International

With days to go before elections in Nepal the battle for votes is being fought over the air waves as radio stations, many backed by political parties, beam campaign messages to the farthest corners of the Himalayan nation. Social media may now dominate political campaigns in the West, but in Nepal, where fewer than one in five people has access to the Internet, radio is king. Community radio exploded in the early 1990s as Nepal’s monarchy began to loosen its grip on power, liberalising the media and allowing popular elections for a new government. It grew with the mobile revolution as cheap handsets with built-in FM receivers became widely owned, allowing news to reach areas of the landlocked mountainous country where newspapers can take days to arrive. Now the young republic of 29mn people has over 550 radio stations. But some fear that a medium once seen as a beacon of democracy has become overly politicised. The vast majority of stations – by some estimates as many as 90% – are now backed or owned outright by politicians or prominent supporters. “Community radio (in Nepal) has always been the most powerful means of communication. They reach the largest number of people... the political parties have understood that,” said Kunda Dixit, editor of the English-language Nepali Times newspaper. “What we’ve seen in the last five years is political encroachment into that space, meaning local units of the political parties buying into the radio stations.” Dixit said many stations had now become mouthpieces for local political parties. “Especially at election time they are really misused,” he added. Radio was used by both sides during the 10-year civil war between Maoist insurgents and the state that ended in 2006. The rebel fighters used guerrilla stations to spread their message, carrying transmitters on their backs and broadcasting from hidden locations to evade authorities’ efforts to jam their frequencies. After the conflict ended, the Maoists transformed themselves into a political party, winning the next national election and voting to end centuries of royal rule - a move that would set the country on the road to becoming a secular federal democracy. Sunday will see the first phase of voting in the general election, the first under a new national constitution. The CNP-UML, a communist party that has formed an electoral alliance with the Maoists, is expected to sweep the board and oust the current centre-right government. But the leader of the one-time rebel Maoists, former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, could become a casualty of the radio revolution he helped to start. Dahal’s chief rival for a parliamentary seat in his home district is Bikram Pandey, a minister in the current government who owns the popular station Kalika FM - which some say gives him the advantage. Another former Maoist party prime minister, Baburam Bhattarai, could lose the seat he has held for nearly a decade in the central district of Gorkha to a rival politician who owns a local radio station, Radio Matribhumi. Gopal Guragain, chairman, Ujyaalo Network, which syndicates national news to 220 radio stations across Nepal, says politicians increasingly see radio as “a tool to motivate and manipulate the people”. “Radio has become like another wing of the political parties,” he said. The station owners argue that they make no secret of their political allegiance. “It is crystal clear that our radio is owned by the CPN Maoist Party, we don’t hide that fact,” said Khambu Chanda, manager, Kathmandu-based Mirmire (Dawn) Radio. “We give more space and priority to the news related to our party because other radios don’t give space to our party.” But prospective voters say that makes for little clarity about what candidates really stand for. “Most of the local radios in my district are loyal to a political party or are influenced by a party,” said Shiva Khatiwada, a teacher in Dhading district in central Nepal.

