tourism division office rupandehi

butwal - hill park

• [email protected]

Lumbini Province Government Ministry of Forest, Environment, Tourism and Water Supply Tourism Development Council  Butwal Nepal

Area: 22 288 sq. km.

And Counting

Capital - Deukhuri, Dang

Rendered her for put improved concerns his.

Official Language Nepali

Rendered her for put improved concerns his

Largest City Butwal

Lumbini province.

Lumbini, Nepal, is the revered birthplace of Lord Buddha, celebrated for its tranquil surroundings and picturesque beauty, symbolizing peace.

Lumbini Province, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas in Western Nepal, is a land rich in history, culture, and natural beauty. Named after Lumbini, the revered birthplace of Lord Buddha, it is celebrated for its tranquil surroundings and picturesque landscapes, symbolizing peace. This region captivates visitors with its serene ambiance and profound spiritual significance, offering a glimpse into the ancient roots of Buddhism and the beauty of the Nepalese countryside.

Lumbini Province in Nepal, named after Buddha’s birthplace, is rich in diverse cultures. Dominated by Buddhism and Hinduism, it also showcases indigenous traditions like animism, offering unique experiences such as monastery life, festive celebrations, traditional arts, culinary delights, and vibrant music and dance performances, all wrapped in warm hospitality. The province’s culture evolves while preserving its traditional heritage, providing a fascinating exploration of cultural diversity.

Culture And Tradition:

Lumbini Province in Nepal, named after Buddha’s birthplace, offers diverse cultures, blending Buddhism, Hinduism, and indigenous traditions warmly.

Visit Lumbini

Lumbini: Birthplace of Buddha offers a rich cultural blend of Buddhism, Hinduism, and indigenous traditions, vibrant festivals, unique experiences, and warm hospitality in Nepal’s diverse province.

Popular Destination

A sought-after location renowned for its attractions, activities, and cultural significance, drawing visitors from around the globe.

• Discover Destination
•   Back
• Spiritual Experiences
• Nature And Wildlife
• Local Food And Cuisine Experiences
• Trekking And Hiking Experiences
• Shopping And Entertainment Experiences
• Local Culture And Arts Experiences
• Events And Festivals Experiences
• Wildlife Sanctuaries
• The Birth Place of Gautam Buddha Lumbini
• Spiritual Destinations
• Mountains and Mid-Hills
• Rural Villages
• Eco-Tourism Destinations

Rani Mahal Palpa

Dalla Homestay Bardiya, Madhuban Municipality 01

Sisne Himal, Rukum

Bageshwori Temple

Sworgadwari Temple, Pyuthan

Thakur Baba Mandir, Bardiya

Butwal City

One of the most beautiful city in lumbini province.

Nepalgunj Nepalgunj is a city located in the Banke District of Nepal. It is situated in the southwestern part of…

Butwal, Rupandehi

Butwal, Rupandehi Butwal is a bustling city located in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. It lies in the western region…

Bhairahawa City

Bhairahawa City Bhairahawa, also known as Siddharthanagar, is a bustling city located in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. Situated in…

Tulsipur Dang

Tulsipur, Dang Tulsipur is a vibrant municipality located in the Dang district of Nepal. Situated in the mid-western region of…

Explore Rural Villages

Dalla Homestay Bardiya, Madhuban Municipality 01 Rural Villages Dalla Homestay is a family-run accommodation option located in the Bardiya district…

Gavar Valley Homestay, Banke

Gavar Valley Homestay, Banke Rural Villages Gava Valley Homestay & Bake is a unique accommodation option located in the city…

Narainapur Rural Village, Banke District

Narainapur Rural Village, Banke District Rural Villages Narainapur Rural Village is a scenic and vibrant community situated in the Banke…

Jaljala Rolpa, Triveni Rural Municipality

Jaljala Rolpa, Triveni Rural Municipality Mountains and Mid-Hills | Rural Villages Jaljala Rolpa is a beautiful and scenic area located…

Cleanliness Counts: Cultivate a Greener Earth

Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha, embodies peace. Committed to cleanliness, responsible tourism, and environmental preservation

 Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, is a land steeped in peace, spirituality, and serenity. As we strive to share this sacred space with visitors from around the world, it is crucial to remember the importance of preserving its natural beauty and fostering a clean environment. At the Lumbini Province , we believe cleanliness counts. We are committed to promoting responsible tourism practices and working alongside local communities to cultivate a greener Lumbini.

News Letter

Subscribe to our newsletter to hear the latest news

Lumbini, the birthplace of lord Budhha and home to world-renowned monasteries, is the third-largest province in Nepal. The province is named after the holy pilgrimage site of Lumbini in the Rupandehi District.

• Butwal - Hill Park

OPENING HOURS

• Sunday- Thursday
• 10:00AM - 5:00 PM
• 10:00AM - 2:00PM

Usefull Links

Attractions

• UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• Protected Areas
• Eight Thousanders
• Pilgrimage Sites
• Bungee Jumping
• Motor Biking
• Rafting & Kayaking
• Mountain Biking
• Paragliding
• Cave Exploration
• Bird Watching
• Mountain Viewing
• Jungle Discovery
• Butterfly Watching
• Nagarkot Sunrise and Sunset
• Traditional Crafts
• Meet the People
• Village Tours
• Food & Culinary
• Cultural Tours
• Heritage Walk
• Museum Tours
• Faith Healing
• Panchakarma Treatment
• Sound Meditation
• Natural Hot Water Springs in Nepal
• Pilgrimage Tours
• Destination Wedding
• Indra Jatra
• Chhat Parva
• Event Calendar
• Festival Highlights
• Travel with children
• Ganesh Himal Trek
• Chandragiri - Chitlang - Kulekhani
• Pilgrimage to Doleshwar mahadev Temple

About Nepal

Travel details.

• Tourist Visa
• Local Transportation
• Trekking Permit
• Park Entry Fees
• Heritage Site Entry Fees
• Tourist Police
• Safety in the Mountains

Book Your Trip

• Book Experience
• Travel Updates

Lumbini, the birthplace of lord Budhha and home to world-renowned monasteries, is the third-largest province in Nepal. The province is named after the holy pilgrimage site of Lumbini in the Rupandehi District. With an area of 22,288 square kilometers (8,605.44 sq. mi), the province covers about 15.1% of the country's total area. Lumbini has a humid subtropical climate and experiences four seasons. The largest national park in the Terai, Bardia National Park is also situated in this province and consists of a beautiful, unblemished wilderness filled with Sal forests, diverse flora and fauna, and alluvial washes of the Karnali River. Rani Mahal, which was a palace built in Palpa in 1893, still stands alongside the Gandaki river.

Nepal Tourism Board is a national tourism organization of Nepal established in 1998 by an Act of Parliament in the form of partnership between the Government of Nepal and private sector tourism industry to develop and market Nepal as an attractive tourist destination. The Board provides platform for vision-drawn leadership for Nepal’s tourism sector by integrating Government commitment with the dynamism of private sector.

Nepal Tourism Board

Other sites.

• Tenders & Trade
• Photo Nepal

Feedback Form

• पुरानो साईट
• पर्वतारोहण परमिट प्रणाली
• होटल दर्ता व्यवस्थापन प्रणाली
• कर्मचारी - एकीकृत इमेल
• Mountain Guide License
• फारम डाउनलोड
• PEAK PROFILE NEPAL

नेपाल सरकार

संस्कृति पर्यटन तथा नागरिक उड्डयन मन्त्रालय, पर्यटन विभाग.

ताजा जानकारी

फोटो ग्यालरी --> थप हेर्नुहोस्

VISIT NEPAL -OFFICIAL GUIDE APP

Beautiful View of Mountain Dhaulagiri (8167 m.)

सगरमाथा आरोहणको ७० औ वार्षिकोत्सवको अवसरमा सगरमाथा आराेही वागमती प्रदेशका पूर्वाधार विकास मन्त्री मा. युवराज दुलाललाइ पर्यटन विभागका महानिर्देशक होम प्रसाद लुइटेलद्वारा व्याच वितरण गरिदै

श्रीमान सचिव भरतमणि सुवेदीज्यू विभागकाे कfर्यबिबरण छलफल कार्यक्रममा निर्देशन दिंदै

श्रीमान सचिव भरतमणि सुवेदीज्यूलाइ विभागमा स्वागत तथा विभागकाे वारेमा महानिर्देशक होम प्रसाद लुइटेलद्वारा प्रस्तुतीकरण

KRISTOFFER JON ERICKSON receiving Good Luck Shawl for successful summit by DG Hom Prasad Luintel

विभागका महानिर्देशक श्रीमान सचिव भरतमणि सुवेदीज्यूको स्वागत एवम् पद बहाली कार्यक्रममा

महानिर्देशक श्री रुद्रसिंह तामाङज्यूबाट मिति २०७७/६/२५ गतेका दिन मनास्लु हिमालको आधार शिबिरमा भएको निरिक्षण तथा उक्त टिमको अवस्था बारेको जानकारी लिने क्रममा ।

Bahrain prince in Nepal to scale Mt Manaslu

Civil Service Mt Everest Expedition 2011

कोभिड-१९ बाट सिर्जित लकडाउनको अवधिमा मन्त्रालयद्धारा सम्पादित प्रमुख कार्यहरु सम्बन्धमा आयोजित प्रत्रकार सम्मेलनको तस्वीर-(०७७-३-१९ )

श्री रूद्रप्रसाद पण्डित

महानिर्देशक

श्री काली वहादुर भुजेल

निर्देशक/प्रबक्ता /सूचना अधिकारी

आन्तरिक प्रशासन तथा होटल शाखा

श्री राकेश गुरुङ

साहसिक पर्यटन तथा पर्वताराेहण शाखा

मोबाइल एप्स डाउनलोड गर्नुहोस्

मिडिया केन्द्र

Mountaineering Fact and Figure 2023

10th Aug 23

Nepal Tourism Statistics:2020

MOUNTAINEERING IN NEPAL :FACTS AND FIGURES

13th Oct 20

NEPAL TOURISM STATISTICS 2013.

26th Aug 20

NEPAL TOURISM STATISTICS 2012.pdf

Hotel Standard 2077

30th Jun 21

Mountaineering Regualtion, 2059

29th Aug 20

Casino (Second Amendment) Regulation, 2070

-खरिद-नियमावली-3

अध्यागमन-नियमावली-२०५१

-खरिद-ऐन-२०६३-sarvajnik-kharid-ain-206

पर्यटन ऐन, २०३५

सूचना को हक सम्बन्धि ऐन

International Finance Corporation's Membership.pdf

पर्यटन नीति

पर्यटन नीति, २०६५

पर्यटन उद्योग सेवा प्रवाह निर्देशिका, २०७० ( सबै संशोधन मिलाएको )

22nd Sep 20

होटलहरुको वर्गीकरण सम्बन्धी सूचना, २०७६

21st Sep 20

Hotel Standard, 2070

सम्पत्ति शुद्धीकरण तथा आतंकबादी कृयाकलापमा बित्तीय लगानी निवारण सम्बन्धमा क्यासिने व्यवसायीलाइ जारी गरिएको निर्देशन, २०७६

एकतारे देखि पाँचतारे डिलक्स स्तरसम्मका होटल र पर्यटक आवास रिसोर्ट) का सम्बन्धमा जारी आदेश,२०७० (Hotel Standard, 2070)

हालको सूचना | समाचार

पर्यटन विभाग, भृकुटीमण्डपवाट जारी गरिएकाे प्रेस नाेट

Press release, press statement, नाम सिफारिश सम्वन्धमा।, पाँचतारा डिलक्स तथा पाँचतारा हाेटलहरुकाे विवरण सार्बजनिक सम्वन्धी सूचना , दाबी बिरोध गर्ने सम्बन्धी सूचना, सूचीकृत गराउने बारेकाे सूचना ।, self declaration form of successful summit on the mountain, प्रेस विज्ञप्ती, पुन: ध्यानाकर्षण गराइएकाे सूचना , लिलाम सम्वन्धि सूचना, ध्यानाकर्षण गराइएकाे सूचना, राष्ट्रिय एकद्वार प्रणाली स्वीकार गर्ने सम्बन्धि सूचना, पर्यटन विभागमा स्तरवर्गीकरण भएका पाँचतारा डिलक्स हाेटलहरुकाे विवरण, पर्यटन विभागमा स्तरवर्गीकरण भएका साधारण रिसोर्ट, लक्जरी रिसोर्ट, डिलक्स रिसोर्ट र एक तारा देखि चार तारा सम्मका हाेटलहरुकाे विवरण, पर्यटन विभागमा स्तरवर्गीकरण भएका पाँचतारा स्तरका हाेटलहरुकाे विवरण, सगरमाथा आधार शिविरमा पर्वताराेहण अनुगमन तथा सहजीकरण समितिकाे बैठकमा पर्वताराेहण सम्बन्धी विभिन्न विषयहरूमा सराेकारवालाहरूसंग छलफल हुदै।, सम्पर्क अधिकृतहरुकोलागि जरुरी सूचना, क्यासिनो संचालन अनुमति सम्बन्धमा पर्यटन विभागको विज्ञप्ति, पर्वताराेहण अनुगमन तथा सहजीकरण समिति गठन गरिएकाे सूचना, चालु आर्थिक वर्ष माघ मसान्तसम्ममा इजाजतपत्र प्राप्त भएका क्यासिनो कम्पनीहरुको विवरण, इजाजत पत्र रद्द गर्ने सम्बन्धी सूचना, साहसिक पर्यटकीय गतिबिधी सञ्चालन गर्ने सम्बन्धि सूचना, चालु आर्थिक वर्ष २०७८/७९ को पौष मसान्तसम्म यस विभागमा प्राप्त राजस्व रकमको विवरण, चालु आर्थिक वर्ष पौष मसान्तसम्ममा इजाजतपत्र प्राप्त भएका क्यासिनो कम्पनीहरुको विवरण, additional hotels enlisted for quarantine, लकडाउनको प्रकृती अनुसार स्वास्थ्य मापदण्डको पालना गर्ने सम्बन्धि सूचना, विभागमा दर्ता भएका रिसोर्ट तथा तारास्तरका होटलहरूको विवरण, hotel/resort काे संकेत चिन्ह नि‍र्धारण गरिएकाे सूचना, सूची अभिलेख दर्ता पुस्तिका प्रकाशन गरिएकाे सूचना, एकतारेदेखि पाँचतारे डिलक्ससम्मका होटलहरुको वर्गीकरणको मापदण्ड, विदेशबाट नेपाल आगमन हुने यात्रुहरूको व्यवस्थापन सम्बन्धी आदेश,२०७८, hotels enlisted for quarantine, additional hotels list for quarantine, hotel standards provision and hotels enlisted for quarantine, lilam bikri sambandhi suchana (laptops. computers, printers, etc), notice for mountaineering expedition agencies, standards to be followed by nepalese and foreign citizens coming from abroad, special weather bulletin, notice for liaison officer, आरोहण व्यवस्थापन सम्बन्धी सूचना, पुराना जिन्सी मालसामान (फर्निचर ) लिलाम विक्री सम्बन्धी बोलपत्र आव्हानको सूचना, standards for streamlining of tourist visit, 2021:download file, notice on mountain guides license and identity card, पर्यटकहरुको आवागमनलाई ब्यबस्थित गर्ने सम्बन्धि मापदण्ड २०७७, notice on mountain guides licenses and identity cards, पर्यटन उद्योग सेवा प्रवाह निर्देशिका, २०७० को दफा ९४ मा साहसिक तथा मनोरञ्जनात्मक खेल/क्रियाकलापहरु सञ्चालन गर्नु पूर्व यस पर्यटन विभागबाट इजाजत लिनुपर्ने, notice of mountain guides license and identity card, notice for mountaineering expedition management, suchi abhilekh bibaran, on arrival visa notice, entry protocol for mountaineering expeditions and trekking in nepal , 2077 date of issue : 2077/06/09, पर्बतारोहण तथा पदयात्रा मा नेपाल आउँदा पालन गर्नुपर्ने शर्त सम्बन्धी मापदण्ड २०७७, बिश्व पर्यटन दिवसको अवसर शुभकामना संदेश, शोक विज्ञप्ति: आँङरिता शेर्पाको असामयिक निधन सम्बन्धमा, kathmandu: hotel list name for quarantine: काठमाण्डौ प्र जि अ वाट क्वारेन्टाईन प्रयोगका लागि प्रकाशित होटलहरुको सूची आवश्यक जानकारीका लागि, आर्थिक वर्ष २०७७ को लागि कार्यालय मसलन्द सामग्री आपूर्ति सम्बन्धि सूचना.

