https://youtu.be/OqgYSpyn4OEA Tara Air DHC-6 aircraft with 22 people on board is missing while on an early Sunday morning flight between Pokhara and Jomsom in poor weather.The Twin Otter aircraft lost contact with Jomsom air traffic control at 4:21 UTC after reporting Ghorepani. Rescue helicopters from the Nepali Army and Fish Tail Air have turned back because of bad visibility in the mountains where the plane last made contact along the rugged Kali Gandaki Valley between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri massifs. <figure><img width="1938" height="1510" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/6372194b9c7e80680e0baa8fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A Flightradar24.com replay of the flight path of the Tara Twin Otter after departure from Pokhara for Jomsom. the aircraft lost contact with Jomsom ATC at 0421 UTC.</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="3000" height="1694" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/6372194f9c7e80680e0baa90jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Weather over Central Nepal was particularly bad on Sunday morning with pre-monsoon storms building up over the mountains. </figcaption></figure>Among the passengers were 13 Nepalis, including the crew, 4 Indian nationals and two Germans, according to the carrier which is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines. Nepal has been hit by pre-monsoon rains and the en route weather on Sunday morning was said to be particularly bad.The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2014/02/17/twin-otters-in-the-nepal-sky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canadian-short takeoff and landing aircraft</a> with call sign 9N-AET was built 43 years old and had been in service with Tara Air since 1998. The plane has a seating capacity of 20 and was fully-loaded.Even by Nepal’s standards of air safety, the Pokhara-Jomsom route is regarded as being one of the most accident-prone even in good weather. The route takes planes from Pokhara, past Ghorepani Pass after which pilots have to make a sharp turn north into the Kali Gandaki Valley. <figure><img width="1210" height="686" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/637219529c7e80680e0baa91jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The Tara Air Twin Otter with call sign 9N-AET was 43 years old, seen here taking off from Jomsom a few years ago. Photo: TwinOtterWorld.com</figcaption></figure>Jomsom lies on the arid north side of the Himalaya, and has operations only in the mornings because of high winds and cloud build up during the course of the day. And Jomsom airport is the gateway for tourists visiting Nepal's Mustang District, and also for Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims going to the sacred shrine at Muktinath.The route has seen many fatal accidents in recent decades, most of them involving Twin Otters, and nearly all due to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11168#.YpMuAxRBxpR" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)</a> during bad weather. In fact 90% of accidents in Nepal since 1960 have been due to disoriented pilots hitting mountains hidden by clouds.The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/02/24/twin-otter-crash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previous almost identical accident</a> on this route, also Tara Air, was of a brand new Viking Twin Otter near Dana in 2016 in which 23 people were killed. In 2012 an <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2012/05/14/another-air-crash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Agni Air Dornier 228 crashed</a> while landing at Jomsom, killing 15 of the 22 on board.In 1997 a Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Twin Otter chartered by Lumbini Air crashed on a flight from Jomsom to Pokhara in, killing all 19 on board. In 2002 a Shangrila Air Twin Otter from Jomsom crashed just south of Pokhara killing 17 passengers and crew. In 2013 a Nepal Airlines Twin Otter had a runway excursion while landing in Jomsom, but there were no fatalities. <figure><img width="2358" height="1546" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/637219549c7e80680e0baa92jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>A photo taken in clear weather in 2014 of a Twin Otter overflying Ghorepani Pass and into the Kali Gandaki Valley. Dhaulagiri in the background. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT.</figcaption></figure>Tara Air serves Nepal’s remote airports, and has had a disproportionate share of crashes because of the difficult terrain it operates in. A Yeti Airlines (now Tara Air) Twin Otter slammed into a cliff below Lukla in 2008 while attempting to land in bad weather, only 1 of the 19 people on board survived. Another Tara Air Twin Otter hit a mountain in 2010 in Ramechhap, killing all 22 passengers and crew.Nepal’s air safety record has been improving in recent years, but the crash on Sunday will once more highlight the dangers of domestic aviation in Nepal. CAAN has been lobbying to have Nepal lifted from the European Union (EU) safety list that bans Nepali carriers.