Nepali voters will head to polling stations across their northern Himalayan districts next Sunday in the first phase of general elections, taking a significant step forward in establishing a federal democracy in the country. The polls will take place under a new constitution passed by lawmakers in September 2015 as part of a peace process that began with the end of a decade-long civil war in 2006. The war pitted the Maoists against the state and left more than 16,000 people dead. After Maoist rebels gave up their arms, they joined the parliamentary system, resulting in Nepal shifting from a monarchy to a secular federal republic. In 2015, the country enacted a constitution seeking to empower marginalised communities, including women and Dalits - the so-called untouchables - by ensuring greater representation in state institutions. The polls are a major step toward implementing the new constitution. “The election is key to taking Nepal out of the long-going transitional phase and to enter yet another significant chapter of state restructuring as per the new constitution,” Bishnu Sapkota, a political commentator, said. More than 90 parties have fielded candidates, but the polls are expected to be most tightly contested between the ruling Nepali Congress and a two-faction communist alliance of the Unified Marxist-Leninists (UML) and the Maoists. More than 6,000 candidates are vying for 275 seats in the new federal parliament and 550 seats in seven provincial assemblies across the country.  The top leaders in the three major parties have staged election rallies across the country, with candidates travelling door-to-door to win votes. As part of standard security operations, the government has deployed half a million officers, including army, police and civil servants, to oversee the elections at some 20,000 polling centres. Fears of violence have increased, however, after a series of explosions targeted  candidates. Early last week, Sher Dhan Rai, a former information minister and UML candidate, narrowly escaped a crude bomb hurled at his jeep when he was on his way to a rally in eastern Nepal. Over the weekend, dozens of explosions across the country targeted candidates including former deputy prime ministers and former ministers fielded by the three political parties. No candidates have been hurt, but the violent incidents left more than a dozen people  injured. Police have arrested more than 200 anti-poll protesters belonging to the Communist party of Nepal, a splinter Maoist group, but the group has not claimed responsibility for the attacks. “We have instructed security agencies to crack down on anti-poll activities and take action against those involved,” Narayan Prasad Sharma Duwadi, a home ministry spokesman said in a statement. A majority of Nepal’s 15.4mn registered voters are expected to turn out for the election. The second phase of the polls is scheduled for December 7 in the capital Kathmandu and the low-lying areas in the south. The political parties have promised stability and economic growth in Nepal, which has faced a series of disasters in recent years, including a powerful earthquake in 2015 and devastating floods in the southern plains this past summer. Bishnu Sapkota, a political commentator, said the political parties’ election manifestos lack a real agenda. “They talk about prosperity and stability - almost all of them - but that is abstract,” Sapkota said, adding, “They have not defined what that means or how they will achieve it.” Traditional parties are likely to get the lion’s share of the votes, but an upstart party of urban, Western-educated young professionals is challenging the old guard. Rabindra Mishra, a former bureau chief in the BBC Nepali service, has been fielded by the anti-corruption Bibeksheel Sajha Party in a coveted Kathmandu constituency against Prakash Man Singh, former deputy prime minister in the ruling party. But political observers say the newcomers have a long way to go. “They have some appeal to educated youths in the urban areas,” Sapkota said. “But I don’t think they will do very well because Nepali society is still traditional.”

The only son of Nepal’s former prime minister and Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal died yesterday of heart failure. Prakash Dahal, the 36-year-old son of the former prime minister, was rushed to a hospital was rushed to the Thapathali-based Norvic International Hospital at 5.50am. Doctors pronounced him dead at 5.59am. Doctor J P Jaiswal said Prakash Dahal was dead three hours before he was even brought to the hospital. “His body was cold and there was no pulse. In such case, there is no need to conduct any post  mortem of the body,” Jaiswal added. “I am saddened by the death of the son of my friend and former prime minister Dahal,” Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba wrote on Twitter. His father flew back to Kathmandu after cutting short his election campaign in eastern Nepal. Prakash, who served as his father’s personal secretary, was a Maoist central committee member. He had also been a member of an expedition that climbed Mount Everest in 2011. The Maoists waged a 10-year insurgency that ended in a peace deal in 2006. The party is fighting general elections under a new constitution, which was promulgated in 2015 as part of the peace deal. Prakash is survived by two wives and two sons. One of his wives is contesting the election as a Maoist candidate in a western Nepal constituency.

Nepali Democratic Alliance leader Sunil Bahadur Thapa, centre, greets attendees during an election campaign rally in Dhankuta district, some 400km, east of Kathamndu, yesterday. Nepal is gearing up for its first national elections this month and in December under the new constitution, introduced as part of the peace deal that ended the country’s Maoist insurgency, cementing its transformation from a monarchy to a secular federal state.