भिडियो ग्यालरी थप हेर्नुहोस्

सम्पर्कमा रहनुहोस्

हामीलाई सम्पर्क गर्नुहोस्!

श्री .................

नेपाल पर्यटन प्रहरी

भुक्तानीका लागि प्राप्त विलहरुको सार्वजनिकरण

आधिकारिक मनोनयन

भिडियो ग्यालरी

अडियो ग्यालरी

बिभागको पुरानो साईट

सम्बन्धित लिंक्स

नेपाल सरकारको आधिकारिक पोर्टल

प्रधानमन्त्री तथा मन्त्रिपरिषद्को कार्यालय

संस्कृति, पर्यटन तथा नागरिक उड्डयन मन्त्रालय

अर्थ मन्त्रालय

सङ्‍घीय मामिला तथा सा.प्र मन्त्रालय

विधुतीय खरिद प्रणाली

Ministry of Culture,Tourism & Civil Aviation,Nepal

सम्पर्क विवरण

29th May 24 13:49:42

2020 All Rights Reserved Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

jQuery(document).ready(function($) { var retina = window.devicePixelRatio > 1 ? true : false; if( retina ) { jQuery('.header-wrapper .logo img').attr('src', 'http://highlightstourism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Hilights-Tourism-Logo.png'); jQuery('.header-wrapper .logo img').attr('width', ''); } });

Rupandehi tourism development with focus on  lumbini.

• Radhe Shyam Biswakarma

Besides Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, other Buddhist heritage sites to visit in the Rupandehi district include Buddhamavali Devadah and Sainamaina, an archaeological site of the Buddha era.

In Rupandehi, there are significant historical, cultural, and natural sites related to Buddhism. There are religious places like Tharu culture and Virha Geet, Jitgarhi Fort of Butwal, Parroha Dham of Sainamaina, Siddha Baba. Among the natural resources, Rupandehi has beautiful wetlands such as Gaidahwa Lake, Gajedi Lake, Dano River, Telar River.

Nuwakot Darwar Shivalik region has other scenic spots with a mild climate. There are educational parks including Manimukund Sen Park. Not only this, Rupandehi is also considered the gateway to popular Himalayan tourist destinations like Tansen, Pokhara, and Mustang.

Tourists often come to escape the heat of India in Nepal, which is full of nature. Tourists are attracted to Bhairahawa and its surroundings due to its welcoming tourists, cheap prices, legal gambling houses (casinos), classy hotels, and recreational activities.

Rupandehi, which is rich in nature, religion, and culture, has seen a leap in the development of tourism infrastructure in recent times.

Investment in tourism infrastructure has increased not only from the government sector but also from the private sector here. Because of this, the tourism potential of this region has increased. After the construction of Gautam Budh International Airport, investment in tourism infrastructure has increased. There are 89 tourist-level hotels in Rupandehi.

There are more than 150 other hotels. According to Siddharthnagar Hotel Association President Chandra Prakash Shrestha, Rupandehi has the capacity to handle more than 6,000 tourists at a time. “Nowadays, the market and tourism of this region are driven by Indian tourists,” he said, “Bhairawa and Butwal have become the main two cities that do a lot of business, tourism, and entertainment activities.”Tourism Division Office Rupandehi has advanced the work in 6 districts of the former Lumbini zone.

According to the information given by Information Officer Paudel, 71 schemes worth Rs. Apart from this, the zipline in Butwal and the cable car under construction will also attract tourists. Due to the investment made by the government as well as the private sector in the tourist infrastructure of Rupandehi, the tourist activity which has stopped due to covid has increased.

• Related Articles
• More By Highlights Tourism

Foreign Tourists Flock to Himalayan Routes

Two climbers from Mongolia go missing during Everest expedition

Record-holder climber Kamirita ascending Sagarmatha for 29th time

Storm warned in Tarai belt

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

During this period, the main trekking routes of the Annapurna region were visited by 79,23…

Prime Minister Dahal Announces Climber Welfare Fund

In a move welcomed by mountain tourism stakeholders, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced …

Two Nepali Women Make History on Mount Everest

Everest Legend Kami Rita Sherpa Scales the Peak for a Record-Setting 30th Time

Nepal Tourism Board Wins Big at Guangzhou International Travel Fair

Editor: Khim Ghale [email protected] www.highlightstourism.com is dedicated to promoting tourism activities in Nepal. We produce video documentaries, feature articles, blogs, and guides related to the Nepali tourism destination, heritage, culture, and society.

Highlights Tourism Highlights Tower, Bakhundol Lalitpur Phone: 977-01-5010633 Email: [email protected] Registration Number: 1622/076-77 Department of Information and Broadcasting

• Latest News
• Advertisement

• Tour Packages

• rupandehi-district-places-visit-rupandehi

Rupandehi District; Places to Visit in Rupandehi

Rupandehi District, located in Lumbini Province, is one of Nepal's seventy-seven districts, covering 1,360 square kilometres (530 sq mi). Bhairahawa is the district headquarters. Rupandehi has an estimated population of 880,196 people, according to the 2011 national census.

Please go through our list of places to visit in Rupandehi.

Introduction to Rupandehi

Rupandehi is named after Rupadevi, King Suddhodana's queen. The birthplace of Buddha, Lumbini, is located in the Rupandehi district. Rupandehi district also has Devdaha, the birthplace of Mayadevi (the Buddha's mother).

How can you reach Rupandehi District?

Rupandehi is connected to the rest of the country via the Siddhartha Highway and the Mahendra Highway. Rupandehi is connected to the rest of the country by Gautam Buddha Airport. Lumbini has only one airport.

It is now undergoing renovations to become an international airport. On January 15, the late Prime Minister Sushil Koirala lay the foundation stone for the airport. With a budget of Rs 6.22 billion, it is anticipated to be finished by 2018. China's North-West Civil Aviation Airport Construction Company is in charge of the airport's construction.

The West Nepal Bus Entrepreneurs' Association, founded in 2026 B.S. with the sanction of the District Administration Office, is the most crucial supplier of transportation services in Rupandehi and throughout Nepal.

Places to Visit in Rupandehi

There are several places to visit in Rupandehi. They are:

Praketeshwar Mahadev

Prashant home, nawa durga bhawani mandir, siddha baba mandir, satiya devi mandir and satiya mai mandir, parroha bol bam dham, manimukunda sen park, chappiya fish village resort, pardasani mela, shankar nagar ban bihar and research center, marchwari devi temple.

Lumbini Road is close to Praketeshwar Mandir. There is a sizeable packed fair in the months of Shrawan (late July and early August), which is highly popular with residents and tourists from the surrounding areas.

Lumbini is the birthplace of Buddha, whose teachings were the foundation of Buddhism. In 1997, UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage Site. Lumbini attracts tens of thousands of Buddhist monks, pilgrims, and visitors each year.

Sacred sanctuary: Lumbini's divine aura

The continuing transformation of Gautam Buddha Airport into an international airport is intended to boost tourist numbers. President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakshe is one of Lumbini's high-profile visitors.

It is located in Murgiya's Sainamaina-3. Throughout the year, many people come to worship Goddess Durga. Many poojas are performed on time. It is fixed regularly by the folks who contributed to its creation.

Two Siddha Baba Mandirs are located next to each other. One is in Rupandehi, while the other is in Palpa. Nonetheless, both Mandirs are recognized as equally important pilgrimages.

In Rupandehi, there is a temple dedicated to Devi Satiya in Patkhauli VDC, near Rohini Khola. The devotees who attend the shrine believe that Devi Satiya satisfies their requests.

A real Maya Devi Mandir and a modified temple are located next to each other. One is in Rupandehi, while the other is in Palpa. Nonetheless, both Mandirs are recognized as equally important pilgrimages. 

This temple was once located in the centre of the Rohini Khola, but the river now flows west of Satiya Devi Temple and Satiya Bagaicha.

During the Bol Bam, the most significant influx of pilgrims happens. Bol Bam is an annual pilgrimage to Shraavana dedicated to Shiva, during which worshippers trek barefooted and dressed in saffron robes on their way to the Dham.

Manimukunda Sen Park, which was once King Manimukunda Sen's winter residence, is another prominent attraction in Rupandehi. The palace is no longer in good condition, but the ruins and antiquities of the once-grand structure may still be found.

It is located in Butwal City and is well-known for its picnic areas, zoo, and gardens inside the park. The park's flora and views of the Rupandehi, Palpa, and Kapilvastu districts are very appealing.

Chappiya Fish Village Resort has become a popular tourist destination in Siyari Municipality, with visitors coming from all around the region. It offers a variety of fish species and delectable cuisines, as well as boating and fishing. It is located around 12 kilometres west of Bhairahawa in Siyari Gaupalika.

It is one of the most popular melas in Butwal, conducted once a year. It has something to do with business.

In Tilottama Municipality, Shankar Nagar Ban Bihar and Research Centre, often known as Ban Batika by locals, is a popular tourist destination. The Shankarnagar Community Forest is home to the Shankarnagar Community Forest. Picnic areas, a zoo, and a garden are all popular attractions.

Marchwari Devi Temple is located in Rupandehi's Bogadi VDC. Among the 24 prior VDC, it is a historical temple. Marchwar is the name given to the region surrounding this temple (today 18 VDCs). Locals and visitors from Uttar Pradesh, India, come to celebrate births, engagements, and marriage ceremonies on special occasions.

Prepare For Your Trip

Ask for advice.

Exchange tips with travellers on our List & Go forum

Book A Flight

Find the best fares and last-minute deals

Book A Hotel

Rest your weary head between adventures

Book A Travel

Buy comprehensive cover for your next trip

Book A Homestay

Book now and pay when you arrive at the property

+1 (888) 520-4567

[email protected]

• Join our Community
• Login / Sign Up

• Arghakhanchi
• Things To Do
• Spirituality & Pilgrimage
• Adventure & Mountaineering
• Plan Your Trip
• About Nepal

You are here : Home / Places To See / Rupandehi

Rupandehi District, a part of Province No. 5, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal and covers an area of 1,360 km². The district headquarter is Siddharthanagar. As per the national census 2011, the population of Rupandehi was 880,196.

Popular Destinations

Birthplace of Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha

All Rights Reserved © 2024. Tourist Information Center / Nepalgunj / Banke

• Where To Go

• Latest Jobs in Nepal | Find Vacant Job in Nepal
• Loksewa Exam Questions
• General Knowledge
• Nepal Police

DotNepal: Jobs in Nepal, Loksewa Aayog Preparation, Career Counselling Better the Education Better the Job is.

Places to visit in rupandehi district | butwal tourist destinations.

Thank You for visiting !

Share With Friends on:

• Share on Tumblr

Tags Dandakhola and Phaklihawa etc. Durga Temple Hillpark Manimukunda Sen Uddhan (Fulbari) Narayansthan Sainamaina Shiva Mandir in Siddharthanager-8 Siddhartha Nagar

Establishment of Airport in Nepal | List of Airports

Hits: 194 Airports in Nepal | List of Airports Establishment of Airport 1949:   The date …

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Nepal Tourism Hub

Create & explore tourism destinations around nepal.

Tourism Division Office, Rupandehi

2024 All Rights with Rolling Nexus

Login with your registered Email & Password.

If you don’t have an account, please create an account.

• Wednesday, 29 May 2024
• Gorkhapatra
• E-paper Archive

Boating begins at Budhi Lake

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT,  Taulihawa, Aug. 5:  Boating service has been started in Budhi Lake of Buddhabhumi Municipality-4, Kapailvastu ,with assistance from Lumbini Provincial Ministry of Tourism, Rural and Urban Development to promote tourism.

Minister for Tourism, Rural and Urban Development Rina Nepal and Mayor of the municipality Keshav Kumar Shrestha had jointly inaugurated the boating service.

Roshan Prasad Tamrakar, engineer of the ministry, said that the ministry had invested a total of Rs. 2,696,000 for tourism development of Budhi Lake. A total of four boats have been operated, two motor-driven and two pedal-driven, costing  Rs. 800,000.

Minister Nepal said that it was a good initiative taken by the municipality for the development of tourism business. She added that the provincial government had allocated Rs. 6 million for the development of Budhi Lake in the current fiscal year.  

Mayor Shrestha said that they had planned to invest Rs. 1 billion  after preparing DPR of the Budhi Lake and this project has been put in the pride projects of the municipality. “We will attract tourists by making the lake beautiful and enchanting,” he said.

On that occasion, Mukti Prasad Pandey, head of Tourism Division Office, Rupandehi, said that the attraction of Budhi Lake, which has four ponds spread over 80 bighas, has increased after the operation of boats. He said that the lake should be made more organised and beautiful. 

For the overall development of the lake and income generation, the municipality has given responsibility of management of the lake to the Budhi locals. 

The locals have been generating income by farming fish in the lake as well as chickens, ducks and goats. 

• Wed, 29 May 2024

Budget for coming FY transmits hope among people: Former PM Khanal

Budget is civic-friendly: Finance Minister Pun

4,035 migrant Nepali workers died abroad in three years

Pokhara's new attraction Helmet Danda

28 dead, at least 20 injured as bus falls into ravine in Pakistan

Narayanghat-Butwal highway resumes after 22 hours

Latest updates.

Women at forefront to make UML a national force: Chair Oli

Inform people about post-republic achievements: chair dahal, wrestling in kalapathar to set world record, economic reforms will get pace with implementation of budget: pm prachanda, more from author.

• The Rising Nepal

Translate Republican Ideals Into Reality

Scientific Research Needs Critical Scrutiny

People in hilly areas of Nawalpur forced to undertake risky journeys

CoAS Sharma builds three Rudrayani entrances in Jhamsikhel

Budget of Rs. 3.5 billion for Ministry of Youth and Sports

Garlic worth Rs. 3.6 million sold from single ward

Gandaki Province collecting suggestions for forest area strategic plan

Photo exhibition begins in Dhanagadhi

GET ALL INFORMATION

About nepal through us.

Namaste, If you feel you’ve wasted your time surfing through various websites searching for reliable information about travel in Nepal, your browser has now directed you to the right link. If you’ve got unlucky seeking for travel options in Nepal online, your fate has just changed. Welcome to MyHolidayNepal.

About Myholidaynepal

Our mission to promote nepal.

Nepal is a small beautiful country in South Asia, landlocked by China (about 1236 km) in north and India (about 1690 km) in south, east and west.  Conventionally Nepal has been characterized as "a yam caught between two rocks" as it is sandwiched between two Asian bulldozers--China and India. It extends from 80O 4’ E and 88O 12’ E longitude and 26O 22’ N to 30 + read more

Facts About Nepal

• Weather Facts
• History And Political Structure
• International Relation
• Infrastructure Quality

Why Travel Nepal

Accessibility options.

• Leaving Nepal

People Of Nepal

The multicultural diversity is Nepal’s one of the unique asset. The ethno-cultural groups maintain their unique life style, language, customs, and rituals, food habits (cuisine), dresses, jewelry or ornaments. In our country there are around 101 ethnic and caste groups. They live under different diverse geographic and environmental orientations, from the low plains near the Indian borde + read more

Unity In Diversity

Religion belief, nepalese people and lifestyle.

• Buddhism Nepal

Tourist Info

Find all the important information about Nepal.

Visa Fees And Extensions

• Visa Availability And Entry Points
• Important Information To Visitors

Customs Nepal

Health and safety.

• Medical Checklist Nepal
• Basic Health Information For Travelers To Nepal

Transportation in Nepal

• Local Transportation In Nepal
• Getting Around

Useful Telephone Numbers

List of all the adventure activities which can be experience in Nepal.