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Pokhara-Jomsom flight with 22 missing

<img width="2000" height="1017" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121148/6368f0929c7e80680e0359dfjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><a href="http://www.taraair.com/">Tara Air</a> has announced the addition of a new Viking DHC6-400 Twin Otter aircraft to its fleet which arrived on the morning of 20th July at Kathmandu after its ferry flight from Seychelles via Maldives and India. Tara Air took delivery of the aircraft with MSN 846 from Air Seychelles. The crew members on board were Captain Prabhakar Ghimire, Captain Pawan Singh Nagarkoti and Jagat Lama for technical assistance. The Viking 400s are the latest series of Twin Otters that can operate out of the most challenging airports in the world such as Lukla, Dolpo or Rara. This latest addition to Tara Air’s fleet of STOL aircraft will enable Tara Air to service remote airports in the mountainous regions of Nepal where road travel is either very arduous or impossible. <figure><img width="2000" height="1387" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121148/6368f0959c7e80680e0359e0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>All photos: Yeti Airlines</figcaption></figure><img width="2000" height="1264" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121148/6368f0999c7e80680e0359e1jpeg.jpg" alt="">

Tara Air’s new Viking Twin Otter

The first ascent of Mt Everest in 1953 and the first flights into Lukla Airport a decade later opened up the trekking trail to the world’s highest mountain to the world.The hiking route from Lukla to Everest Base Camp soon became so popular that it was known as the ‘Toilet Paper Trail’. However, the route from this airport town all the way to the summit of Mt Everest today is largely litter-free thanks to a unique partnership between the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), mother’s groups in villages along the trail, and Tara Air.The first thing visitors notice once they step off the plane from Kathmandu are the spic and span stone-paved streets of Lukla. Further on, the trail has trash huts for burnable and non-burnable garbage all along the way. The collected plastic and paper is incinerated, while the bottles and cans are flown down to Kathmandu to be recycled.https://youtu.be/HkLZ9vuKr_wExpeditions to Mt Everest have to pay a deposit of $4,000 which is refunded only if the SPCC certifies that they have taken all their trash back down, there is a similar scheme for climbers on trekking peaks. Climbers say, the route up the Khumbu Icefall to the summit of Everest is cleaner than before. Half a century after Edmund Hillary bought the land from Sherpa farmers for $2,600 to build the famous airfield, Lukla became the gateway to Everest. But today the town is also the exit point for garbage to be airlifted out. “At the beginning of the trekking and mountaineering season like now, our flights to Lukla are full, but they fly back mostly empty. So we thought we would support Khumbu’s local cleanup campaign by flying the waste to Kathmandu,” explains Umesh Rai, CEO of Yeti Airlines and its subsidiary, Tara Air.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArL86CHdqyI&amp;t=172sExcept of the occasional biscuit wrapper, mobile top-up cards and yak dung, the trail is surprisingly clean. Indeed, the Everest cleanup campaign is a working template not just for other trekking routes, but for the rest of Nepal as well. Villagers in the Shey-Phoksundo National Park want to start a similar effort.The SPCC was launched in 1991 by local communities under the guidance of the Venerable Ngawang Tenzing Zangpo, abbot of Tengboche Monastery. But it faced a problem of what to do with the rubbish. A Japanese group led by Junko Tabei-the first woman to climb Mt Everest- installed modern incinerators, and a ban on bottled beer 10 years ago reduced the volume of garbage. But there were still lots of bottles and beverage cans. <figure><img width="640" height="359" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/636516019c7e80680e02c1eejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Dhan Bahadur Baniya picks up plastic wrappers during his garbage patrol. He is employed by the Phakding Mother's Group to keep the trails clean.</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="358" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/636516049c7e80680e02c1efjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“We signed a three-year contract with Tara Air to move out the garbage free of cost, and this has been a significant contribution to our clean-up,” says Maya Sherpa of SPCC.Tara Air airlifted over 4 tons of trash in 2016 and 11 tons during last year, and the airline hopes to double that in 2018. The trash is collected door-to-door by mother’s groups in villages along the trail, segregated, and the unburnable items are then carried by SPCC porters and zopkios to Lukla to wait for empty flights going back to Kathmandu.