The Chinese ambassador to Nepal has said that China has taken the request of Kathmandu for building a cross-border railway line seriously and has begun a feasibility study, the media reported yesterday. In an interaction with the media on Friday, ambassador Yu Hong also said Beijing is working towards fostering a new type of international relations and to build a community with a shared future for mankind, the Kathmandu Post  reported.  Ambassador Yu expressed happiness over Nepal’s move to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and said the initiative has given wider opening for countries, including Nepal, to integrate the economy and people-to-people contact. Nepal signed up to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship BRI in May.  Yu added that Nepal and China are working on several fronts like cross-border railway connectivity, highways and construction of a dry port. “China has taken the request of Nepal government of building cross-border railway line seriously. A team has begun preliminary feasibility study,” Yu said.  Laying emphasis on Nepal-China relations, Yu said the two countries in 2009 forged a “comprehensive partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship”.  Likewise, expansion of the Rasuwagadhi-Syafrubeshi road link, resumption of Araniko Highway and construction of dry ports in Tatopani, Rasuwa and Yaritoo are also on Beijing’s priority list.  The Chinese ambassador’s interaction with the media in Kathmandu comes weeks after the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party Congress in China, enshrining “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” into the party constitution. China will deepen relations with its neighbours in accordance with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the policy of forging friendship and partnership, she said.  “Not just the present, our future too is closely linked, which is why working together for a better tomorrow is a must,” Yu said.

Nepal’s musical heritage is enjoying a revival as young musicians fuse the sounds of traditional instruments once at risk of disappearing with lyrics that examine the modern challenges facing the country. The Himalayan country has a rich folk tradition, but its unusual traditional instruments — which include a leaf from a native tree that is played like a harmonica — were dying out as younger generations moved towards Western music styles. That was until bands such as Night, which formed in 2006 as a metal group, decided to create a modern take on its indigenous music. “We grew up listening to sounds of guitars and drums and so we started to play the same. But then we started experimenting with folk instruments,” said Night’s Jason Kunwar. Now the 33-year-old singer’s musical repertoire includes the more esoteric Sarangi, a three-stringed instrument made of wood and dried sheep skin whose sounds are said to closely resemble the human voice, as well as the deeper-sounding Piwancha. The band’s latest album evolved from months spent researching instruments and singing styles in remote western Nepal. “It is fascinating to discover and learn new instruments. We are fortunate that there are still people who can teach us,” said Kunwar. “The longer we wait, the more likely we are to lose such valuable knowledge.” The songs tackle some of the most pressing social issues facing the country, including the huge number of Nepalis forced to migrate for work, often not seeing their families for long periods. The combination has proved popular — it was standing room only at the band’s recent gig in Kathmandu. Ram Prasad Kandel, founder of a folk instrument museum in Kathmandu, believes the country is witnessing a “turning point” in attitudes towards its music traditions. “There is such diversity in the sound and make of the instruments, and their playing methods. It is a gift from our ancestors,” he told AFP. “It is our identity and the young generation has to continue it.” Popular rock and pop bands Nepathya and 1974 AD were among the first to produce fusion hits with folk elements. Then Kutumba, an instrumental ensemble formed in 2004, brought the sounds of rural folk instruments to a more hip urban demographic. They have taken their performances around the world, and are particularly popular with Nepal’s sizeable international diaspora. “They are very excited when we play. Perhaps the music helps them connect to their roots,” said band member Kiran Nepali. Nepal — a country of 29 mn people — is home to around 125 ethnic groups, each with its own music traditions and well as different ways of making instruments. The songs tell the stories of the country’s culture and history — about sowing seeds and harvesting crops, of husbands and sons migrating for work, of the wounds from the country’s brutal ten-year civil war. Nepal’s movie industry is also experiencing a revival, with directors moving away from the Bollywood song-and-dance format with storylines about the often harsh reality of life in impoverished Nepal. This has opened up a new market for musicians who produce background scores and soundtracks that weave in a traditional touch. Kalo Pothi, a 2016 film about the Maoist insurgency that scooped a series of awards at international film festivals, told the story of two boys in a village in western Nepal against a beautiful soundtrack inspired by the sounds of the region. Pushpa Palanchoki, 24, performs with emerging bands Ma and MiKu, which are also jumping on the trend, fusing contemporary lyrics with traditional sounds. “Why should we do what everyone is doing when we can create unique music with what is our own,” she said.