Mountaineering

• Mountaineering Expedition Rules
• Nepal Mountaineering Association
• Mountaineering Permission Procedure In Nepal
• Peak Climbing In Nepal
• Types Of Trekking
• Trekking Season

Annapurna Circuit

• Annapurna Sanctuary
• Annapurna Panorama

Everest Base Camp

• Kanchenjunga
• Rara Lake Trek
• Ganesh Himal
• Jomsom Muktinath Trekking
• Tilicho Lake Trekking
• Mardi Himal Trekking

Rafting And Kayaking

• Understanding The River System
• Nepal River Information For Rafting And Kayaking

Hiking In Nepal

• Namo Buddha

Far-Western Development Region

• Khaptad National Park

Mid-Western Development Region

• Banke National Park

Western Development Region

• Dhawalagiri

Central Development Region of Nepal

Eastern development region.

• Western Development Region >>
• Rupandehi >>

About Rupandehi

Location: Lumbini Zone/ Western Development Region Headquarter:  Siddharthanagar(Bhairahawa) Area: 1,360km2 Locals: Bahun,  Chhetri, Thakuri, Language Spoken: Nepali,Thakuri

Connectivity: Distance from Kathmandu to Rupendehi around 270km Airpot: Gautam Buddha Airport

Attractions:

Natural Heritages Chitwan National Park, Cultural/Religious Heritages Tribeni Ghat , Kapilvastu,Lumbini Garden,Ramagrama

Special Cuisine: Fulki-Tikiya,Bhairawa ko Peda Other Attractions: Valmiki Ashram

Adventure Options: Bird Watching,

Best time to Travel: October to December April to February  

Do you have more information about Rupandehi?

Do you have any information that you want to share about any place you know about ? We have put in a little effort gathering all the information above and we need your help to let everyone know about Nepal. You can join us in our mission to promote Nepal Tourism. Please click here for sending us the details about any information on Places of Nepal. If you are happy to be contacted by us please leave a telephone number that we can contact you on. For all your contributions to the website, ample credits will be given with your name, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. When sending us information, pictures, or even videos, please take time to quote adequate references if they are not yours. Also, do not send us copyrighted materials unless you have a written consent for the use.

Full Name *:

  Not readable? Change text.

Enter the word:

Related Content

Best places to visit, trekking and more, temples ,stupas and more.

• Hiking routes in Kathmandu
• Movie theatre in Kathmandu
• Where to Shop in Kathmandu?
• Historic Temples of Basantapur

• Zip fly nepal
• Paragliding in Pokhara Nepal
• Trip to Pokhara
• Ghandruk experience

• Ghandruk Trek
• TREKKING ALONG THE TRAILS OF MUSTANG
• TREK TO EVEREST GOKYO
• Annapurna Base Camp Trekking Plan

• Langtang Trek
• Manaslu Trek

Pashupati Nath Temple

• Historic Temples of Basantapur,Kathmandu, Nepal
• OSHO TAPOBAN Nepal
• Visiting temples with in NEPAL
• One Hour Hike From Manakamana Mai Temple

Swayambhu Nath Stupa

• Things to be careful while visiting temples
• Basantapur surrounding
• Hiking around Manakamana

News & Event

NOBUKAZU KURIKI WILL BE THE FIRST AND ONLY CLIMBER ATTEMPTING TO SUMMIT EVEREST THIS SEASON

FREE BUS RIDE TO BHAKTAPUR ON THE OCCASION OF GAIJATRA

KATHMANDU TO BANGLORE, MUMBAI DIRECT FLIGHT

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OF ANNAPURNA REGION

SIGN UP FOR UPDATES

Tourist information.

• » IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT VISA
• » VISA AVAILABILITY
• » CUSTOM
• » HEALTH INFORMATION
• » MEDICAL CHECKLIST

Newspaper Tender

Source: Annapurna Post

Tender Category : Construction

Type : invitation for electronic bids, published date : aug 04, 2022, deadline : aug. 23, 2022, 1 p.m., tags : annapurna post, views : 298, construction of marchawari devi temple.

Province Government Lumbini Province Ministry of Tourism, Rural and Urban Development Tourism Division Office, Rupandehi Invitation for Electronic Bids IFB No.: TDO/RUP/NCB/3470301 24/079/080-01 First Date of Publication: 3rd August 2022 

1. Provincial Government, Tourism Division office, Rupandehi invites bids from eligible bidders for following works:

2. Purchase, Submission and Opening of Bid: 

3. Bank Account Details:

4. Pre-bid meeting shall be held at the office on 23rd August 2022 at 13:00 hours. 5. If the last date of purchasing, submission, and opening falls on a government holiday then the next working day shall be considered a last day. In such case validity period of the bid security shall remain the same as specified for the original last date of bid submission.

• Request for Proposal (RFP) for Safe Waste Management of Sharp Waste g…

Published Date

May 22, 2024

Jun 03, 2024

• Expression of Interest (EOI) call for “Impact study and proposal deve…

May 27, 2024

Jun 05, 2024

• Expression of Interest (EOI) for "Consultancy Services"

May 28, 2024

Jun 04, 2024

• Request for Quotation - For Supply and Delivery of Refrigeration and …
• All Tender (4)
• NGO / INGO/ Social Work (4)

Since its inception in 2009, Merojob has been at the forefront of connecting job seekers and employers in Nepal. The goal is to provide a comprehensive platform for job seekers to find jobs in Nepal and for employers to find the right fit for their organization. We pride ourselves on being a reliable bridge between hiring employers and job seekers and have established ourselves as a national leader in recruitment solutions. Read more...

FOR JOBSEEKER

• Search Jobs

FOR EMPLOYER

• Recruitment Services
• About merojob
• Life at merojob

Ganapati Bhawan Min Bhawan Main Road New Baneshwor Kathmandu, Nepal

• © 2024 All Rights with merojob

• Culture & Lifestyle

• Madhesh Province

Lumbini Province

• Bagmati Province
• National Security
• Koshi Province
• Gandaki Province
• Karnali Province
• Sudurpaschim Province
• International Sports
• Brunch with the Post
• Life & Style
• Entertainment
• Investigations
• Climate & Environment
• Science & Technology
• Visual Stories
• Crosswords & Sudoku
• Corrections
• Letters to the Editor
• Today's ePaper

Without Fear or Favour UNWIND IN STYLE

What's News :

• Budget for fiscal 2024-25
• House probe panel
• Green tax on petroleum products
• Negligible finance for health
• Hardships of female returnees

Sainamaina Municipality in Rupandehi starts patrolling forests to control illegal activities

Amrita Anmol

Sainamaina Municipality in Rupandehi district has stepped up a joint patrolling initiative in many areas of its forests to control rampant smuggling of forest products and wildlife parts.

Because of illegal logging and rampant poaching activities, the municipality has coordinated with Area Police Office, Division Forest Office and Community Forest Users Group to conduct patrolling starting last Sunday. The armed security personnel and forest guards have been on patrol in the forest areas for the last two days.

Chitra Bahadur Karki, mayor of the municipality, said that with the move they aim to control smuggling of forest products and wildlife parts. He said, “We have incorporated security personnel, forest officials and forest users group to conduct patrolling in the forest areas. We hope that illegal activities—including forest fires—can be controlled now.”

The municipality covers around 1,200 hectares of forestland which expands from the Chure hills to the Tarai. Sixteen community forests and one collaborative forest of the municipality have been registered in the Division Forest Office in Rupandehi.

To implement this move, the municipality has endorsed the Community Forest Operation and Management Act 2075, which allows them to deploy security personnel to patrol the forests.

“As the settlements are scattered and few, locals will not be able to carry out preservation efforts. That’s why we formed patrol groups to conduct patrolling to control unlawful activities in the forests,” said Keshav Aryal, the information office of the municipality.

Police personnel from Area Police Offices in Saaljhandi and Ranyaura are taking the lead in patrolling the forests. There are 42 members in the patrol group. Indra Bahadur Pacchai, chief at the Division Forest Office, said that security personnel and forest guards are patrolling the forests by dividing the area into three different sections.

“Timber smuggling, poaching and forest fires are the major challenges here,” said Pacchai. “With the patrolling in place, we hope to reduce such acts.”

To control illegal activities, the municipality has also imposed a ban on locals entering the forests without taking permission from the municipality. “The municipality office will take action against those who enter the forest without taking permission,” said Karki, adding that they have separated grazing land and some forest area for locals to collect fodder from and graze their cattle in.

Lal Bahadur Kalamagar, a local of Sainamaina, said that most of the locals have welcomed the municipality’s move. “The joint patrolling will help control illegal logging, smuggling and forest fires. Even if we have to wait for firewood collection, it’s a small inconvenience and we are okay with it since the move stands to conserve wild animals and forest products .”

Amrita Anmol Amrita Anmol is the Rupandehi correspondent for Kantipur Publications.

Related News

One dead, another seriously injured in motorcycle accident

Tiger mauls woman to death in bardiya, tiger found dead in bardiya.

Two children killed, 13 injured in jeep accident in Palpa

Kapilvastu grapples with surging leprosy cases

Auto driver murders two women in ghorahi, most read from lumbini province.

Editor's Picks

Nepalis losing millions in illicit pursuit of ‘American dream’

Speakers are supposed to be neutral. Not all succeed in the role

Recessionary fallout on banking

7 years on, Nepal and China still at odds over BRI execution

Is judicial supremacy trumping constitutional supremacy in Nepal?

E-paper | may 29, 2024.

• Read ePaper Online

  You internet speed is slow. Switch to text view mode

• Visit Profile

Parties divided over naming Lamichhane in probe panel ToR

KATHMANDU, MAY 23 The ruling and opposition parties have yet again failed to finalise the terms of reference (ToR) for the proposed parliamentary panel to investigate the multi-billion-rupee cooperative scam. A meeting of the four-member panel led by Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Padam Giri on Thursday could not agree on the ToR as they remain sharply divided on whether to mention the name of Rabi Lamichhane, deputy prime minister and minister for home affairs, in the ToR. The four-member panel was formed on May 18 after an agreement among the top leaders of the major parties to constitute the parliamentary committee to investigate the issue. As in the previous meetings, the Nepali Congress was firm in its demand that the investigation against Lamichhane, in the capacity as then managing director of Gorkha Media Network, where the money from four different cooperatives was injected, should be the focus of the probe panel. The ruling parties on the other hand wanted a committee to probe the problems facing the entire cooperatives sector including those with links to Lamichhane—but without specifically naming the deputy prime minister, who also is the chair of Rastriya Swatantra Party. “It is clear that investigation of cases, not an individual, should be the focus of the parliamentary committee. If some individuals are involved in misdeeds, they will automatically come under its scanner,” Mahesh Bartaula, CPN-UML chief whip who is also a member of the Giri-led panel, told the Post. “Our refusal to form a committee specifically to investigate Rabi Lamichhane is not about protecting him, but about avoiding setting a precedent of forming committees targeting an individual.” The ruling party leaders present in the meeting claimed that though no agreement was reached, the Congress had softened its stance during Thursday’s meeting compared to the past. Bartuala said they hope for a breakthrough on Friday. The meeting of the ToR drafting committee has been slated for 8:30 am on Friday, hours before the meeting of the House of Representatives. The Congress leaders, however, refuse to accept that they have softened their stance. They say the investigation against Lamichhane is their bottom line. “There has been no progress so far. However, we are open to discussions,” Ramesh Lekhak, the Congress chief whip, told the Post. “Let’s see what happens tomorrow [Friday].” In the meeting, the ruling party lawmakers had agreed to list out the names of the cooperatives which provided money to the Gorkha Media, for the investigation but without mentioning Lamichhane’s name. They had said they can list out Surya Darshan Cooperative of Pokhara, Sahara Cooperative of Chitwan, Birgunj’s Sano Paila Cooperative and Supreme Cooperative of Butwal in the broader investigation. However, they in return demanded that the probe committee be allowed to dig up possible misuse of deposits in the cooperatives that have been declared crisis-ridden. They want this as some cooperatives like Laligurans, which have been declared crisis-ridden, are owned by the Congress leaders. Ruling party leaders accuse the Congress of being selective and unwilling to resolve the problems facing the cooperative sector in their entirety. As per a probable agenda for Friday’s House meeting, the government wants the programmes and policies to be endorsed after deliberations. In the past three meetings, the Speaker has been pushing ahead the House business using marshals to contain the protest by Congress lawmakers. Endorsement of the policies and programmes is necessary before presenting the national budget for the upcoming fiscal year. There is a constitutional obligation to present the budget on Tuesday. However, if the Congress continues its protest, the government may opt to bring the budget through ordinance instead of presenting budget-related bills in Parliament. “We want to present the budget in the House, but it all depends on whether the opposition parties will allow it,” said Bartaula. “Ordinance will be our last resort.”

Phunjo Lama reclaims women’s fastest Everest climb record

KATHMANDU, MAY 23 Phunjo Jhangmu Lama, a helicopter long-line sling rescuer, has etched her name in mountaineering history. She has reclaimed the title for the fastest ascent of Everest by any woman in the world. In a breathtaking display of human capability, she conquered the world’s highest mountain at 24 hours and 26 minutes on Thursday. Khim Lal Gautam, the Everest base camp coordinator deputed by the government, said that Lama started her ascent from the base camp, situated at an altitude of 5,364 metres, at 3:52 pm on May 22. She reached the summit, towering at 8,848.86 metres, at 6:23 am on Thursday (May 23). She returned to the base camp at 4:18 pm the same day, completing the climb in 24 hours and 26 minutes. According to the mountaineering rules, climbers should begin and end their journey in the base camp to claim any title. Lama, on May 17, 2018, had climbed Everest in 39 hours and 6 minutes. But after three years, in 2021, Hong Kong’s Tsang Yin-Hung scaled the peak in 25 hours and 50 minutes, snatching Lama’s converted title. In the male category, Nepali climber Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa holds the record for the fastest ascent of Everest, reaching the summit and the base camp, in 18 hours 20 minutes in 2003. Gelu started the climb at 5:00 pm on May 25, 2003, and reached the summit at 3:56 am on May 26. He returned to base camp at 11:20 am on the 26th. According to the Department of Tourism, more than 500 individuals have climbed Everest, which means 60 percent of the climbs this season have been completed by Thursday. The Department of Tourism has issued 421 permits for fee-paying climbers for this spring climbing season, which began on May 10 and lasts until May 29. With each climber requiring at least one climbing guide, there were an estimated 900 individuals aspiring to scale Everest this season. Despite bad conditions and a small window of weather, several mountaineers have scripted history. Kami Rita Sherpa climbed Everest twice to take his tally to 30 climbs. Dawa Finjok Sherpa became the fastest man to climb Everest three times in just eight days. Likewise, Royal Bhutan Army Lieutenant Jigme Pelden Dorje became the first Bhutanese to summit the world’s highest mountain. Costa Rican Ligia Maria Madrigal Moya reached the summit of Everest on Thursday morning, becoming the first woman from her country to achieve the feat. Lucia Janiová became the first Slovakian female to summit Everest. Rising casualties While celebrating success, casualties have also been rising on the mountain. According to Gautam, the base camp coordinator, so far, five people have died, and three are missing. A renowned Kenyan climber Cheruiyot Kirui died a few metres below the Everest summit on Thursday. His Sherpa guide Nawang Sherpa has gone missing. British climber Daniel Paul Paterson and his Sherpa guide Pastenji have gone missing in the death zone. The duo were returning after reaching the summit on May 21. Officials say hopes of finding survivors are slim. “We regret to inform you that a cornice collapse occurred yesterday [May 21] at Hillary Step. Two of our brave team members, Daniel Paul Paterson of the UK and Pastenji Sherpa, are missing. Eyewitnesses reported the incident took place between Summit Ridge and South Summit, and some climbers were swept away in Kangshung Face,” Lakpa Sherpa, managing director of 8K Expeditions, the agency managing Paterson climb, wrote on his Facebook page. “Our dedicated search and rescue teams are deployed on the ground. They are working tirelessly to locate our missing climbers. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families during this challenging time.” The bodies of two Mongolian climbers were found on May 17, four days after they went missing. Binod Babu Bastakoti from Lekhnath in Kaski district died on Wednesday near the south Col while descending from the summit. Romanian climber Gabriel Viorel Tabara was found dead in Camp III (7,470 m) in his tent on May 20. Nearly 8,800 mountaineers have summited Everest from the Nepal side since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and New Zealander Edmund Hillary first set foot atop the world’s highest peak in 1953.

