decades-long tendency by successive governments in Nepal to bury investigations and stall prosecutions, and to bring about accountability and security sector reform.”

Security forces targeted protestors disproportionately: HRW

&nbsp;Nepal has finally become famous the world over for something else besides Mt Everest — the GenZ Movement. The 8 September protests in Kathmandu may have been triggered by what happened in Jakarta a week previously, but it inspired street uprisings all over the world. This week, Mexico’s GenZ are clashing with riot police. Last month, the president of Madagascar fled to Dubai. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-genzs-inspired-filipinos" target="_blank">Philippines</a>, Morocco, Peru, Timor Leste all have seen similar anti-government protests against corruption, nepotism and poor governance. A Himalayan republic, a Latin American federation, a Southeast Asian archipelago, or a North African kingdom may have little in common, their histories, religions, languages, and political systems are worlds apart. But <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/world/gen-z-revolutions-protests-louvre-heist-gaza.html" target="_blank">the common thread</a> running through these demonstrations were the simulacra and symbols spread on social media platforms.&nbsp; The young crowds marching through the streets of these countries were holding up the same icons. They painted the same images on cardboard, waved the same flags, stitched the same badges on their backpacks. They chanted &nbsp;the same references from the same corners of the internet.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_2ff7cf4ce7a9590359ed18753f4977648a6db83e95dd62d602a3f81e9eec42c4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251122031128_2ff7cf4ce7a9590359ed18753f4977648a6db83e95dd62d602a3f81e9eec42c4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1250" height="1047" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> <figcaption> One Piece reference meme on Instagram, 115K likes(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  To anyone who did not grow up online, this looks random. To anyone who did, it feels like the most obvious thing in the world. A new kind of global identity has formed — one that cuts across nationalities and cultures. In Nepal older relatives mock the ‘जेन्जी’. My neighbour asked me if ‘GenZ’ was a new political party.&nbsp; Around the world, when youth-led protests appear, reporters and politicians ask the same question: ‘Who is the leader?’ The answer is the same: there is no leader.&nbsp; Some names come up more prominently, as people did during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-historic-youth-dissensus?fbclid=IwY2xjawNPQnZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHk5Nazeqz3K9aNddXa-dQfCbwtId0nLclQwHzIYhTfg8tzGWXZMBJ5pjm5Qx_aem_a5JoyT1FRqzCVtnnPM7zUw" target="_blank">the Nepali protests</a>: Sudan Gurung. Miraj Dhungana, Rakshya Bam and other organisers who appeared in livestreams and interviews. But look closely and the leader is hiding in plain sight. The leader is not a person. The leader is the internet meme.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_b2319eb8d7abec7ed5e12baf1a53e0a27cfd7a49ee15c058c47cdf2603a7fa8a.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251122031128_b2319eb8d7abec7ed5e12baf1a53e0a27cfd7a49ee15c058c47cdf2603a7fa8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="662" height="1038" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> <figcaption>Aurafarming, 233K likes(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-meme-revolution" target="_blank">Memes today</a> are doing the quiet organising work that pamphlets and party cells once did. They offer identity, coordinate action, level power differences, and they do it without any central command. This is not because memes cause revolts. It is because memes are the connective tissue of a generation that grew up on the same visual language, the same jokes, the same references, and the same sense of shared digital childhood. Older generations did not share cultural symbols in the same way. Whether they read a certain comic book or watched the same cartoon depended on class, religion, caste, the country, or neighbourhood they grew up in. These divisions created stratified cultural memories.&nbsp; Today, an entire global cohort has been raised on the same visual media. The same YouTube creators. The same TikTok jokes. The same anime storylines. It is truly what McLuhan predicted the Global Village would be.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_136d009a48d8f8daee82ada1b220e0b0c8ec482b52dcd44e0942e2185a70421b.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251122031128_136d009a48d8f8daee82ada1b220e0b0c8ec482b52dcd44e0942e2185a70421b" data-rendition-name="original" width="738" height="1012" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> <figcaption>Masked K P Oli, 63K likes(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  This has also created the perfect environment for <a href="https://observer.co.uk/news/international/article/revolution-20-frances-political-future-could-be-won-or-lost-by-bots-and-memes" target="_blank">memes to become political tools</a>. They are instantly recognisable, emotionally charged, and open for remixing. They allow young people to signal their values without stating them. They compress identity, anger, humour, and belonging into something that the rest of the world dismisses as unserious. The perfect example of a GenZ meme is the famous skull and crossbones in protest flags from Kathmandu to Manila to Mexico City. The Strawhat Pirates from the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20251006-one-piece-manga-revolt-morocco-indonesia-nepal-madagascar" target="_blank">anime One Piece</a>, is a show with over 1,000 episodes and a global fanbase that spans continents. One Piece follows Luffy, a justice driven pirate who travels across a world ruled by corrupt older elites who hoard power and suppress dissent.&nbsp; It is not hard to see why that story resonates with young people who feel locked out of political systems built by generations before them. I even printed stacks of my own flyer that explained memetic warfare using Minecraft visuals and handed them out in the crowd. Each one linked to a Telegram group with the Strawhat Pirates logo called MemePack HQ.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031144_1b12e920be6e312e1dc8768d318c1d1332e32694293b48984089867e7e525a27.