“We are committed to seeing the Everest region clean up and we will airlift all the garbage handed to us by SPCC and other groups,” says Tara manager Funuru Sherpa, pointing at the white sacks stacked at Lukla Airport. <figure><img width="640" height="358" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/636516079c7e80680e02c1f0jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="358" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/6365160a9c7e80680e02c1f1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The campaign to manage garbage has also become a source of livelihood for many families. Dhan Bahadur Baniya moved from Okhaldunga to Lukla eight years ago and is now employed by SPCC to conduct garbage patrols in villages and along the trails. Dalamhu Sherpa of the Phakding Mother’s Group says: “This clean up works because we have SPCC and Tara Air all helping. We would not have been able to do it without them.” Pasang Sherpa, owner of Sherpa Guide Lodge in Phakding says she hopes her community has set the example for others by cleaning up the trails. She says, “Garbage has always been a big problem here. Now that the cans and bottles are being flown to Kathmandu, our villages are cleaner and healthier, and this helps tourism.” <figure><img width="640" height="358" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/6365160d9c7e80680e02c1f2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="351" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/636516109c7e80680e02c1f3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Last week, eight zopkios carrying 60 kg each of used bottles and cans were being herded down the trail to Lukla. The trash caravan passed trekkers from all over the world walking in the opposite direction up the trail. The spring trekking season has started, and the lodges have been cleaned up for the 50,000 tourists expected here this year.At Lukla Airport, Funuru Sherpa gets up before dawn to prepare his staff for the Kathmandu flights. The Dorniers and Twin Otters start landing on Lukla’s short, sloping runway even before the sun comes up from behind the mountains. The planes keep the engines running while passengers get off and climb on, the luggage is unloaded and loaded, in quick ground handling that looks like a Formula 1 pit stop.The later flights are loaded with the sacks of trash. One morning last week, Tara carried one ton of trash in two flights down to Kathmandu before the clouds move up and Lukla was closed for the day. <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/636516129c7e80680e02c1f4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/636516159c7e80680e02c1f5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>At Kathmandu airport, a team from the Blue Waste To Value recycling company is on hand to collect the garbage and move it to its facility in Balkot. There, workers open the sacks containing wine and ketchup bottles, beer cans, torn tents, oxygen bottles, and even a broken cooking stove. The trash is further segregated and sold to recycling companies.Besides managing the Everest garbage, Blue Waste also handles trash for major hotels in Kathmandu like Yak &amp; Yeti and Hyatt Regency. Says Nabin Maharjan of Blue Waste: “By treating the garbage that is flown down from the Everest region we don’t just keep the trails clean, we reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills here, clean up environment, and create green jobs.” <figure><img width="640" height="580" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141136/636516189c7e80680e02c1f6jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure> https://youtu.be/PoUCnsttS64Read also:  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/too-many-mules-on-the-everest-trail/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Too many mules on the Everest trail</a>, Alton C Byers<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/more-trekkers-more-trees/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" rel="noopener noreferrer">More trekkers, more trees</a>, Adam Stern

Sonia Awale

Everest Garbage CARAVAN

Nepal has shut down dozens of social media platforms in a move that is widely seen as an effort to tax the revenue they generate in the country, and to control content critical of government. The sites were blocked as of midnight on Thursday, 4 September and affects all Meta products including WhatsApp and Messenger, Threads, and others. Although YouTube, Google and X are also on the government’s list, they were still working as of Friday midday.&nbsp; The government says it took the action after repeated warnings to the platforms to open offices in Nepal, a Cabinet decision last month setting a deadline, as well as a 17 August Supreme Court ruling also requiring them to register and pay requisite taxes. However, the Bill cited in the ban, ‘The Operation, Use, and Regulation of Social Media in Nepal’ has not yet been passed by Parliament. Some social media platforms which were already paying taxes in Nepal even though they are not officially registered, have also been blocked. The move is the latest in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/big-beautiful-bills" target="_blank">a slew of draft legislations</a> designed to undermine Nepal’s open society. A Bill amending the Print and Publications Act would allow district bureaucrats to shut down media. Another draft Bill would allow political appointees to head a new Media Council with the power to revoke the licenses of journalists.