Global media bodies take serious exception to KMG chairman’s arrest

Kathmandu, May 23 Several global media organisations have taken serious exception to the arrest of Kantipur Media Group Chairman Kailash Sirohiya and termed the government action as vengeful. They have expressed their concern over the detention of a media person for relentlessly covering the wrongdoings of a minister. Media outlets of Kantipur Media Group have been regularly reporting on the involvement of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, who also chairs the Rastriya Swatantra Party, in the embezzlement of millions of rupees of public money deposited in various cooperatives. The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday expressed alarm over the arrest of Sirohiya and called on Nepali authorities not to harass or intimidate the leadership or staff of the country’s largest media group in retaliation for its reporting. “The arrest of Kantipur Media Group chairperson Kailash Sirohiya from his place of work appears to be an effort to muzzle the critical reporting of Nepal’s largest media group,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “We call on Nepali authorities to ensure that Kantipur Media Group can work freely and without fear of reprisal.” Likewise, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s largest organisation of journalists, said on Thursday that Sirohiya’s arrest “is deeply concerning, especially considering the ongoing investigative work focused on allegations of misconduct by the home minister”. It stated that “investigations against journalists and media personnel cannot be informed by personal or political reasons, and authorities must ensure that Nepal’s commitments to press freedom are upheld.” The IFJ noted that “the chairman’s arrest comes following a series of reports detailing allegations that Lamichhane had misappropriated millions of Nepali rupees in savings at a cooperative fund while he was the managing director of the Gorkha Media Network.” Police arrested Sirohiya from his office at the KMG headquarters in Thapathali, Kathmandu on Tuesday. Security personnel subsequently took him to Dhanusha, where a complaint was filed against him. The Dhanusha District Court on Wednesday remanded him to three days in custody. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international organisation focused on safeguarding the right to freedom of information, demanded the release of KMG Chairman Kailash Sirohiya. Listing Sirohiya under its detained media personnel list, the RSF said that he must be released and the work of KMG protected. “KMG President Kailash Sirohiya has been detained for two days in reprisal for an investigation into the involvement of the Ministry of the Interior in a case of fraud & embezzlement,” the organisation said in its statement posted on social media on Thursday. “He must be released and the work of the KMG protected, not hindered!” Meanwhile, the United States-based Society of Professional Journalists has also questioned the motive behind Sirohiya’s arrest. “We join the Federation of Nepali Journalists in questioning the actual motives behind the arrest,” SPJ said in a statement. “The FNJ said the arrest casts aspersions on the entire news-gathering sector. They added that the arrest of Sirohiya appears vindictive in nature.” The organisation has called on the government to release Sirohiya while this investigation takes place and to reaffirm its commitment to a free and unfettered press.

Hastily launched ill-equipped Shailaja Acharya Cardiac Centre turns back patients

BIRatnagar, MAY 23 A few days ago, Dirgha Urau, a 65-year-old woman from ward 2 of Katahari Rural Municipality in Mornag, visited the Shailaja Acharya Cardiac Centre located at ward 14 of Biratnagar Metropolitan City for the treatment of extreme chest pain. During her medical examination at the cardiac centre, it was found that her blood pressure had climbed to 180/120. The doctor advised that Urau should be administered medicine through injection to lower her blood pressure and start further treatment immediately. However, due to the unavailability of the particular intravenous medicine and emergency treatment facilities, she was referred to Koshi Provincial Hospital, said Dr Surbesh Kumar Jha, head of the Shailaja Acharya Cardiac Centre. “Urau was in immediate need of a holter monitor on her chest, but due to the absence of the equipment and the intravenous medicine, we referred her to Koshi Hospital,” said Jha. Holter monitor is a wearable device that records the heart’s rhythm and is used to spot irregular heartbeats. Shyam Mahato, a 70-year-old man from Siraha, suffered a heart attack on Tuesday, and his family brought him to the Shailaja Acharya Cardiac Centre for treatment. Mahato’s family brought him directly to the centre after hearing the news that the Koshi Provincial government had established the hospital. According to doctors at the centre, Mahato needed immediate angiography and further treatment, but at that time only Outpatient Department (OPD) services were available, so his relatives also took him to the Koshi Hospital for treatment. On January 22, 2024, the Koshi Provincial government inaugurated the centre without any preparation, promising to provide free treatment to heart patients in the province. During the inauguration, the then Chief Minister Kedar Karki said that the centre would provide free treatment to all heart patients including critical cases, and had also mentioned that he had reallocated some of the budget originally allocated for building a temple to construct the Shailaja Acharya Cardiac Centre so that people can get free treatment. On the occasion of the completion of 100 days of his government, Karki had inaugurated the centre without ensuring necessary human resources and equipment by replacing the signboard of the Infectious Disease Treatment Centre, which was under the provincial government, renaming it Shailaja Acharya Cardiac Centre. The provincial government invested around Rs 50 million in the heart centre. The centre, which the then chief minister Karki described as a gift to heart patients, is in a pathetic condition due to a shortage of manpower, equipment, and proper planning. Most of the patients visiting the centre are sent to other hospitals due to the absence of resources. “There is a severe shortage of equipment at the hospital, and those that are available have not been used due to a lack of skilled manpower. The hospital was supposed to run with the funding of the provincial government, but after the hospital was inaugurated, officials from none of the agencies of the provincial government or the relevant authorities have visited the Shailaja Acharya Cardiac Centre,” said Jha. The centre, which was supposed to help all heart patients of the province for free, is only providing normal OPD services, and in emergencies, a patient’s family has to take the patient to other health institutions. “We have made repeated requests to the government and the secretary of the province to provide equipment and skilled manpower, but they have not replied yet. I also feel bad turning back needy patients requiring immediate treatment,” Jha added. On an average 40 heart patients visit the centre on a daily basis. According to Dr Jha, the patients are referred to other health institutions following minor check-ups here at the centre. The centre currently has a doctor, seven staff nurses and a radiographer. Four months ago, the Koshi provincial government had announced to increase the perks and benefits of those working at the centre by 150 percent, but they have yet to receive the promised raises. Among the daily visitors, around five to eight patients visiting the centre need hospitalisation. But the centre refers such cases to health institutions in Biratnagar owing to resource crunch. The centre has a treadmill test machine but it is sitting idle as there are no tools and equipment to operate it. The government of India had provided an ambulance to the centre, but it is not in operation due to shortage of fuel. “The centre does not have authority to spend even a single rupee. The provincial government does not provide fuel expenses. So the ambulance has been grounded,” said Dr Jha. The provincial government allocated Rs55 million to the centre in the current fiscal year of 2023-24.  But a knowledgeable source says the centre needs at least Rs1 billion to provide all the health services promised by the then provincial government. “The then chief minister Karki launched the centre without proper management of the required human resources and equipment. The present government is in serious trouble whether to operate the centre or not,” said a highly placed source at the provincial health ministry.

Home minister burnt in effigy in Nepalgunj

BANKE: Civil society members burnt Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane in effigy in Nepalgunj on Thursday. Protesting the arrest of Kantipur Media Group Chairman Kailash Sirohiya, the demonstrators burnt an effigy at Tribhuwan Chowk. Based on a complaint of discrepancies in his citizenship card, police had arrested Sirohiya on Tuesday from his office at the Kantipur Publications headquarters in Thapathali, Kathmandu. He is being investigated in judicial custody in Dhanusha.

Tiger kills woman in Bardiya

BARDIYA: A woman died in Bardiya after she was attacked by a tiger on Thursday. Manisha Rokaya of Hasnapur of ward 8 of Baijanath Rural Municipality was killed after being mauled by a feline inside the Janachetana Community Forest in Bathua, police said. The victim and another person, Kailashpati Tharu, from ward 4 of the rural municipality were walking in the forest when the incident took place, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Tulsiram Aryal. Tharu managed to escape unharmed. Further investigation into the matter is underway.

Adult female tiger found dead

NAWALPARASI EAST: An adult tiger was found dead on the bank of Binayi stream in Nawalparasi East on Wednesday evening. According to Shishir Lamsal, officer at the Division Forest Office in Nawalparasi East, a team of veterinarians from Chitwan National Park carried out a postmortem on the tiger on Thursday. “The female tiger was found dead due to infection of a deep wound that it incurred while fighting with another tiger,” Lamsal quoted a veterinarian as saying. The tiger sustained injuries on its back.

Sita Air official injured by plane at Mugu airport

MUGU: An airline official sustained injuries when a plane hit him at Rara Airport, Mugu, on Thursday. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Birendra Thapa, a twin otter plane belonging to the private airline Sita Air hit and injured the airline’s Mugu station chief Dhirendra Bham. Bham was hit by the nose of the plane when he was signalling to the pilots for takeoff. Bham, who sustained injuries in the head, was flown to Nepalgunj on the same plane for treatment.

KMG chair Kailash Sirohiya’s defence at Dhanusha district court

Allegation No 1 by government attorney Kailash Prasad Sirohiya obtained citizenship certificate number 39698886 from the District Administration Office, Dhanusha, but it has been found that the citizenship certificate with the number was already issued in Shivaji Sah Teli’s name. Sirohiya’s defence I am a sovereign Nepali citizen born in Dhanusha on December 14, 1962. I received school education from the local Saraswati Secondary School and college education from Ramswarup Ramsagar Multipurpose Campus Janakpur. I obtained a citizenship certificate with number 39698886 from the district administration office on September 10, 1979, from the body authorised by the law. I obtained a new copy of my citizenship on October 15, 2000, as the certificate was old. But I have only one citizenship. My national ID card, driving licence, and voter ID were issued based on the citizenship acquired from the authorised office of the Nepal government. It’s been nearly four and a half decades since. Rumours have been spread that KMG chair Sirohiya has two or three citizenship certificates. However, neither the police nor government lawyers have filed such accusations. The charge sheet itself has refuted such baseless rumours. Our side would like to thank the police and the public prosecutor for that. I have also taken a national identity card from an agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs on February 27, 2023, based on the only citizenship I have received. The Dhanusha District Administration Office helped me by sending necessary details from the citizenship records as requested by Singha Durbar, Kathmandu. I have also taken a passport and the administration has helped me in the process as well. My citizenship number is the same in my national identity card and passport.   As far as the issue of my citizenship number matching another person’s is concerned, it is beyond my control. The responsibility after issuing a citizenship certificate to me lies with the state agencies. The certificate number is not a matter of a service seeker’s choice. I have no role if the number matches someone else’s. Its entire control, responsibility and accountability rest with the District Administration Office, Dhanusha. Allegation No 2 As per the reply received from the District Administration Office, Dhanusha, in the record of adults dated 2033/34 BS, it appears that your name has been registered in the record book of citizens born in Nepal to foreign parents. Similarly, it appears the children of Ghansiram Marwadi (Sirohiya)—Gopal Prasad Sirohiya, Govinda Prasad Sirohiya and Poonam Kumari Sirohiya have naturalised citizenship while Kailash Prasad Sirohiya has citizenship by descent. Sirohiya’s defence My father was a well-known businessman in Janakpur, the founder general secretary of the Janakpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was in the role continuously from 2009 BS to 2034 BS. My father obtained his citizenship on June 15, 1953. The Citizenship Act 2009 BS and Citizenship Rules 2009 BS were prevalent at the time. I was born in 2019 BS and am a citizen by descent. My identity is my legal right. In 2033/34 BS, mobile teams were deployed to distribute citizenship to those who had reached the legal age. That team also collected records of minors. So when the team came in 2033/34 BS, even though I didn’t get citizenship, my records were also collected. My citizenship certificate and those of my brothers were not issued at the same time. Citizenship laws that changed every decade resulted in varying types of citizenship. Moreover, the types of citizenship of the children born before and after our father acquired his citizenship may have been different. I can’t answer about the laws prevailing at that time and the granting of citizenship by the authorities under the law. I am accountable, responsible and honest towards my citizenship. This is my answer. Allegation No 3 Kailash Sirohiya obtained a copy of citizenship on October 15, 2005, but official signature was not found in the record book of the District Administration Office, Dhanusha, and the age of 18 was written for the date of birth. The date of birth is not mentioned in the record in question. Sirohiya’s defence The citizenship certificate that I obtained was from an authorised state agency. It is my responsibility to use the citizenship granted by the state only in accordance with the law and I am ready to face legal action if it is misused. However, it is not my responsibility to manage and control the state’s record book. Every year, the state allocates a budget and operates an office to manage and protect citizen record books. Therefore, the main responsibility of protecting such records lies with the state. The relevant agency should take full responsibility if the government records are altered due to someone’s carelessness or ill intent. In my case, the state agency granted me citizenship only because I met all qualifications prescribed by the law and furnished necessary evidence. Now, if it is not protected, the responsibility falls on the negligent office or official. Should a citizen be held responsible even when the state agency fails to keep its records intact? This is not a judicious argument. This is just an attempt to discourage citizens. I do not support this. Allegation No 4 In the copy of the citizenship received by Kailash Sirohiya, it was found that ‘age 18 years’ (December 14, 1962) was written in the date of birth column, whose fonts didn’t match with that of the age and other numbers written on the copy. The citizenship certificate has been faked by adding the date of birth inside brackets at a later date. Sirohiya’s defence As in the case of many other citizens, the handwriting of the government employee who filled out the details and the handwriting of the district officer who verified my citizenship are different. The employee who filled out the details is seen to have written only ‘age 18 years’ on the document while the officer wrote the date of birth in the box. But the writing inside the box has been enclosed in parenthesis with a red pen. The citizenship certificate is safe with me. I need not be arrested just to investigate this. Previously, only age would be mentioned in the citizenship, a requirement which was changed to the date of birth later. While the citizenship issued in 2036 BS (1979) mentions ‘age 18 years’, the copy provided in 2057 BS (2000/01) mentions the date of birth inside the bracket. This is a matter within the state’s jurisdiction. There is no need to arrest me. Allegation No 5 It was found that Kailash Prasad Sirohia’s citizenship certificate obtained for the first time mentions 2036/05/25 and 18 years in the date of birth, but in the first copy of the citizenship certificate obtained by him on 2057/06/29, the date of birth shows 2019/08/29 in the date of issue. As it was written, when calculating the age between the date of birth and the date of issuance of citizenship, it was found that 16 years and 8 months didn’t match the mentioned age of 18 years. In the citizenship issued in the name of Kailash Prasad Sirohiya on September 10, 1979, his age has been mentioned as 18 years. However, in the first copy of the citizenship issued to Sirohiya on October 15, 2000, his date of birth has been mentioned as December 14, 1962. When calculating the date of birth and the citizenship issual date, Sirohiya is found to be 16 years and 8 months old and not 18 years old as mentioned. Sirohiya’s defence I went to claim my citizenship certificate after I was legally considered an adult. The state granted me citizenship based on my records, qualifications and certificates. The state issues the citizenship certificate after verifying all the evidence and determining the age. It is not fair to question the service seekers about the certificate issued by the state itself. Allegation No 6 Kailash Sirohiya’s records of documents to be submitted when taking citizenship were not found. Sirohiya’s defence Can a citizenship certificate be provided without presenting the required documents? I do not harbour such doubts about the state. Your honour, our side is ready to help in every investigation. If you had called us and said that such issues had been found in my citizenship certificate, we would have come any day and clarified the concern—that is our duty too. However, armed personnel were deployed and I was arrested from the office of the media house that I am the chair of without giving any notice—as if the country would have suffered irreparable damage had I not been arrested that day. This is an extreme abuse of state power. It is also an encroachment of the inalienable rights given to citizens by national laws. Our side again makes it clear that if there are any questions relating to the subject of citizenship certificate, we will readily be available to the court and the police to help in the investigation as and when needed. Jurisprudence says that only such a person who is likely to destroy evidence or cause further damage to any affected person should be arrested. It’s been 44 years since I got my citizenship card. How does it hurt the law if I am not in custody? Second, how can a citizen alter the evidence held in the state’s records? So there is no reason to arrest me. If the situation for an arrest arises, the court should intervene and protect the freedom and constitutional rights of the individual. That is our demand. *** Advocates representing Sirohiya had repeatedly tried to mention the case of the home minister’s dual passports and his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of deposits of multiple cooperatives. But after Judge Churaman Khadka asked them to only present instances related to Sirohiya’s case, the advocates said that Rabi Lamichhane’s case was in fact related to the arrest, and they made the following statement: Your honour, this is not a debate on Kailash Sirohiya’s citizenship. Instead, the issue is related to Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane’s dual citizenship, holding passports of two different countries and the embezzlement of savings of depositors of multiple cooperatives. Like every other responsible media agency, Kantipur, of which I am the chairman, had also published and reported news on the issue of how Lamichhane, who had renounced his Nepali citizenship, became a member of Parliament and deputy prime minister and home minister. The seriousness and sensitivity of the issue have been proven by the decision of the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. The constitutional bench had declared his citizenship illegal, which led to his removal from all public positions that he held. The country’s constitution and laws weren’t written by Kantipur or any other media agency. But the media has the responsibility to remind everyone of the issues contained therein. For that very reason, Lamichhane held a press meet and slandered the Nepali media. Then he apologised for it publicly a year later. But right around then, news about the cooperatives scam started to circulate. The issue of embezzlement of deposits is not ordinary, your honour. It is the misuse of the savings in cooperatives and an injustice to the more than 7.1 million depositors who have saved up for their children’s education, parents’ medication and their own future. Lamichhane was a shareholder, operator and managing director of the Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd, which has been accused of embezzling deposits from more than half-a-dozen cooperatives. This is not an accusation levelled against him by the media, it can be verified in the documents of the Company Registrar’s Office. Lamichhane’s involvement in the crime is made clear by the investigation of the Pokhara Metropolis, CIB’s reports and the chargesheet filed at the Rupandehi District Court. However, media outlets have been publishing news on how Lamichhane has attempted to put the case away and obstructed investigation. The Nepali media will stay firm on its duty. On the other hand, the issue of passport fraud comes under the home ministry. But Lamichhane, who held passports of two different nations, became the home minister of the country. The media have been questioning if this is an attack on the constitution and law. But on March 20, 2023, the morning of Prime Minister Pusha Kamal Dahal’s floor test in the lower house, the Office of the Attorney General declared that Lamichhane’s case could no longer be pursued. Lamichhane’s Rastriya Swatantra Party had subsequently decided to support Dahal’s trust motion. The issue of an individual holding dual passports has already been brought to the attention of the Supreme Court. The writ against the Attorney General’s decision is being heard in the Supreme Court, and we do not want to discuss a matter sub judice in the court here. But our only question is, why can a person holding dual citizenships and passports be the home minister while a sovereign citizen of this country is arrested to exact vengeance? Are the nation and citizens supposed to just watch? When the government forgets its duty in frenzy or vindictiveness, citizens and the media raise their voice. Because they believe there is the judiciary to protect the citizen’s rights.