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20251122031144_1b12e920be6e312e1dc8768d318c1d1332e32694293b48984089867e7e525a27" data-rendition-name="original" width="1100" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Meme Movements"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_08b720667a9ff36537e58992c8a8030b090900847de5eecd479bbb3fc727349d.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20251122031128_08b720667a9ff36537e58992c8a8030b090900847de5eecd479bbb3fc727349d" data-rendition-name="original" width="696" height="1004" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> <figcaption>Indonesia-Nepal comparison, 17.7K likes(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  CULTURE EXPOSURE The Strawhat logo is not the only symbol making people protest. That would be like saying video games cause real world violence. Instead, the logo works like a modern version of mythology. It packs meaning for those who understand it. It represents loyalty, rebellion, chosen family, and resistance against unfair structures. It works as a rallying flag because it is already a shared story. And unlike older myths, it is accessible regardless of religion, caste, language, or national identity. Across Nepal, the Strawhat symbol has shown up on posters, badges, and protest outfits. But it is only one piece of a larger ecosystem of youth symbols. From Nepali meme pages remixing political speeches into ironic audios, to posts that place politicians into familiar pop culture formats, to clips that exaggerate the absurdity of daily life under slow moving governance, these are not just jokes. These are narrative units. Each post is a tiny story with its own punchline and its own political edge. Each TikTok video or meme functions like a religious shlok, a short piece of narrative that carries layers of meaning depending on who consumes it. Someone who has spent years studying a religion, in this case, inside GenZ online culture will recognise the symbols instantly. Someone outside this world will only see noise. This creates a literacy divide that is not about formal education but cultural exposure.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_2d09f075663678fe92d4e4dcc631ee6ad1aa8a99996f4c4a3649e4bf4d85132f.png" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20251122031128_2d09f075663678fe92d4e4dcc631ee6ad1aa8a99996f4c4a3649e4bf4d85132f" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="1208" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_d591c4dc857864cc833ffc6baece3f4c2798bbaf70b557f965463fc8f802900e.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20251122031128_d591c4dc857864cc833ffc6baece3f4c2798bbaf70b557f965463fc8f802900e" data-rendition-name="original" width="568" height="1124" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> </figure>  Protesting youth spent countless hours scrolling, interpreting, remixing, and responding to content. They built a shared symbolic universe across borders without planning to. This is why their political movements feel leaderless. They are not following individuals. They are following stories that define what justice looks like. Stories that define who the villain is. Stories that define how to respond when power is abused. In Nepal, memes about broken roads, delayed passports, political inheritance networks, and bureaucratic absurdity circulated for months before they became slogans or chants. By the time people took to the streets, the narrative groundwork had already been completed by thousands of posts liked and shared in private. The protests did not emerge from nowhere. They emerge from years of digital storytelling. Which is why the government’s ban on 26 digital platforms on 5 September became such a rallying force. The platforms that distribute these memes are not neutral, they are actually designed to maximise engagement because engagement translates to ad revenue. Right now, there is an engineer in Silicon Valley getting paid an enormous salary to find the perfect colour shade for a singular pixel on your screen so that you linger for fractions of a second longer.&nbsp; Algorithms reward content that trigger emotion. Sometimes the emotion is delight. Sometimes it is envy. Often it is anger. When rage becomes a business model, movements built inside these systems can feel powerful but unstable. The platforms democratise attention but centralise emotion. They allow anyone to broadcast, yet they shape the emotional tone of what becomes viral.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_f22baab05910305ea435045824b25b796d5630715e2e17c3f3c0991e8371843c.png" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20251122031128_f22baab05910305ea435045824b25b796d5630715e2e17c3f3c0991e8371843c" data-rendition-name="original" width="974" height="1156" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> </figure>  GenZ sits inside this tension. Empowered by the ability to speak without gatekeepers. Trapped inside systems that monetise their attention and amplify their frustration. This is why these leaderless online movements feel both organic and volatile. The algorithm filters which stories rise and which fade. It becomes an unintentional political actor. Not elected. Not accountable. Yet influencing millions. When the state is no longer the primary distributor of information, and when the algorithm becomes the new filter of reality, the public is left with a new responsibility. We have to learn to read memes the way past generations learned to read pamphlets or manifestos. A 15 second video can carry more political weight than a two hour speech. A symbol on cardboard might represent a decade of digital storytelling. Older generations often dismiss these images as childish. They are actually literacy markers of a new political class, one that does not wait for leaders. A political class fluent in remixing power, raised on global stories that feel more honest than the institutions they inherited. The youth did not create these platforms. They inherited them. But through memes they found a new language, one that lets them organise without permission. One that lets them build solidarity without needing meetings or manifestos. One that allows them to resist systems that feel too old to reform. It is time to take that seriously. Nobel Rimal is a researcher of digital culture and political communication who studied and participated in the meme driven mobilisations during the Nepal protests&nbsp;