&nbsp; A counter-intelligence Bill would let just about anyone in government to arbitrarily tap phones, read emails and trail citizens. On Wednesday the government announced new immigration requirements that would allow it to track the movement of all foreigners in the country. Yet another draft Bill has been set to Parliament to dissolve the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10675" target="_blank">Social Welfare Council (SWC)</a> and move registration and monitoring of non-governmental organisations, nonprofits and charities to the Ministry of Social Welfare. Seen in this light, the blockage of social media platforms this week is seen as the latest government attempt to constrict freedom of press. Nepal is one of the few remaining open societies in Asia, and now appears to be drifting towards authoritarianism. The government’s sudden shutdown of social media has been greeted with howls of protest on platforms that still remain open, like Viber and TikTok, as well as in Nepal’s mainstream press. Even senior members of the ruling UML-NC coalition have sharply criticised the move, asking if the government is trying to “turn Nepal into North Korea”.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656" data-rendition-name="original" width="4280" height="5187" loading="lazy" alt="social media ban in Nepal"> </figure>  The Regional Director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Beh Lih Yi said in a statement: ‘Nepal’s sweeping ban on social media sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Blocking online news platforms vital to journalists will undermine reporting and the public’s right to information. The government must immediately rescind this order and restore access to social media platforms, which are essential tools for exercising press freedom.’ Besides undermining press freedom, blocking social media platforms will also hurt commerce and the economy since so many small and medium business trade through Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. Nepal’s vibrant social media has also been a boost or citizens to assert identity, build solidarity against injustice and play an adversarial role when the mainstream media does not do it. Social media platforms have also become the tenuous link for Nepali families scattered across the world to keep in touch with each other — its importance growing with the increasing size of the diaspora. The government wants social media platforms to register, pay taxes and remove posts on their sites that ‘undermine the national interest and Nepal’s territorial integrity, disturb social and religious harmony’.&nbsp; In response, rights activists have said while there is need for the government to regulate extreme content and hate speech, officials appear to be more intent on clamping down on free speech and trying to force platforms to share the revenue. On Friday, the government had allowed WhatsApp back online, but there were reports that it had instructed the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) to instruct mobile and internet service providers to block by Friday night all platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads, Snapchat, Pinterest, Signal, Clubhouse, Rumble.&nbsp; Platforms that have registered and are allowed include TikTok, Viber, Nimbuzz, Popo Live, WeTalk, Global Diary and the Nepali portal Hamro Patro. TikTok was banned last year for ‘disturbing social harmony’ and it was lifted after the platform registered its office in Nepal. But even while it was banned, many users simply switched to VPN. Telegram was also banned for ‘financial crimes’ and it has since also been allowed back. NTA officials confirmed that some Asia-Pacific regional offices of platforms, including Meta had been in touch overnight inquiring about the registration process.&nbsp; Nepal is not alone in regulating social media. China bans most Western platforms, Russia and Turkey regulate their and require platforms to locate their data servers in the country. Gulf countries allow social media but keep a tight control on dissent.&nbsp; Experts have said even the government will not dare close down YouTube since so many Nepali individuals and companies make money with posts on that platform, and closing it would also impact on Google and Gmail. Facebook had also just launched a monetisation scheme for videos and reels, and Nepalis uploading content would lose revenue.&nbsp; Blocking the platforms has already hit content creators, influencers and cut small businesses from reaching customers. A survey of social media use in Nepal by Sharecast Initiative showed that 94% of those with smart phones used YouTube, followed by Facebook (92%) while TikTok was in the 50-60% range. X and Instagram were in the single digits. A YouTube ban will also hurt the mainstream media since up to 20% of the revenue of Nepal’s main tv channels came through YouTube. Some 11.1 million Nepalis watch YouTube content every day, the survey showed. ‘For global giants like Meta or Google, Nepal is a small market, and they may not even flinch — but for millions of Nepalis, these platforms are central to daily life, livelihoods, and connections across the world,’ wrote AI consultant Naresh Newar in a LinkedIn post. Some experts said the government’s sweeping ban on social media networks was untenable and the government would be forced to rollback sooner or later. Said editor Shiva Gaunle: “The platforms had given citizens a voice and broken the monopoly of the government, legislators, the courts and journalists over public opinion. This is an effort to reassert that monopoly, but Nepal can never be turned into a North Korea.”