Business organisations object to arrest of Kantipur publisher

KATHMANDU, MAY 23 Three leading organisations representing the business community of Nepal have expressed their serious objection to the arrest of Kantipur Media Group Chairman Kailash Sirohiya. Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce said that the practice of arresting anyone and detaining them just based on a complaint was not only giving a very wrong message in general but also demoralising investors. “For a long time, the FNCCI, CNI and the NCC have been raising the voice for a system to give a chance of hearing first instead of detaining someone just based on a complaint,” reads the joint statement. “The tendency of detaining someone before listening to them has negatively impacted the business sector.” They have suggested that the investigating agencies may take some guarantee in advance, if needed, and take legal actions only after the accusations are substantiated in preliminary investigation. The three organisations have said Nepal is undergoing an economic crisis and both the government and private sectors have been taking initiatives to make joint efforts to improve the situation by promoting domestic as well as foreign investments. “An atmosphere of investment can’t be built by disgracing and demoralising business people. At this crucial juncture, all the business people—small or big—need encouragement from the government,” the statement read. “In such a context, no one should take any action that may worsen the situation.” Also, the Advertising Association of Nepal has said the government has breached its limit while investigating the issue relating to Sirohiya’s citizenship card. “It has raised suspicion that the arrest is in reprisal against a reputed person of the media sector,” the statement issued by AAN chair Sudip Thapa said. Likewise, the NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal has said the incident had terrorised the business community as a reputed media owner was arrested and demoralised just based on a complaint. “The NADA urges the government to create an environment to allow them to put their views,” a statement issued by Surendra Kumar Upreti, general secretary of the Association, said. Police arrested Sirohiya from his office at the KMG headquarters in Thapathali, Kathmandu on Tuesday. The police subsequently took him to Dhanusha, where a complaint was filed against him. The Dhanusha District Court on Wednesday remanded him for three days in custody.

The cry of Chure

Nepal on Wednesday and Thursday held an international dialogue on climate issues of mountainous countries. Titled “Mountains, People, and Climate Change,” it saw the participation of representatives from 23 countries gathered to strengthen coordination among mountain countries on climate change-related issues. The dialogue has been instrumental in positioning mountains at the centre of the global agenda and as a key negotiation block within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). On Thursday itself, 22 people from Madhesh reached Kathmandu after a 25-day walk, calling for saving the Chure mountains. They have come with a 12-point charter of demands, which include saving the water sources, jungles and mountains in the Chure region apart from protecting the land itself. One of the most fragile mountain ranges in South Asia, the Chure range consists of low hills stretching from Mechi in the east to Mahakali in the west along the south of the Mahabharat hills. Around 20-30 km wide and 1,000 km long, the range is a lifeline for the Madhesh region, providing water, minerals and vegetation. However, the water sources originating from the foothills of Chure have dried up in recent years due to exploitation, leading to the depletion of the first layer of the underground water in the Bhawar and Madhesh regions. The depletion of water has already impacted people in Madhesh, with ponds, tube wells and hand pumps running dry. The culprits of the degradation of Chure are all too familiar: The sand, land and timber mafia that is only interested in making a profit and the three tiers of government that have no regard for the present and future of the nation and its citizens. But there has been little effort to stop the exploitation of the fragile mountains. As the Chure continues to turn into a desert, we are staring at a significant crisis of water and food scarcity. The President Chure-Tarai Madhes Conservation Area Programme has been making some significant interventions, especially related to water conservation, building ponds and irrigation channels. But these efforts have been too slow and inadequate considering the rapid deforestation and extraction in the region. The campaigners who have marched to Kathmandu say the foremost work the governments of all levels must do is to shut down the crusher and sand mining industries in the region. Moreover, they demand that the government declare Dilip Mahato, an activist who was killed by illegal sand miners, as the “First environmental martyr” of Nepal. What is significant about these campaigners is that they are not just activists speaking for an environmental cause, but victims of the impacts of environmental damage and face risks to their lives. The government must, therefore, listen to their demands and act to fulfil them. The campaigners for saving the Chure plan sit-ins at different places in Kathmandu—the common protest site at Maitighar as well as the offices of various political parties. The central government in Kathmandu, which is often too quick in manhandling protesters of all kinds, would do well to listen to the campaigners this time. They have come up with a message that is important not only for themselves but for the entire nation. The degradation of Chure impacts us all, and if we do not listen to the campaigners and act on time, we will be staring at a bleak future.

Dissecting PhD Sagas – III

In the first instalment of this column published four weeks ago, I argued that institutionalising the requirement of already published research articles as part of the application package to enter PhD programmes works as a barrier to entry for potential applicants. In the second instalment published two weeks ago, I argued that although the “PhD by coursework” modality was the right approach, current staff shortages and the lack of teaching competence and teamwork at Tribhuvan University (TU) resulted in poor delivery of coursework for doctoral students. Although I used TU as an example, the same argument applies to all Nepali universities that have adopted the “PhD by coursework” modality. In this piece, I point out that Nepali universities dispensing PhDs in the social sciences and humanities must put more emphasis on academic writing training than it does now. Multiple requirements Over the past decades, the requirements for a PhD in Nepali universities in the above-mentioned disciplines have become multiple. While there are some variations, once students register for PhD programmes at most universities in Nepal, they face a package of requirements. Apart from regular coursework (when required), they are expected to attend methodology workshops, write their dissertation proposals and defend them, write a literature review essay, write and present seminar papers, attend conferences, publish papers based on their research and defend their dissertations, all before they are awarded their degrees. In theory, these activities are required so that the PhD students learn important aspects of the research/academic trade as part of their training. These activities are also required, so the logic goes, to produce better quality PhD dissertations. But are these requirements really working? Take, for instance, the case of workshops on methods. Former professor of history at TU, Tri Ratna Manandhar, registered for his PhD at TU in 1978. Early on, he was required to attend a workshop on methods. In a 2021 memoir essay, he recalled that some PhD holders showed up for the seminar and delivered lectures, which he found useless. About 30 years later, Tika Ram Gautam registered for his PhD in Sociology at TU. In an article published in 2021, Gautam says that the mandatory research methodology workshop for registered PhD candidates “turned out to be a mere formality.” In other words, over the span of three decades, the methods workshop delivered to PhD students at TU have not worked for them. On the other hand, Gautam writes that he found the experience of writing a seminar paper under his supervisor Chaitanya Mishra’s guidance really helpful. So obviously this is a more useful activity for doctoral students, provided they can work directly with supervisors with good writing experiences. However, he adds that despite the various requirements, most PhD “students are at a loss when it comes to writing, structuring, and sequencing [dissertation] chapters…. Similarly, candidates are also unable to explain their core argument which forms their thesis.” I have seen plenty of evidence to support Gautam’s evaluation in the form of articles submitted to workshops and journals by PhD students from Nepali universities. Hence, although I agree that the various requirements institutionalised in recent years are needed as part of good doctoral training packages, if the resulting dissertations and derivative articles written by our PhD students are very weak academically, then I think we need to invest more in making their writing training more effective. Perhaps some of the other requirements need to be scaled down to accommodate this increased investment in writing. Delivering writing training Is such writing training delivery possible in our universities? For that to happen, various constituents must make some broad decisions. First of all, we will need a general agreement among those who run PhD programmes that learning to write academically is the most fundamental skill their students must accomplish during their doctoral training. Amina Singh, who has taught at Kathmandu University, emphasises (in an email) that this agreement is necessary because “‘writing’ is not necessarily regarded as a scholarly practice that needs to be taught in our universities.” She adds that such writing training should help the students to “write to generate ideas and put forward arguments” as part of knowledge production. The sessions should not be reduced to English language lessons as is the case now. Second, we need a general acknowledgement of the fact that there are various ways of writing academically. Hence, the student training regimes will have to include a diversity of styles. As Singh puts it, there is “very little discussion on the rhetorical approaches to writing research across different disciplines” in our universities. Students need to be offered not rigid ideas about what counts as academic writing but be introduced to “diverse rhetorical styles of writing” that are in practice in academia internationally. Third, structural incentives must be provided to faculty members who want to deliver such writing training. At the moment, as Singh puts it, there “is little incentive for faculty to actually put in the needed work to really support the students in their writing.” This would have to change. One way to do that is to allow existing faculty to offer writing-intensive supplements tied to their regular courses with concomitant adjustments in their annual workload. Another would be to hire faculty (including videshis) whose main job is to teach academic writing. Fourth, students will have to change their relationship with writing. Even if they have enrolled in PhD programmes with no ambition to pursue academic research in the long run, they must recognise that learning to write rigorously will benefit them in various other professions. Finally, we need to consider the modalities of what such an effort might entail. I have already written about this earlier (“On training to write academically”, 24 November 2023). But Amina Singh has provided some additional useful ideas. Writing can be taught, she adds, by “setting up communities of practice for scholars and assigning formal ‘coordinators’ who would design regular activities, workshops, peer learning forums, etc.” She adds, “There needs to be workshops designed with specific stages of the research process in mind and this will require a group of dedicated practicing and skilled faculty who can do the work. For instance, writing a literature review would require a set of different academic literacy skills: Reading, analysis, abstraction, drawing inferences, organizing and presenting ideas in a coherent manner in writing.” She adds that when students start writing their analytical chapters, they might require additional discipline-specific training.   It should be mandatory for students to attend these writing workshops. They should use these opportunities to generate content that could be considered first drafts of various components of their dissertations. Needless to say, for this kind of rigorous work to be realised, many of the faculty members and PhD supervisors will have to reinvent themselves as academics who care deeply about their students’ written outputs. Without good coursework components and commitment to providing training in academic writing, Nepali universities will continue to shortchange our doctoral students. They deserve better.

Financing a net-positive future

The Asia Pacific region is 32 years behind schedule on achieving the SDGs, with Goal 13, climate action, even regressing. This is not an abstract measure. For some countries in the region, it quite literally means disappearing into the ocean. Humanity cannot afford any SDG complacency and least of all climate complacency. With densely populated coasts, heavy dependence on agriculture, poverty that still afflicts millions, and temperatures rising twice as fast as the global average, this is the most vulnerable region to climate change.   Between 2000 and 2023, over 1600 floods devastated the Asia Pacific region, killing more than 88,000 people, and impacting 1.6 billion. They represent 91 percent of all people affected by severe flooding globally. Counting the economic losses it is a staggering 452 billion dollars. By 2050, this region risks losing one-third of its GDP to climate change. And with over 4.3 billion people reliant on this region growing sustainable economies, this means climate investments are needed at greater speed and scale.    As it currently stands, the Asia Pacific region faces a significant shortfall in climate financing: at least 800 billion dollars annually. With public finances depleted by the Covid-19 pandemic and other simultaneous shocks, it is evident that it will take the unleashing and directing of more private capital to help fight climate change. Public finance, both domestic and international, must still play that critical role to incentivize, de-risk and hence leverage private finance.   Globally, nature-positive solutions can create an annual 10-trillion-dollar investment opportunity and close to 400 million new jobs by 2030. The vast majority of these opportunities sit in Asia. By contrast, according to the Climate Policy Initiative, staying on our current trajectory would trigger projected global losses of 2.3 quadrillion dollars by 2100. Meeting the 1.5 degrees Celsius target of the Paris Climate Agreement would save four-fifths of that amount. The math is clear: green investments support not only people and planet, but also, prosperity. However, turning heavily laden massive industries, hard-to-abate sectors and huge business and political interests around, will take more than doing the math. Encouragingly, some key countries and investors around the world are catching on. Globally, ESG assets are expected to surpass 33.9 trillion dollars by 2026, representing over one-fifth of total assets under management. UNDP is deeply committed to supporting this transformation through four areas of support currently underway with several countries in the region. First, through initiatives like the “Unlocking Private Capital” program and Sustainable Finance Hub, UNDP supports the design of SDG-aligned investment projects, and sustainable debt instruments. Green and Blue Bonds have been taking off in this region, and hopefully the rates and terms improve, so countries benefit more from a green/blue premium. Second, UNDP has developed the SDG Impact Standards, helping businesses and investors worldwide to better incorporate sustainability, the SDGs, and impact management. These standards move beyond just managing ESG risks, to making a net-positive contribution. Third, UNDP has developed SDG Investor Maps highlighting SDG investment opportunity areas in over 40 countries which are used by investors in formulating investment strategies. Fourth, UNDP works with Securities & Exchange Commissions to develop SDG measures and guidance for their listed companies and provide a dedicated platform to track and report on their contributions to the SDGs.   Many of these global initiatives have been piloted in China. This includes a successful initiative with the New Development Bank supporting the issuance a 5 billion RMB SDG bond on China’s inter-bank market in 2021.   UNDP has also worked with the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) in China and provided technical assistance to initiate their first trials of social and sustainability bonds.   Through the flagship Biodiversity Finance Initiative and support to the Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosure in over 40 countries, UNDP is working to redirect both public and private finance towards activities with nature-positive outcomes. The governments of Shandong and Shanghai have joined us, generating lessons and innovative approaches to advance biodiversity finance around the world. Globally, through the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, UNDP is actively working with countries to develop a set of principles on transition finance. A report on “Financing Climate Transition in China’s Agri-food System: Mitigation, Adaptation, and Justice”, was recently launched in collaboration with the Macro and Green Finance Lab of Peking University’s National School of Development and the Climate Bond Initiative.   It identifies the opportunities and challenges of transition in agriculture—a hard-to-abate sector with the least evidence-based research available—towards net-zero paradigms. It also explores financial mechanisms and policy incentives to support the transition, along with growth opportunities, so together they can guide stakeholders to invest at scale.   For the private sector, the business case is clear: hundreds of studies have proven that addressing sustainability boosts competitiveness and market share. If done properly, it can also improve financial performance and risk resilience. These wide-reaching transitions require strong political and social buy-in to strengthen the governance mechanisms and institutional and human capacities needed to protect the poorest and most vulnerable in terms of their livelihoods, food security, and human development opportunities. With the deadline for the SDGs only six years away, the Asia-Pacific region faces daunting development challenges to ensure a low-carbon future. But, with international organizations, businesses, and governments all working together, the region also has the potential to lead the way in realizing the necessary financing to deliver shared prosperity, and ensure a cleaner, more sustainable, and inclusive future for all. Wignaraja is UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. — China Daily/ANN