Meme movements

Double-taxation, profit repatriation and capital gains tax have always been a headache for foreign investors in dealing with rent-seeking that Nepal is infamous for.
When Dolma Impact Fund, the only international venture capital company in the country, applied last year for exemption from capital gains tax citing Nepal’s Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius, bureaucrats at the Finance Ministry gave it the runaround.&nbsp;
But the interim government’s Finance Minister Rameshore Khanal, himself a respected former bureaucrat, is someone who knows that international treaties take precedence over national law.&nbsp;
On 30 October he gave Dolma a strategic capital gains tax break, convinced that Nepal needed to restore investor confidence especially after videos of the arson, vandalism and looting of the Hilton and Hyatt hotels and businesses on 9 September went all over the world.&nbsp;
Dolma’s stakeholders include other investment funds in the UK, US, Japan, Netherlands, Finland, Austria, Sweden as well as the World Bank. Nepal needs investment for future large infrastructure projects, and to tap those funds it has to &nbsp;streamline its bureaucracy, increase transparency and adhere to international obligations.
The argument is that making it easier for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a much more efficient way to spur the economy and create jobs than the government raising revenue mainly through taxation, since the chances of that money being leaked through corruption or wastage in Nepal is high.&nbsp;
After news of Finance Minister Khanal’s decision on 3 October exploded in the media, Prime Minister Sushila Karki inquired about it. Chief Secretary of the GoN Eaknarayan Aryal clarified that the decision was not in the minutes of the Cabinet.
TAXING TWICE
Critics like economist Pushkar Bajracharya argue that it is important for Nepal to have a consistent taxation policy for FDI, and apply it uniformly so it does not deter investors. The Dolma decision could encourage other offshore investors to demand similar treatment, hurting Nepal’s tax base.
“Besides, the evidence just isn’t strong that tax cuts lead to higher investment, or more jobs,” Bajracharya adds.
Nepal has double-taxation avoidance treaties with 11 countries, and there are reports of moves to end the DTAA with Mauritius signed in 1999. But just like with the Ncell’s capital gains row and the controversy over the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) there has also been nationalist flag-waving in Nepal.&nbsp;
“We were raising a fund that could have brought $1 billion in for energy, and we had to stop it due to the reputational damage to Nepal by not upholding an international treaty,” Tim Gocher, CEO of Dolma, told Nepali Times on the phone from London.
Dolma claims that Nepal’s DTAA with Mauritius means profit arising from sale of shares should be taxed only in the resident state and not in Nepal, and also cited the Treaty Act 1990 which states that treaties signed by Nepal supersede domestic law in case they contradict each other.
Gocher said it makes sense for his fund to be based in Mauritius: “When you have investors from all over the world, you have to choose a domicile, and Mauritius is probably the most popular for development finance institutions due to strong governance, anti-money laundering laws and treaties with developing countries like Nepal.”&nbsp;
Nepali officials, however, see Dolma as a conduit company sourcing funds from outside Mauritius or Nepal and label it as possible ‘treaty shopping’. A similar case involving the sale of Ncell ownership went to the Supreme Court and all the way to the International Tribunal at The Hague, and both ruled against exemption to DTAA.
Officials argue that approving an exemption for Dolma would contradict that precedent. The Attorney General’s office cited Section 73 of the Income Tax Act of 2002 which states that to avoid double taxation, more than half of the company has to be owned by individuals residents of both Nepal and a foreign country.
Bureaucrats also seem to be wary about being hauled over the coals at the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) if they agree to Dolma’s demands, even though there is a legal argument that the Nepal treat act stipulates that in case of disagreement international obligations take precedence over domestic laws..&nbsp;
“It was when the new government decided to uphold the treaty that the whole hoo-hah started,” said Gocher. “It is crystal clear, and the way international treaties are dealt with all over the world.”
Chief Secretary Acharya, who is retiring next week, seems to want to avoid being haunted by any whiff of controversy before he leaves, but also faces intense lobbying by the international community for Dolma’s exemption.&nbsp;
Dolma currently invests in companies such as Chirayu National Hospital, CloudFactory Holdings Limited, Foodmandu, FuseMachines, Rhododendron Biotech, Setikhola Hydropower, and Solar Farm Nepal.&nbsp;
Dolma has asked to be exempt from being taxed twice: in Nepal, where it invests, and in Mauritius, where it is based, and points to a law that says international treaties override domestic law in the case of a contradiction. Government officials point to the Ncell precedent saying it will be illegal. But the government is not giving in, due to the Ncell precedent and to prevent others in future asking for similar exemptions.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNdMuD_4yGw&amp;t=5s" target="_blank">Watch interview</a> on Nepali Times Studio with Tim Gocher.

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Nepal, here comes the sun

Security forces targeted protestors disproportionately: HRW

Meme movements

Double trouble with taxes