Protest grows against Nepal’s social media ban

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2fZXyjsE28" target="_blank">Yog Narendra Malla</a> became king at age 18, and ruled Patan from 1684-1705 — his reign marked by a cultural and architectural renaissance of the city state. He put up a statue of himself in the palace square with a little bronze bird sitting on the guardian serpent above his head. It is said he told his subjects that he would look after their welfare till the day the bird flew off. During<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu"> the 2015 earthquake</a>, the pedestal collapsed and the statue was damaged. The bird was lost, only to be located in a pile of debris and reinstated when the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/piece-by-piece-patan-darbar-square-reconstruction,3782" target="_blank">statue was consecrated</a> two years later. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x2fZXyjsE28?si=jYfIb4p6zCLXYQ1T" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> History remembers Yog Narendra Malla as a wise king, but like most<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home"> royalty of the day</a>, he had a weakness for women. He is supposed to have consorted with 30 queens and numerous concubines. At least 33 of them self-immolated themselves on the king's funeral pyre when he died, adhering to the prevailing <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/Jhola,947">practice of sati</a>. When Yog Narendra Malla’s favourite queen found out that he was carrying on with yet another woman, she got the local community of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood to stage a shadow sex play to quite literally expose his unfaithfulness. Actors enacted the explicit exploits of the king and his mistress, a bright butter lamp projecting the moving shadows of their lovemaking on a thin white drape to entertain those gathered in the square below. The queen made sure that the show was designed to face the home of the king’s paramour to shame them both. She also paid for a group to chant a bhajan with lyrics that ridiculed the king’s extramarital affair. The Jhyalcha Guthi community trust that the queen set up three-and-half century ago is still active to this day, and performs the annual shadow play in the same building in Kwelachhi the day before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-legend-behind-the-myth-of-indra-jatra">Indra Jatra </a>every year. This year’s show is on Friday evening, 5 September. The opening lines of the chants that accompany the play are the same words approved by the queen all those years ago: “Raja Yog Narendra ya aparadh…” (King Yog Narendra’s crime…) The community leader of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood, 62-year-old Baburaja Awale, explains the importance of the event: “This Jhyalcha is our<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/saving-the-intangible,3303"> intangible heritage</a> and oral history. We do not have a written format, it has been passed down from generation to generation. Every word of the bhajan is the story of King Yog Narendra Malla.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1167" loading="lazy" alt="Sex and the city of Patan"> <figcaption>The statue of Yog Narendra Malla being reinstated after it toppled in the 2015 earthquake. Photo: GOPEN RAI/ NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Jhyalcha Pyankha, as the ceremony is called, starts with a puja for the Bhimsen — the god of wealth and prosperity, a popular <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-homecoming-of-nepal-s-gods">deity in Patan</a> who has a temple dedicated just to him in the palace square. This is immediately followed by a bhajan of Bhairab performed with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-house,670">traditional Newa musical instruments</a>. Community members serve snacks consisting of samay baji beaten rice, water buffalo chunks, soybean, green veggies, lentils, ginger, garlic and aila liquor. “In the first act of the shadow play, the man initiates the lovemaking, and in the third it is the woman,” says Laxmi Lal Awale, also a member of the trust that organises the show. The shadow action is all uncensored, but interspersed with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">scenes of everyday life</a>: the woman is spinning a thread, the king is going about his royal chores, and the two sit down to share sanacha fermented pickle that is popular this time of year. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ3twuG1wNQ?si=yRfkoC3A-X9cIl8r" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> “Back then, there was no tv, films or YouTube, and yet we managed to stage the shadow play using our own resourcefulness,” says Baburaja Awale. “It is important to continue the tradition.” The challenge now is to ensure that the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain"> younger generation takes over</a>, learning the lyrics of the ancient bhajan. The dafa khala group that performs all over Patan during festivals and religious events is now training teenagers to play the musical instruments and act in the shadow play. The Jhyalcha was staged even after the 2015 earthquake when the falcha where the bhajan is performed collapsed and they made-do in a tin shed. The structure was later rebuilt with a grant from the group, Photo Circle. Lalitpur Metropolitan City sets aside a budget of Rs50,000 to organise the Jhyalcha Pyankha every year, but this is not enough and is supplemented by individual donations. The performers including musicians and actors are all volunteers, and take part in it because it is their community duty. The erotic shadow play was way ahead of its time, not just in its graphic content but the use of contemporary local technology as well as improvisation and pure imagination. Says Laxmi Lal: “Whatever its origin in the legend of King Yog Narendra Malla and his queen, Jhyalcha also served as a medium of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lets-talk-about-it">sex education</a>. In the past, women were discouraged from watching the shadow play, but today everyone is welcome, we all watch it together.” Jhyalcha Pyankha Kwelachhi, Chyasal, Patan 7PM onwards Friday, 5 September

Sex and the city of Patan

Unlike many countries, there is not much incentive in Nepal for the private sector to fund charities and non-profits. Donations and grants are not tax-deductible.
Yet there are corporate entities that have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in their portfolio of activities through foundations that they have set up. Some do it loudly to gain public relations mileage, while others are quiet about their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/norway-supports-himalayan-climate-research?mdrv=www.nepalitimes.com&amp;=1">generous support</a>.
The CSR outlay of factories and manufacturing companies is regulated by Industrial Enterprise Act (IEA), while the Nepal Rastra Bank oversees grants banks and financial institutions contribute and requires them to set aside 1% of their net profit for CSR activities.
The guideline requires banks and financial institutions to donate to activities covering education, health, environment and financial literacy, among others. Recently, the Supreme Court directed the government to formulate a Bill in the parliament to standardise and regulate the private sector’s CSR activities.
“We receive guidelines from Nepal Rastra Bank and follow them,” says Pranisha Shrestha who heads the CSR Department at NMB Bank. “We have got a notice about updates on those guidelines, and we will adapt accordingly.”
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/greening-nepal-s-tourism">Environmental sustainability </a>is one of the important components of CSR for Nepali companies, and there have been many initiatives aimed at urban renewal. One of the most visible is of the telecommunication company Ncell, which is among Nepal’s largest taxpayers.
Five years ago, Ncell adopted a 6km stretch of the Ring Road from Ekantakuna to Koteswor-Kalanki, planting 12,000 saplings. They have now grown into<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/seeing-the-forest-and-trees-in-nepal"> a thick forest</a> along the embankment of the road.
Not only is the lush greenery in an overbuilt part of Lalitpur soothing to the eye, it also helps in reducing temperature within <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-5xcycyot">the urban heat bubble</a>, and also contributes to reducing air pollution and traffic noise.
“We started a pilot project along 600m of the Ekantakuna section of the Ring Road during the pandemic,” recalls Bishakha Lakshmi Khadka, Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Ncell. “It went really well, and after that we extended the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-cities-with-trees"> tree planting</a> and upkeep to Kalanki.”
Sustainability also means making younger Nepalis aware of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">the value of nature </a>and environmental sustainability, which is why Ncell has also undertaken a Green School initiative in and around Kathmandu Valley. Besides its One-Tree-One-Youth and 1 Million Trees campaigns, the initiative also aims at behavior change about littering with its waste hackathon in schools.