Energy inflation

The Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority slashed the average prescribed gas prices of SNGPL by 10pc and SSGC by 4pc given the revenue requirements of the two public utilities for the next financial year. On average, SNGPL consumers should pay Rs179.17 per mmBtu less during the next fiscal year, while SSGC customers should get relief of Rs59.23 per mmBtu. However, that will not happen where SNGPL customers are concerned, because the government intends to recover from them the tariff differential of Rs581bn not passed on to them during the last six years. A report in this paper estimates that the Ogra determination of SNGPL’s financial losses on account of average price increases from FY19 to FY24, which were not passed on to consumers in full by the government for fear of a political backlash, provides the authorities room for a hike of up to 87pc in the company’s gas prices next year. Chances are the government might not recover the entire amount from inflation-stricken gas consumers in one year and may spread it over a few years. The authorities have already shared their plans to raise gas and electricity prices from the new fiscal year. Energy inflation has been a major cause of the surging cost of living over the last couple of years. Even though headline inflation came down to just above 17pc last month from its peak of over 38pc last May, the planned hike in energy rates could again push up prices during FY25. With the government trying to secure yet another loan from the IMF to preserve the country’s new-found economic ‘stability’ and improve its credit rating, the authorities have also shared with the Fund their plans to raise gas prices from August and the base electricity tariff from July. In addition, the government would be required to increase taxes to boost its revenues by 1.5pc of GDP. These measures will again drive up inflation, burdening the people with even more costs. The household budgets of the majority, especially those in the low- to moderate-income bracket, are already stretched thin; further erosion in their purchasing power and reductions in real wages will thrust them far beyond breaking point. The upcoming budget and the accompanying financial measures will determine who will bear the ever-increasing burden of IMF-mandated adjustments: The elite classes, or the hapless majority. The widening gap between the haves and have-nots is already tearing apart Pakistan’s social fabric. Unless the government can plug this gap, matters will spiral out of control, and it will be difficult for politicians and policymakers to deal with the ensuing chaos. Protests against economic policies and high prices are growing and are not likely to subside without financial relief. — Dawn (Pakistan)/ANN

Nepal to roll out QR code system in India by mid-July

KATHMANDU, MAY 23 Nepal’s central bank is all set to launch the quick response (QR) code for Nepali nationals to make payments in India by the end of the current fiscal year, or July 15. “Work is ongoing,” said a senior official of Nepal Rastra Bank, who requested anonymity. “As per the plan, the QR code in India will go live by the end of the current fiscal year.” Gunakar Bhatta, executive director at the Payment Systems Department at Nepal Rastra Bank, said they are still working out the details for QR code payment and this is causing a slight delay in launching the system in India. He said the system for allowing Nepali nationals to make payment through QR code will be just like the debit card system, and some adjustments are being worked out. According to the central bank’s rule, Nepalis can make a transaction of Rs15,000 in a day and Rs100,000 in a month in India through a debit card. “We are focusing on substituting debit card payments with QR code payments while making payments in India.” Once the transaction limit is worked out, it will not take time to launch the service, said the central bank. On April 19, a panel formed by Nepal’s central bank prepared and published a draft of provisions related to international retail payments to be made through mobile and internet banking and inter-bank transactions through QR codes. It was then put on the Nepal Rastra Bank’s website to collect feedback from the public. A month-long deadline was given to submit suggestions. The central bank has suggested capping QR code-based payments for Nepali nationals in India at IRs100,000 (Rs160,000) monthly, either one time or cumulatively. Bhatta said suggestions have been collected, and if there are any more, the central bank will collect them. Starting March 1, Indians were allowed to make payments through their mobile phones, marking a milestone in cross-border digital payment between Nepal and India. Fonepay Payment Service partnered with India’s NPCI International Payments to launch the cross-border payment service using quick response (QR) codes. “The last two months, we had an opportunity to experience the operation of the QR code launched by India in Nepal. It has been good, especially in border areas where Indian tourists mostly make payments through QR code,” Bhatta said. “It has opened the previously untapped sector for transactions,” he said. The central bank said the National Payment Switch concept will be implemented once Nepalis are allowed to make payments in India through QR code. The proposed draft says there will be no limits on making payments through QR codes at hotels, hospitals (hospital and research centers), and medicine shops. The panel has proposed that the charges for QR code services should be determined by the market. However, the central bank can review the charges and limitations as and when needed. Payments for purchases made through mobile phones have been seen as a milestone in cross-border digital payment between Nepal and India, addressing numerous hassles faced by citizens of both countries who rely on banknotes. Although India implemented the system swiftly from March 1, the Nepali side has been dilly-dallying. On June 1 last year, Nepal and India signed a memorandum of understanding for cross-border digital payment to ease digital transactions for business people, students, and tourists from both countries. On February 15 this year, the Nepal Rastra Bank and Reserve Bank of India signed and exchanged Terms of Reference for interlinking India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and Nepal’s National Payment Interface. The integration is aimed at facilitating cross-border remittances between India and Nepal by enabling users of the two systems to make instant fund transfers at low costs. QR code display stands are now seen everywhere—from vegetable shops to department stores, private business houses to government agencies. Central bank data shows that transactions through QR codes have been growing at a faster pace each passing month. According to central bank data, in Nepal, from mid-March to mid-April, the total transactions increased to Rs45.67 billion from Rs42.56 billion the previous month, which was from mid-February to mid-March. The number of QR-code transactions also increased to 16.10 million from 14.29 million during the review period.   

Improved business activity casts doubt over rate cuts

LONDON, May 23 Businesses across the globe broadly enjoyed an improved performance this month with activity picking up across parts of Asia and Europe, surveys showed on Thursday, giving central banks room to potentially defer cutting interest rates. Borrowing costs were raised following the COVID-19 pandemic to combat rampant inflation but the talk has now turned as to how soon—and by how much—they will fall. Any easing of the pain for indebted consumers will likely be welcomed by politicians. Elections are currently being held in India, the United States goes to the polls in November, and on Wednesday British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a national election for July 4. The global economy is likely to carry its solid momentum for the rest of the year and into 2025, defying earlier expectations of a slowdown, according to an April Reuters poll of economists who said stronger growth than forecast was more likely than weakness. “Central banks will start cutting but then they will continue to re-evaluate the picture and in our view will realise at the end of the year or the beginning of next year that inflation is stickier than expected,” said Vincent Stamer at Commerzbank. “So they may not complete that rate cutting cycle.” In Europe, activity expanded at its fastest pace in a year this month, supported by buoyant demand for services, while the manufacturing sector showed signs of approaching a recovery. HCOB’s preliminary composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, climbed to 52.3 this month from April’s 51.7, beating expectations in a Reuters poll for a more modest lift to 52.0. May marked its third month above the 50 level separating growth from contraction. Overall prices charged rose at their slowest pace since November and the output prices index dropped to 52.5 from 53.7, potentially opening the door to policy easing from the European Central Bank. ECB policymakers are widely expected to reduce interest rates when they meet in two weeks. “The PMIs for May suggest that the euro zone economy continued to expand in Q2 while price pressures eased but remained high in the services sector,” said Franziska Palmas at Capital Economics. “The ECB is still very likely to go ahead with a rate cut in June, but if the economy continues to hold up well cuts further ahead may be slower than we had anticipated.” Germany’s headline PMI was above 50 for a second consecutive month, driven by strong services activity in Europe’s largest economy. But in France, the bloc’s second-biggest economy, the private sector unexpectedly shrank this month after expanding in April with the services industry joining manufacturing in reporting a contraction in activity. Growth across British businesses cooled noticeably in May and by more than any economist polled by Reuters had predicted, its PMI showed, in an early blow for Sunak’s election campaign. Business activity in India expanded robustly in May, helped by the dominant services industry, according to its PMI that also showed exports rising at a record pace and the sharpest job addition rate in nearly 18 years. Japan’s factory activity crept into expansion for the first time in a year this month, the au Jibun Bank flash PMI showed, as manufacturing gathered pace after months of weakness.

EU hits Oreo maker Mondelez with 337.5 million euro antitrust fine

BRUSSELS, May 23 The EU on Thursday slapped a 337.5 million euro ($366 million) fine on Mondelez, the US confectioner behind major brands including Toblerone and Oreo, for forcing consumers to pay more by restricting cross-border sales. Mondelez, formerly called Kraft, is one of the world’s largest producers of chocolate, biscuits and coffee, with revenue of $36 billion last year. The EU fined Mondelez “because they have been restricting the cross border trade of chocolate, biscuits and coffee products within the European Union,” the EU’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said. “This harmed consumers, who ended up paying more for chocolate, biscuits and coffee,” she told reporters in Brussels. “This case is about price of groceries. It’s a key concern to European citizens and even more obvious in times of very high inflation, where many are in a cost-of-living crisis,” she added. The penalty is the EU’s ninth-largest antitrust fine and comes at a time when food costs are a major concern for European households. Businesses have come under scrutiny for posting higher profits despite soaring inflation following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but that has since slowed down. The free movement of goods is one of the key pillars of the EU’s single market. Mondelez brands also include Philadelphia cream cheese, Ritz crackers and Tuc salty biscuits as well as chocolate brands Cadbury, Cote d’Or and Milka. The EU’s probe dates back to January 2021 but the suspicions had led the bloc’s investigators to carry out raids in Mondelez offices across Europe in November 2019. The European Commission, the EU’s powerful antitrust regulator, said Mondelez “abused its dominant position” in breach of the bloc’s rules by restricting sales to other EU countries with lower prices. For example, the commission accused Mondelez of withdrawing chocolate bars in the Netherlands to prevent their resale in Belgium where they were sold at higher prices. The EU said Mondelez limited traders’ ability to resell products and ordered them to apply higher prices for exports compared to domestic sales between 2012 and 2019. According to the commission, between 2015 and 2019, Mondelez also refused to supply a trader in Germany to avoid the resale of chocolate in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and Romania, “where prices were higher”. Vestager said within the EU, prices for the same product can vary significantly, by 10 to 40 percent depending on the country. The issue is of grave concern to EU leaders. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in a weekend letter to European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, urged the EU to take on multinationals and railed against different costs for branded essential consumer goods across member states. Vestager stressed the importance of traders’ ability to buy goods in other countries where they are cheaper. “It increases competition, lowers prices and increases consumer choice,” she added.

European automakers need time, not tariffs, to fend off China competition

MUNICH, May 23 Europe’s car giants won’t have much time to restructure their operations and product lines to compete with ascendant Chinese automakers, and stiffer tariffs will do little to protect the status quo, industry executives said during a Reuters event. European trade regulators in Brussels have said they could levy new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles based on the results of an investigation into Chinese government subsidies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said that Europe would take a “tailored approach” to its investigation and any potential duties imposed will be “correspondent to the level of damage”. It will inform those Chinese EV makers incurring provisional tariffs by June 5. But industry executives said that Brussels cannot prevent the reckoning that China’s lower cost EVs will force on European automakers and their traditional suppliers. Chinese carmakers, which command a 30 percent or more cost edge over European rivals, took 19 percent of Europe’s EV market last year, up from 16 percent in 2022, according to the Rhodium Group. “And the window is closing. From my point of view, we have two or three years. If we are not fast...it will be really tough (for German industry) to survive,” Thomas Schmall, a board member at Europe’s top carmaker Volkswagen, said at the Reuters Events Automotive conference in Munich. “Today, it is no longer size that guarantees survival, but speed,” he told Reuters. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said carmakers “don’t have much time” to adjust their businesses and depended on the removal of “regulatory chaos and the bureaucracies that we have in our backyard”. The surge in Chinese exports, and the prospect of Chinese factories within Europe, are forcing the continent’s incumbent automakers to explore partnerships with long-time rivals, turn up pressure on suppliers to cut costs, and intensify discussions with European unions over the future of plants and jobs, executives said. Some of these tactics are stumbling out of the gate. Renault and VW last week pulled the plug on talks to develop lower-cost EVs over disagreements about where to make the car. Europe’s automakers are dealing with “a form of competitive asymmetry” not only with China but with US clean vehicle subsidies, Renault CEO Luca de Meo told Reuters on the sidelines of the VivaTech summit in Paris. “In the end, the best thing you can do is be competitive.” Cutting labour costs has never been easy in Europe, where unions have political and legal levers to block layoffs. “The quality of the dialogue that we have with European unions is quite high,” Tavares said. “They see the trap and they see how we are trying to manage and to navigate through this situation.” The threat of fewer auto jobs has mobilised European politicians such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who wants Stellantis to increase its annual output in Italy to one million vehicles from around 750,000 in 2023, rather than move production to low-cost countries. Fiat Chrysler, which merged with France’s PSA in 2021 to create Stellantis, last produced more than one million vehicles in the country—including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles—in 2017. Since the merger, Stellantis has cut its European workforce by 13 percent to around 125,000, mostly through voluntary lay-offs agreed with unions and with more than half in Italy. Volkswagen has a target to cut 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) in costs by 2026, and some of those savings could come through early retirement of workers, Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said at the Reuters Events conference on Thursday. “Specifically our German plants have to prepare for tougher competition,” Antlitz said. Stellantis is launching a small electric Citroen at 20,000 euros, which Tavares said was “at the right price” to compete with Chinese automakers, whose hefty cost advantage is all too clear to their European rivals thanks to partnerships between the companies. Stellantis’ global purchasing chief Maxime Picat said in an interview in Munich that the automaker is pushing its suppliers to match Chinese supplier costs, in part using data gathered from its partnership with China’s Leapmotor.