“The young students can be catalysts with a multiplier effect beyond their schools to society at large, and it has inter-generational impact into the future,” explains Khadka.
Indeed, while <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">Nepal has doubled its forest cover </a>in the past 30 years to 46% of the country’s area, urban centres like Kathmandu do not have much open spaces and greenery left. And that is where companies like Ncell, Jawalakhel Group of Industries, and others have focused on CSRs.
NMB Bank also runs financial literacy programs for youth where they can learn more about social media safeguards, digital payment systems, with a focus on safety and security. Such training not only helps build skills for the future but also protects young Nepalis from online crime.
“<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/protecting-children-from-anti-social-media">Threats to young minds through social media</a> use are growing as platforms feed algorithm-driven content,” says Shrestha. “We felt media and digital literacy are important in all seven provinces not just to protect young people, but also give them the confidence to use digital financial systems.”
The bank has a special focus on women in leadership programs, and provides scholarships provided in schools across Nepal on environment and sustainability in higher education. Health is another sector where private companies have worked with donating medical equipment, sponsoring health camps and conducting blood donation drives.
CSR or PR?
Other companies heavily involved in CSR include NIMB Bank which contributes to heritage conservation and education, Buddha Air helps farmers in Morang to increase productivity, VOITH with its motto ‘Little things We Do’ provides scholarships to students and has gifted &nbsp;vehicles to hospitals and nature conservation groups, Dwarika’s Hotel promotes organic farming and zero waste initiatives, heritage conservation and helps revive traditional handicrafts.
Although some CSR activities have been criticised for masquerading as PR and for greenwashing, many Nepali companies are actually contributing to improve the situation for individuals in need and underserved communities.
It also brings a sense of accountability to the corporate sector so they look beyond shareholder profit with greater involvement in the public good. In Nepal, where government delivery mechanisms are not up to speed in the social sector and environmental sustainability, CSR is a vehicle for public-private partnerships.
Collaboration with the government is an important aspect of these initiatives since that allows localised campaigns to be scaled up by showing what is possible. For example, the three Metropolitan Cities of the Valley and other private companies are trying to emulate what Ncell has achieved on the Ring Road.
“The Ring Road plantation project has been massively successful,” says Khadka “We were recognised by the Lalitpur Metropolitan City and the Forestry Department for adding greenery to what would have been just an asphalt strip.”

Corporates responsible to society

This is the 72nd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. My father ran a store and that is where I spent all my time till Grade 6. Doing my homework. Serving customers. I then moved to my maternal grandparents’ house because I used to get along with my cousin who was a year older than me. We did everything together, and were best friends. We took turns studying: I was a night owl, and he was an early riser. Before I went to bed after studying all night, I woke him up. My mother was 44 when I was born, the same year my eldest brother got married. My sister-in-law becoming a part of our family was how my mother referenced my age. I liked making money, and was always a hustler. In Grade 7, I learnt to handle a tractor and helped my brother-in-law to plough, earning Rs10 a day. As I got better, he paid me more. By Grade 9, I was already making Rs500 per day, but had to slow down to prepare for my exams. From an early age I knew I did not want a 9-5 job. There just wasn’t enough money in it. I wanted to get into business, and compared my brother who worked in the post office and what businessmen made. It did not help that my brother was honest, and never took bribes. A friend and I made money selling cheap Chinese phones at a premium to our friends. We blasted music on the phones and pretended that we were giving them a discount. After SLC, I started teaching math and other subjects. I was soon a shareholder in the same school and in the evening I was involved in our family’s floriculture business, growing amaranth and marigold for garlands.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020844_1b54b999d67122a50c4c7e6204cc737bcc99bf2a68db6499a4566a7f61a880b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250831020844_1b54b999d67122a50c4c7e6204cc737bcc99bf2a68db6499a4566a7f61a880b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="955" height="1314" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  It was then that a friend suggested we learn the Korean language. We could be earning significantly higher in Korea for similar efforts. I had no plans to go abroad but he convinced me. I did not know anything about Korea, and was scolded at the language institute when I asked someone to point Korea on the map.