Turkey central bank keeps key interest rate unchanged

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s central bank on Thursday kept its key interest rate stable for the second month in a row even as the country is struggling with soaring inflation. The bank’s monetary policy committee said it had decided to keep the policy rate constant at 50 percent but that it remains highly attentive to inflation risks. Ahead of the March 31 local elections, the central bank hiked its rate 45 percent to 50 percent as the inflation had become a constant headache for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Inflation reached 69.8 percent year-on-year in April—up from 68.5 percent in March, according to official data published in early May. (AFP)

Swisscom sells bonds to finance Vodafone Italia purchase

ZURICH: Swisscom said it has completed the financing of it 8 billion-euro ($8.7 billion) planned purchase of Vodafone Italia after raising 4 billion euros through a bond sale, Switzerland’s historic telephone company said Thursday. “Swisscom has now successfully completed the financing of the acquisition at attractive terms and well ahead of the expected closing” in the first quarter of 2025, the company said in a statement. The fixed-rate bonds were placed with investors Wednesday and demand was three times supply, the company said. It had already raised more than 1.14 billion Swiss francs ($1.3 billion) through a domestic Swiss bond sale earlier in May, it said. (AFP)

China’s Xiaomi reports sales spike in first quarter

SHANGHAI: Chinese tech and home appliance giant Xiaomi announced on Thursday a major jump in sales for the first quarter, on the back of a smartphone boom. Xiaomi, the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker, said its sales in the first quarter reached $10.4 billion (75.5 billion yuan), up 27 percent from a year ago. The company launched its first electric vehicle in March, entering a cut-throat domestic market with the SU7 sedan that comes equipped with karaoke equipment and a mini-fridge. “As of April 30, 2024, the cumulative locked-in orders for the Xiaomi SU7 Series reached 88,063 vehicles,” the company said in its earnings report on Thursday, adding that it had delivered 10,000 cars by mid-May. (AFP)

Israel launches deadly Gaza strikes, says ready for new truce talks

Palestinian Territories, May 23 Israel launched devastating air strikes on Gaza early Thursday while also saying it is ready to resume stalled talks on a truce and hostage release deal with Hamas to pause the war raging since October 7. The Gaza Strip’s civil defence agency said two pre-dawn air strikes had killed 26 people, including 15 children, in Gaza City alone. Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said one strike hit a family house, killing 16 people, in the Al-Daraj area, and another killed 10 people inside a mosque compound. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Fierce street battles also raged in Gaza’s Jabalia and Rafah where the armed wings of Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad said they had fired mortar barrages at Israeli troops. International pressure for a ceasefire has mounted on Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as three European countries said Wednesday they would recognise a Palestinian state. The week started with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor seeking arrest warrants on war crimes charges against Netanyahu and his defence minister as well as three Hamas leaders. Israel has angrily rejected those moves, voicing “disgust” over the ICC request and labelling any recognition of Palestinian statehood a “reward for terrorism”. But domestic pressure has also risen as supporters of hostages trapped in Gaza again rallied outside Netanyahu’s office, passionately demanding a deal to bring them home. A newly released video showed five female Israeli soldiers, tied up and some with bloodied faces, in the hands of Palestinian militants during the attack more than seven months ago. The three-minute clip, taken from a militant’s body camera footage, was released by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum on Wednesday after the Israeli army lifted censorship on it. “The footage reveals the violent, humiliating and traumatising treatment the girls endured on the day of their abduction, their eyes filled with raw terror,” the forum said. Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting Hamas to “ensure what we have seen tonight never happens again”. But his office also said that the war cabinet had asked the Israeli negotiating team “to continue negotiations for the return of the hostages”. The previous round of truce talks, involving US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, ended shortly after Israel launched its attack on Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah early this month. Israel went ahead with the assault on the last city in Gaza to be entered by its ground troops in defiance of global opposition, including from top ally the United States. Washington voiced concerns that about 1.4 million Palestinians who had been trapped in the city would be caught in the line of fire. Israel has since ordered mass evacuations from the city, and the UN says more than 800,000 people have fled. US President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said the Rafah operation “has been more targeted and limited” than feared and “has not involved major military operations into the heart of dense urban areas”. But he stopped short of saying that Israel had addressed US concerns, adding that Washington was closely watching ongoing Israeli actions. Israel’s national security advisor Tzachi Hanegbi has meanwhile given a bleak assessment of the war to a meeting of parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 13. He reportedly said that Israel has “not achieved any of the strategic aims of the war—not conditions for a hostage deal; we haven’t toppled Hamas; and we haven’t allowed residents of the (Gaza) periphery to safely return home”. The bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Tobacco industry aims to hook new generation on vapes, WHO says

LONDON, May 23 Tobacco companies still actively target young people via social media, sports and music festivals and new, flavoured products, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, accusing companies of trying to hook a new generation on nicotine. Amid ever-stricter regulation targeting cigarettes, big tobacco companies and new entrants have begun offering smoking alternatives such as vapes, which they say are aimed at adult smokers. But the WHO said these products are often marketed to youth, their design and variety of fruity flavours appeals to children, and that young people are more likely to use the products than adults in many countries. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, rejected the industry’s claim that it is working to reduce the harm from smoking. “It’s dishonest to talk about harm reduction when they are marketing to children,” he said. The WHO’s increasingly tough stance on newer nicotine products follows a sharp rise in youth vaping across several countries. The WHO pointed to flavours like bubblegum as one driver of this rise. The industry says flavours are an important tool in encouraging adults to switch away from smoking. Large tobacco companies have mostly steered away from such flavours. But firms including Philip Morris International (PM.N), opens new tab and British American Tobacco, opens new tab target youth via the sponsorship of music and sports festivals and the use of social media, the WHO said. These provide platforms to promote their brands to younger audiences and hand out free samples, it continued. PMI and BAT did not immediately send a comment. The WHO also said there is insufficient evidence vapes help people quit smoking, there is growing evidence they harm health, and that vaping increases traditional cigarette use, especially among youth.

China launches ‘punishment’ war games around Taiwan

BEIJING/TAIPEI, May 23 A furious China launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan on Thursday in what it said was a response to “separatist acts”, sending up heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated President Lai Ching-te. The exercises, in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands beside the Chinese coast, come just three days after Lai took office, a man Beijing detests as a “separatist”. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, denounced Lai’s inauguration speech on Monday, in which he urged it to stop its threats, saying the two sides of the strait were “not subordinate to each other”. On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Lai “disgraceful”. Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed. He says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future, and rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims. The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said it had started joint military drills, involving the army, navy, air force and rocket force, in areas around Taiwan at 7:45 am The drills are being held in the Taiwan Strait, the north, south and east of Taiwan, as well as areas around the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin, the command said in a statement, the first time China’s exercises have included areas round these islands. China launched military drills around Taiwan on May 23, sending up heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks. China launched military drills around Taiwan on May 23, sending up heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks. State media said China sent out dozens of fighter jets carrying live missiles, and conducted mock strikes, along with warships, of high-value military targets.

South Korea, China, Japan to hold first summit in four years on May 26-27

SEOUL, May 23 The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will hold their first trilateral summit in more than four years in Seoul on May 26-27, Seoul’s presidential office said on Thursday. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday, ahead of their three-way gathering on Monday, deputy national security advisor Kim Tae-hyo said. The three will adopt a joint statement on six areas including the economy and trade, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges and health and the aging population, he said. “This summit will be a turning point in completely restoring and normalising the trilateral cooperation system, while providing an opportunity to secure momentum for forward-looking, practical cooperation from which the people of the three countries can feel the benefits,” Kim told a briefing. The neighbours had agreed to hold a summit every year starting in 2008 to boost regional cooperation, but the initiative has been disrupted by bilateral feuds and the COVID-19 pandemic. Their last trilateral summit was in late 2019. The summit comes as South Korea and Japan have been working to improve ties strained by historical disputes while deepening a trilateral security partnership with the United States amid intensifying Sino-US rivalry. Beijing has previously warned that Washington’s efforts to further elevate relations with Seoul and Tokyo could stoke tension and confrontation in the region. South Korea and Japan have also warned against any attempts to forcibly change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, while China on Tuesday criticised a decision by South Korean and Japanese lawmakers to attend Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s inauguration. But Kim said the issue would have “no impact at all” on the upcoming summit as Seoul has consistently maintained the “one-China” principle.

United Nations creates Srebrenica genocide memorial day

UNITED NATIONS, United States, May 23 The UN General Assembly voted on Thursday to establish an annual day of remembrance for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, despite furious opposition from Bosnian Serbs and Serbia. The resolution written by Germany and Rwanda—countries synonymous with genocide in the 20th century—received 84 votes in favor, 19 against with 68 abstentions and makes July 11 “International Day of Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide.” Ahead of the vote, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned the General Assembly that the move “will just open old wounds and that will create a complete political havoc.” But he said he did not deny the killings at Srebrenica, adding that he bowed his “head to all the victims of the conflict in Bosnia.” “This resolution seeks to foster reconciliation, in the present and for the future,” said Germany’s ambassador to the UN Antje Leendertse. Church bells rang out across Serbia on Thursday in protest. The Serbian Orthodox Church said it hoped the gesture would unite Serbs in “prayers, serenity, mutual solidarity and firmness in doing good, despite untrue and unjust accusations it faces at the UN.” Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, meanwhile, denied a genocide had even taken place in the Bosnian city and said that his administration would not recognize the UN resolution. “There was no genocide in Srebrenica,” Dodik told a press conference in Srebrenica. Bosnian Serb forces captured Srebrenica—a UN-protected enclave at the time—on July 11, 1995, a few months before the end of Bosnia’s civil war, which saw approximately 100,000 people killed. In the following days, Bosnian Serb forces killed around 8,000 Muslim men and teenagers—a crime described as a genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice. The incident is considered the worst single atrocity in Europe since World War II. In addition to establishing the memorial day, the resolution condemns “any denial” of the genocide and urges UN member countries to “preserve the established facts.” In a letter to other UN members, Germany and Rwanda described the vote as a “crucial opportunity to unite in honoring the victims and acknowledging the pivotal role played by international courts.” However, there has been a furious response from Serbia and the Bosnian Serb leadership. In an attempt to defuse tensions, the authors of the resolution added—at Montenegro’s request—that culpability for the genocide is “individualized and cannot be attributed to any ethnic, religious or other group or community as a whole.” That has not been enough for Belgrade. In a letter sent Sunday to all UN delegations, Serbian charge d’affaires Sasa Mart warned that raising “historically sensitive topics serves only to deepen division and may bring additional instability to the Balkans.”

Tens of thousands bid farewell to Iran’s Raisi ahead of burial

TEHRAN, May 23 Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets on Thursday to bid farewell to president Ebrahim Raisi ahead of his burial in his home town after he was killed in a helicopter crash. Raisi, 63, died on Sunday alongside his foreign minister and six others when their helicopter went down in the country’s mountainous northwest while returning from a dam inauguration. Men and women, who were mostly dressed in black chadors and carrying white flowers, thronged the main boulevard of Mashhad, the Islamic republic’s second city in the northeast where Raisi was born. Some held aloft placards paying tribute to Raisi as the “man of the battlefield” as a large truck carrying his body drove through the sea of mourners. “I have come, O king, give me refuge,” said a slogan emblazoned on top of the truck, in reference to Imam Reza, the eighth imam of Shiite Islam. Posters of Raisi, black flags and Shiite symbols were erected along the streets of Mashhad, particularly around Raisi’s final resting place—the Imam Reza shrine, a key mausoleum visited by millions of pilgrims every year. Earlier thousands of people holding images of Raisi and waving flags lined the streets of Birjand, capital of the eastern province of South Khorasan, for the procession of Raisi’s coffin. Raisi was South Khorasan’s representative in the Assembly of Experts, a clerical body in charge of selecting or dismissing Iran’s supreme leader. Raisi had widely been expected to succeed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who led prayers in Tehran on Wednesday for the late president and knelt before the coffins of the eight people killed in the helicopter crash. Among them was foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who was buried Thursday in the shrine of Shah Abdol-Azim in the town of Shahre Ray south of the capital. Iranian officials and foreign dignitaries paid their respects to the late top diplomat at a ceremony in Tehran ahead of the burial. Massive crowds had gathered for a funeral procession in the Iranian capital on Wednesday to pay their final respects to the president, whom officials and media dubbed a “martyr”. Iran’s conservative newspapers carried large front-page pictures of the gathering on Thursday, hailing the ceremonies as an “Epic farewell” and saying Raisi would forever remain “In the hearts of the people”. Reformist dailies such as Sazandegi carried headlines that read: “The last farewell”. Tunisian President Kais Saied and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani attended an afternoon ceremony for Raisi on Wednesday in which around 60 countries took part, according to the official news agency IRNA. Member countries of the European Union were among the absentees of the ceremony, while some non-member countries, including Belarus and Serbia had representatives. The leaders of the Iran-led “axis of resistance” regional militant groups also came to the Islamic republic for the funeral. Among them were Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s political bureau in Qatar, and senior members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Yemen’s Huthi rebels as well as representatives of Islamic Jihad and Iraqi militant groups. They met on the sidelines of the funeral with General Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and Esmail Qaani, head of the Guards’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, for talks on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Khamenei, who wields ultimate authority in Iran, declared five days of national mourning after Sunday’s helicopter crash and assigned vice president Mohammad Mokhber, 68, as caretaker president until a June 28 election for Raisi’s successor.

Seven dead in south India after heavier than normal pre-monsoon rains

THIRUVANANTHPURAM: At least seven people have died in India’s southern state of Kerala after heavier than normal pre-monsoon rains, authorities said, even as much of South Asia grappled with a heatwave. Pre-monsoon rains were 18 percent above normal in Kerala this year, causing flooding in parts and disrupting flights at the Kozhikode airport, officials said. According to the state’s Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), a 70-year-old man died in a lightning strike in Kasaragod district on Wednesday, while brothers aged 18 and 21 died after falling into a quarry filled with water in Palakkad on Tuesday. Four people also died in Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts after falling into water, said an official at the SDMA. (Reuters)

Trump says Putin will free jailed US reporter Gershkovich for him

MOSCOW: Donald Trump has posted on social media that he will use his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin to get Wall Street reporter Evan Gershkovich freed from a Russian prison. Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that this would happen soon after the November election in the United States, when he is seeking to defeat President Joe Biden and return to the White House. “Evan Gershkovich, the Reporter from The Wall Street Journal, who is being held by Russia, will be released almost immediately after the Election, but definitely before I assume Office. (Reuters)

Russia says it will strike British targets if UK weapons are used to hit its territory

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Moscow will retaliate with strikes on British targets if British weapons are used by Ukraine to strike Russian territory. Zakharova told reporters that British targets “on Ukraine’s territory and beyond its borders” could be hit in such a scenario. She was repeating a warning that Moscow first issued earlier this month after British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Ukraine had a right to use weapons provided by London to hit targets inside Russia reacted with outrage to that remark and cited it as one of the reasons why it has opted to hold exercises this month to simulate the launch of tactical nuclear missiles. (Reuters)

Leverkusen and coach Alonso now must lift themselves for another final

DUBLIN, May 23 It was five days short of a full year since Bayer Leverkusen and their standout young coach Xabi Alonso had lost a game of football. The reality of sports bit hard Wednesday when the new German champion’s unbeaten run came to a shuddering stop in their 52nd game of the season, the Europa League final. Leverkusen’s 3-0 loss to Atalanta’s energetic, physical presence and the stunning hat-trick of goals by Ademola Lookman was so total that it left no room for doubt. “The normality is not to get defeated in the 52nd game,” Alonso said, reflecting on the first loss of his first full season as coach of a top-flight team. “Once it happens in such a big game, it hurts for sure. These defeats in finals, you don’t forget them.” Now Alonso must lift his team for another final, the 53rd and last game of Leverkusen’s season, playing for the German cup title Saturday against second-tier Kaiserslautern. “It is going to be a challenge for us,” Alonso, a 42-year-old Spaniard who once lost a Champions League final as a player with Liverpool, acknowledged. “When you’re a runner-up it is really difficult to deal with. Tonight is not going to be an easy night.” There was defiance in the Leverkusen camp from influential midfield anchor Granit Xhaka, who had never before tasted defeat with the club he joined last July. Xhaka was still at Arsenal when Leverkusen last lost a game, on May 27, 2023 at Bochum to close that Bundesliga season—also by 3-0. “Honestly, we’re not interested in the unbeaten record. We didn’t care about that from the start,” said Xhaka, though football fans worldwide very much did care about the record when play started Wednesday in Dublin. “It’s about the game and unfortunately we lost a final today. Compliments to Atalanta.” Xhaka hugged and spoke warmly on the field after the game with Atalanta captain Berat Djimsiti—two players born in Switzerland into families with ethnic Albanian heritage. There was much mutual respect among players and coaches, and applause from fans on both sides. They perhaps recognised kindred spirits in clubs from two small provincial cities punching well above their weight in European football. Both will be in the top-tier Champions League next season. “It has been quite exceptional what we have achieved,” said Alonso, who accepted his team had been outplayed and often out-muscled by the Italian team’s oppressive marking. “It is very demanding to play against Atalanta,” he said. “There were a number of one-to-one duels where we came out second best.” Alonso turned down job offers from two storied clubs he played for, Liverpool and Bayern Munich, to stay with this group next season. One loss “doesn’t change my thoughts and appreciations for these players,” he said. Now they have less than three days to prepare for a second cup final, in Berlin, and Alonso framed it as a challenge: “It will be a test how we deal with it.”