&nbsp; It was only there that I learnt you had to pass an exam for the Korean Employment Permit System (EPS), and pay for language classes. After a week, I decided it was not for me and dropped out. But my friend convinced me to give it one more try. I did not prepare much for the exam, and it was no surprise that I failed. But it was just by one mark, and people would pity me for failing “just by one mark”. It was a brand of failure. It hurt my ego. I had to turn things around by taking the exams seriously, and locked myself up to study hard.&nbsp; Even when we had visitors, my wife told them I was not home. If I was not in my room learning Korean, I would be with a group of ten of us test-takers comparing notes and practicing late into the night. The exam was difficult, but this time I passed, the only one in my group who did.&nbsp; As someone who never liked the idea of doing a job, I still had my doubts about going to Korea. It did not help that one of my acquaintances had returned a month after he had left, and he discouraged me from migrating given that I was already making good money in Nepal.&nbsp; But my wife suggested that I give it a shot since I had worked so hard for it. And if it really turned out not to be my cup of tea, I could always return. What did I have to lose, I thought, at least I would get to visit Korea. My job there was in an electrical company that made circuit boards. I worked all day, earned good money. In the evenings, I kept myself busy with my real estate business back in Nepal. I had learnt the tricks of the trade from fellow real estate agents back home, but at the time did not have the capital to invest.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020848_941e961e2045058f255ad89884b51faa7d2365c68236e5cbe573d63d769ac6c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250831020848_941e961e2045058f255ad89884b51faa7d2365c68236e5cbe573d63d769ac6c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  In Korea, it helped that I had salary records that allowed me to get loans from financial institutions both in Korea and in Nepal. Ultimately, I started earning more from my real estate deals in Nepal than from my job in Korea. This was all thanks to my ability to take loans because of the EPS scheme. My wife has been managing the flower business while I was away. My finances grew stronger over the eight years I was in Korea. I paid off the loans that I had borrowed to buy land. But real estate did not satisfy me entirely. I wondered: what is my brand? What will I be known for? What is my contribution to society? Real estate is for wealth, but that is about it. I needed to sell one piece of land and use the revenue to start a venture. I took classes in business, and returned to Nepal six months ago and got back to my family’s ancestral roots in floriculture. In Nepal too, I am continuing the entrepreneurship training I had started in Korea with the Bridge International. Such exposure helps us reflect on our business such as our branding, vision, and proactive aspects like the importance of strong recordkeeping.&nbsp; I am now working to upgrade and expand my floriculture business. With a friend who is still in Korea I am building a cooling room to increase the shelf-life of flowers and other produce and set up a market in my village where others can sell their produce. Floriculture is our primary business, but it is seasonal and earns good money only during festivals like Tihar.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020848_a008ffeba13896e6918f68ff6e687c8fe11140d86a96f1ec11690547f2bcd415.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250831020848_a008ffeba13896e6918f68ff6e687c8fe11140d86a96f1ec11690547f2bcd415" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  So, I grow tomatoes to ensure year-round earnings. I also am engaged in other businesses like real estate and online shopping. I work round the clock in Nepal — a strong work ethic is something I picked up in Korea.&nbsp; My Korean bosses would work alongside us, that motivated us. I work just as hard in Nepal as I did in Korea. People here often ask me why I am pushing myself so hard. But making garlands comes easy to me, it is work my forebears were involved in. My childhood memories are about plucking flowers with my sister. I have a comparative advantage in this work. It comes naturally to me, it is easy and I enjoy it. And sometimes, if there are too many garlands to make, I can multitask while holding meetings. My fingers just fly. I am good at this job, but my wife is even better and faster.&nbsp; When there is too much load, we can also outsource the work. To be known as the flower guy would be great personal branding. The मखमली guy. Or the सयपत्री guy. I decided to come home for just this with a one-way ticket. “अब पासा: जाँदैन ल्हासा!” &nbsp;