Hat-trick hero Lookman takes winding road to Europa League triumph

DUBLIN, May 23 Atalanta’s Europa League hat-trick hero Ademola Lookman admitted that he had to wait a while for success after years in and out of favour at different clubs but said it was “just the beginning” after he sank Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday. The Nigeria forward became the first person to score a hat-trick in a Europa League final in the 3-0 win, which handed the Bergamo club their first major trophy in 61 years and ended the German champions’ remarkable 51-game unbeaten streak. “Maybe it could have come earlier, but it’s come now,” said the 26-year-old Lookman, who bounced around in England with Everton, Fulham and Leicester City and in Germany with RB Leipzig before settling in Atalanta two seasons ago. “This is just the beginning. I hope for more nights like this and to just keep getting better and better,” he told a news conference. Lookman, who was a youth international for England, credited the Atalanta coaching staff and leadership of manager Gian Piero Gasperini for his revival. Since arriving at the club, he has scored 30 goals in 76 matches. He pointed in particular to Gasperini’s belief in attacking football that has helped him to flourish. “The first conversations I had with him made me look at football a lot different. It made things simple. It allowed me to play my game in a different light. I’m very grateful to him,” he said.

India determined to end World Cup title drought

NEW DELHI, May 23 In the ever-growing Twenty20 cricket landscape, India boasts the richest and most-watched league in the world. Yet all that investment and attention hasn’t translated into international success for India’s national team. Rohit Sharma’s India squad travel to the T20 World Cup in the United States and Caribbean in search of a second title to end a long drought. Undoubtedly, the Indian Premier League is flush with cash and talent, attracting the best cricketers from across the world. Since the advent of IPL, though, India haven’t lifted the World Cup trophy. After winning the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, India have only reached one more final—losing to Sri Lanka in 2014. The title drought crosses formats, too. India last won an International Cricket Council title in 2013—the Champions Trophy in England. They last lifted the Cricket World Cup in the 50-over format in 2011. Last year was an exceptional one in that sense—India lost the World Test Championship final to Australia in England and, a few months later, also lost the 50-over World Cup final to Australia, this time on home soil. That caused major anguish in a cricket-mad country of 1.4 billion, considering India were on a 10-0 winning streak and a hot favourite going into the final. Seven months later, Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli are leading the campaign in what in all probability will be their last T20 tournament in India’s blue. Sharma has been a part of every Indian squad at the T20 World Cup. Kohli made his debut in the 2012 edition, making this his sixth attempt at the title. Kohli has scored 1,141 runs at an average of 81.50 and strike-rate 131.30 in his 27 games at the tournament. Sharma has scored 963 runs in 39 games at a strike rate of 127.88. Both players missed all of India’s T20 internationals between the 2022 semi-final loss in Australia and January of this year, leading to some speculation they’d miss out on the 2024 World Cup starting June 1. That was dispelled by both BCCI secretary Jay Shah and chief selector Ajit Agarkar. Now, there will be big focus on their contributions—in terms of runs and strike-rate. Sharma only managed 417 runs for Mumbai Indians in the club’s unsuccessful 2024 IPL campaign. Kohli, meanwhile, topped the run charts for Royal Challengers Bengaluru with with 741 runs in 15 matches, avering 61.75. Kohli opens the batting for his IPL franchise but goes in at number three for India in T20s. It has led to a significant debate over his batting position for the World Cup because it holds the key to India’s XI. Should Kohli continue to bat at number three, Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings with Sharma. India will then have to play with only four specialist batters including Suryakumar Yadav, the world’s top-ranked T20 batter. Allrounder Hardik Pandya and first-choice wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant would slot in next, with bowling allrounders to follow. If Kohli opens with Sharma, it allows for an extra batter in the middle order and likely makes room for Shivam Dube, who has impressed selectors with his power hitting in the IPL and strike rate of 162.29. Dube can also bowl useful medium pace if needed, and could provide backup to Pandya. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will lead a bowling attack that will contain four spinners, including left-arm all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzendra Chahal complete the line-up. India begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5, then face fierce rivals Pakistan in New York on June 9 in what could be the highlight of the group stage. India will play the US on June 12 and Canada on June 15. While it is a seemingly straight-forward road for India in the first round, the tension to end a prolonged title drought will grow once they reach the West Indies for the Super Eight stage.

Divine inspiration

Accompanied by soothing, almost hypnotic music, the exhibition has Dal Bahadur Rai’s ‘Annapurna Temple at Night’ as one of its initial installations. The work portrays the nightlife of Indrachowk, Kathmandu. The artwork embodies meticulous attention to detail, with each brushstroke carefully layered to form the subtle interplay of light and shadows. Rai understands the contrast between the figures and the principle of holography, with very little pigment yet hundreds of shades. ‘Deities of Nepal-II’, currently on display at Nepal Art Council (NAC), goes beyond just displaying art—it represents the essence of Nepal, a tribute to its diverse culture and mythologies and a profound commitment to preserving its artistic legacy. It is an extension of the ‘Deities of Nepal’ exhibition held in 2022. With a collection of over 220 artworks, the NAC has explored the opportunity to showcase the brilliance and authenticity of generations of artists who represent artistic expression in traditional Nepali culture. This time, NAC has carefully picked the artworks from national and international artists—fine and modern, traditional and visual, metal and ceramic, clay and gold. Bikash Ratna Dhakhwa, the General Secretary of NAC, says, “Deities have influenced our art and literature for a long time. After the success of our first ‘Deities of Nepal’ series, we are back again with the second exhibition.” Blending traditional iconography and contemporary modern art, especially artists Uma Shah, Seema Shah, and Manish Dhoju, have polished their artworks to the point that they resonate with audiences without generational confinement. Despite the fast technological and societal change, it is quite evident that century-old narratives and mythology continue to captivate the human imagination, upstaging exploration and experimentation. You can see the effort, time, resources, research, and energy required to make these visually pleasing and equally meaningful artworks. At first glance, SC Suman’s painting ‘Bhumija’ appears to be a jumble of colours and patterns, but a closer look reveals the guarded detail and precision behind every line. ‘Bhumija’ by Suman aroused my interest for a while. It depicts Sita’s birth narrative, adorned with the characteristic bright colours of Mithila art: red, yellow, and green. Because of its ability to connect viewers to centuries of traditions and storytelling, one must be ready to contemplate deeply before taking it in. Every corner is filled with relevant shapes, flowers, patterns, or animals that narrate the initial plotline of the Ramayana. The exhibit’s Mithila paintings contain so many intricate details that one may spend a whole day contemplating them. Seema Shah’s ‘Krishna Leela’ was another work that captivated me. Seema has carefully chosen pigments for her artwork, such as the different hues of green, red, and white. The work portrays the ethereal subtleties of Mithila art, incorporating small things like fish, lotus, tiles, and ancient structures and architecture. By skillfully embodying these symbols, Suman and Seema have given their works of art layers of refinement and sophistication. They clarify the artists’ apparent understanding that artworks portraying divinity are inextricably linked to our legacy, as their work mirrors centuries-old norms, beliefs, standards, values, tales, and practices. The artworks here are so beautiful that it is very sad that this sector gets almost no support. Dhakhwa says, “The concerned ministry doesn’t pay any attention to what our artists are making and how advanced our works have become.” NAC hopes that with the diverse art collection presented at the exhibition, viewers will take something meaningful away. On the other end of the spectrum, modern artists have succeeded in giving old stories and legends new life through their work by incorporating creative approaches. From dancing Bramhayani and Bhadrakali to the illustration of meditating Shiva, modern artists Sharad Ranjit, Sunil Ranjit and Hari Khadka have brought these classic tales to life with vivid colours, dynamic movements, and creative interpretations. Paintings and a few ceramic structures occupy the first two stories, while remarkable scriptures and fine paintings that required hundreds of hours and millions of resources are found in the third story. What sets this exhibition apart is not only its conceptual brilliance but also its inclusive embrace of diverse genres and artists. It stands as a beacon of cultural preservation, illuminating the richness of Nepal’s artistic heritage without generational confinement. Something new for Nepali exhibitions was the virtual reality experience by Fire Studios. Within the black, dark walls on the top floor, you’ll find yourself in an immersive work projected onto the walls and floor, surrounding you completely with the digital projection of Lok Chitrakar’s ‘Lotus’. As you stare at the immersive walls, you will hear a clear, calm voice that explains the main idea of the artwork. The scene was expertly created to be as immersive as possible, and even after prolonged viewing, it will continue to captivate you. The floor projects the Oxford blue water below, where the lotuses—a sign of rebirth, strength, and resilience—open their blooms at the break of day. Similarly, the Thangka artworks were created using traditional procedures, precisely conforming to the proportions of deities as outlined in Buddhist scripture. There was a lot of yellow, orange, blue, and red—some embellished with gold—that resembled scenes from Buddhist cosmology, mandalas, and other spiritual symbols. The Thangka collection lacked modern or abstract paintings. Thangka artworks are supposed to be finely detailed and precise, yet incorporating symbolism into modern art would have been exciting. The organisers made every effort to ensure that the growing collection of paintings, scriptures, and crafts didn’t get lost among the many other artworks as they were given their own spaces. The first painting on the upper floor by Nelson Ferreira, called ‘Mystic Splendor; Nocturnal Paintings of Kathmandu Valley; Platigleam, Painting without Paint’ has to be one of the more intriguing paintings I’ve witnessed. You have to put on the touch of your phone and hold it at your nose level with a torch facing the painting. You will see the art gleaming at you. However, it was a little difficult to admire the artwork on the upper floor due to insufficient ventilation and scorching heat. While the pitch-black walls were stunning in their elegance, the hall’s temperature was relatively toastier than that of other floors. The final visit is to the first room across the entrance. It has taped photographs of Nepal’s stolen art and their repatriation. The assembled graphical timeline offers a historical summary of the arts that have been lost in Nepal. The NAC’s remarkable effort to preserve our heritage is evident and impressive. You’ll see tradition infusing imagination and sacredness blending with creativity. All 162 artists have paid honour to Nepal’s ancient deities, giving great care, love, and precision to each brush stroke and chisel touch with a profound commitment to perfection. But there is an unsettling reality to the status of Nepali art’s economy in the marketplace. Despite Nepal’s great heritage in high craftsmanship, we rarely see the market putting effort into revolutionising art spaces in Nepal, making them better, more accessible, and reaching a larger audience. Art preserves our heritage, bridging the gap between generations. We don’t do art just because it’s aesthetically pleasing; we do it because we are part of the human race. To sustain these traditions, cultures, tales, norms, changes, and artists in the field, the artworks must reach a larger audience.   The exhibition has garnered international acclaim for its beauty, craftsmanship, and cultural significance. By achieving global recognition, Nepali artisans elevate the profile of their craft and promote cross-cultural exchange and appreciation. Deities of Nepal - II Where: Nepal Art Council, Babarmahal, Kathmandu Timings: 10:30 am to 5:00 pm Entry: Free Till June 10

‘Babes’ is a giddy, raunchy and moving look at friendship

You know what? It’s true. They never tell you about the placenta. Let us explain. But first, let’s also point out that if you’re already queasy at the mention of ‘placenta’, well, ‘Babes’—director Pamela Adlon’s brash, chaotic, hilarious and occasionally overly gooey (in so many ways) childbirth comedy—may not be your thing. Just saying. Anyway! Somewhere late into ‘Babes’, Eden (Ilana Glazer) is giving birth. We’ve seen most of this before in countless comedies: the outlandish obstacles, the tense trip to the hospital, the traffic—oh, the traffic—all melting away in that glorious moment when the baby arrives, and everyone starts happy-crying. We get all that in ‘Babes’, too, but then the doctor says, “Start pushing,”—and Eden asks, “What, is there another baby?” And she’s told no, it’s the placenta, aka the afterbirth. Ugh! “They don’t tell you about this part,” notes her friend, Dawn. Which is funny but also basically true. And there are lots of other pregnancy-related things people don’t mention, let alone depict in movies. Like: secretions. ‘Babes’, written by Glazer with Josh Rabinowitz, loves bodily secretions of any kind. Not showing them, thank heavens, but talking about them—no wonder some are calling ‘Babes’ the “Bridesmaids” of childbearing. Or “Knocked Up” without the Seth Rogen part. Speaking of the men in ‘Babes’, the title should give you a sense of their importance to the narrative. This is a film about two women, Eden and Dawn, lifelong buddies, and how pregnancy and childbirth change them. Side note: When we speak of goo, we’re referring both to actual good—as referenced earlier—but also narrative goo. As in, schmaltz. No obstacle ever arises for long. Everybody hugs and cries it out whenever things get complicated. But hey, most of this can be forgiven when a film is this well-acted—especially by Glazer, a gifted comedian. Both she and Michelle Buteau, as Dawn, are nothing but authentic and moving, but Glazer, in particular, will have you howling one minute and wiping those misty eyes the next. We begin early on Thanksgiving morning at the multiplex because Thanksgiving morning movies are a tradition for Eden and Dawn. The wrinkle here is that Dawn is very, very pregnant with her second kid. She goes into active labour as the movie starts. But instead of going to the hospital as directed by her doctor, Dawn requests a big meal at a restaurant because you’re not allowed to eat in the hospital—leading to a high-slapstick scene at a posh eatery that includes Eden examining, amid bites, whether Dawn is dilated (we told you these are very good friends). Eventually, we’re at the hospital, where Dawn crawls down the corridors in pain, and we learn about more gross things that happen during childbirth (the movie does not crawl toward grossness—it runs headlong into it.) We also meet Dawn’s husband, Marty (Hasan Minhaj). Marty is supportive and patient – to the point of utter implausibility. Eden heads out to buy everyone sushi. In one of many Manhattan vs. Queens jokes, she buys it at a fancy place in Manhattan (she has remained in Queens while Dawn has moved to the Upper West Side), and the bill comes to nearly $500. Unfortunately, this IS plausible. It leads to a wonderful sequence where, on three or four subway trains back to Queens (we’re on a holiday schedule), Eden shares this sushi spread with a cute actor (Stephan James) she meets, dressed in a burgundy tux, who’s just left a film shoot where he played ‘Sexy Black Waiter’. A one-night stand ensues. And then, Eden discovers she’s pregnant. This will radically shift the balance of her relationship with Dawn—and we don’t need to update you on any other relationships because THIS is the one that matters. There’s much here that rings true. Adlon, Glazer, and Rabinowitz know how to convey the intensity of female buddyship, with the added complexity—not often explored in comedies—that these relationships can hurt, at bad times, perhaps even more than romantic ones. Though there are occasional lapses in narrative logic, on a deeper level the filmmakers know what they speak. At a recent screening, Adlon and her stars related a few personal childbirth anecdotes in a pre-show talk, and sure enough, at least three of these anecdotes could be found in the movie. (The funniest, though not in the film, came from moderator Julia Louis-Dreyfus—involving a starstruck nurse exclaiming “Elaine!” at a very embarrassing moment.) Breast pumps. Raging pregnancy hormones that make even produce look sexy. A male obstetrician (John Carroll Lynch, funny) who overshares. A birth plan with, why not, a ‘prom’ theme. All these elements, wacky or not, come together in a charming mishmash that adds something ultimately very important to the childbirth comedy genre: the message that childbirth is profound, yes, and full of wonder. But also, like life, it can be funny—and a bit of a mess. — Associated Press

Rupandehi District Rate FY2080.81

Related download, study of threatened species 2079.

2079-03-31 | Division Forest Office Rupandehi

Introduction To wetland of Rupandehi Districts

2078-12-23 | Division Forest Office Rupandehi

RIver Work Collection IEE

2078-03-28 | Division Forest Office Rupandehi

BIjaysal_Satisal_reprt_2077

2077-03-25 | Division Forest Office Rupandehi

5year_actionplan_DFORUP

2075-12-27 | Division Forest Office Rupandehi