Nepal will soon have a systematic early warning facility to respond to climate-induced and other disasters and prevent crisis, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Nepal said yesterday. UNDP and Himalayan Consensus Institute (HCI) have entered a partnership to collaborate in the areas of crisis prevention and conflict  mitigation. During an event on Tuesday, UNDP Nepal country director Renaud Meyer and HCI Founder Laurence Brahm signed a memorandum of understanding to mark the establishment of a joint initiative for crisis and conflict mitigation in the Himalayan region, highly impacted by climate change. The partnership will focus on developing systematic early warning systems ahead of environmental catastrophe to aid governments and communities in their  response. “Mitigating crisis and conflict requires a multi-disciplinary approach that is both holistic, community-based and sustainable in order to sustain long-term peace in our region,” Meyer said at the event. “This initiative will better prepare for climate-induced and other kind of disasters and respond to crisis more  systematically.” The pilot programme in Nepal is expected to serve as a model in countries affected by climate change and underdevelopment. Nepal is one of the 20 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change and other kind of hazards.

Miss Nepal at Sushi joint Miss Nepal Niti Shah poses at the Sushi-Zanmai restaurant near the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. The 69 contestants competed for the Miss International crown in Tokyo yesterday.

An unidentified group hurled a crude bomb at a vehicle carrying an opposition party candidate in eastern Nepal yesterday, less than two weeks before crucial general elections. Sher Dhan Rai, a former information minister and candidate of the Unified Marxist-Leninist party, was in a jeep on his way to address an election rally at a village in Bhojpur district, police inspector Git Narayan Chaudhary said.  “The bomb missed its target. It exploded on the road,” Chaudhary said. The vehicle’s front windscreen was broken. “Rai wasn’t hurt, but his bodyguard was wounded in the incident,” he added. Nepal is holding its first general elections under its new constitution promulgated in September 2015. The first phase of the polls are to be held in the northern districts on November 26 while the second round -in the capital Kathmandu and the low-lying areas in the south - will take place on December 7. Deuba hits campaign trail: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has started his campaign trail in western Nepal yesterday, local media reported. Bal Krishna Khand, NC’s central elections mobilisation committee co-ordinator, said that PM Deuba will hold discussions with security officials and bureaucrats about the law and order situation in the region, The Kathmandu Post has reported. The PM will reach Dhangadi today, where he will meet leaders and cadres of NC and other parties in the ‘democratic’ alliance and take stock of the  situation. He will also hold meetings with regional security and administrative chiefs in Dhangadi before heading to his home district, Dadheldura tomorrow, according to the NC. Deuba will launch his poll campaign from Dadheldura, with several elections rallies being scheduled in the districts in the western region.

A Russian extreme sportsman famed for his record-breaking free-falling stunts has died in a base jumping accident in the Himalayas, expedition organisers in Nepal said yesterday. Valery Rozov, 52, an acclaimed daredevil, was pursuing a “seven summits” quest – base jumping from the highest mountains on all seven  continents. He was jumping from Ama Dablam, a 6,812m (22,349ft) mountain in the Everest region on Saturday when the incident occurred.  “He jumped but crashed into the mountainside and did not survive,” Mingma Gelu Sherpa, from the Seven Summits Club that organised his expedition, said. “His body was airlifted to Kathmandu today.” Rozov set a new world record in 2013 for the highest-ever base jump when he leapt from Changstse, a 7,220m peak in the Everest massif, in a specially-designed wingsuit.  He broke his own record three years later by jumping from a height of 7,700m on Mount Cho Oyu, also in the Himalayas. Base jumping is an extreme sport that involves free-falling off a cliff, bridge or other platform before activating a  parachute or wingsuit. Valery Rozov

We’ve never had this many female pupils before, says principal Lal Chandra Pandey as the class opens their textbooks. “I’d say we were used to 90% of the girls in the region coming to school for a few years, and then typically having to leave at around 14 or 15 and get married. It was only last year that we noticed they were staying on for longer and longer.” It’s been more than a decade since Pandey started teaching at Shree Nepal Rastriya higher secondary in Nepal’s southern district of Kapilvastu – and he’s never seen anything like it. “But of course, by this point, we know who’s responsible.” As if on cue, 17-year-old Sheskalo Pandey lifts her gaze from her notebook and raises her hand to ask a question. She’s been awake since 4am, when she began weaving paper baskets in the dark – but she won’t let her concentration slip. “School is my whole life,” she tells me later. “I’m working so hard to be here.”  Three years ago, just after Sheskalo’s 14th birthday, her parents decided it was time she got married. “Two of the girls I walked to school with had dropped out of our class to get married, and my family decided I should probably leave too,” she recalls. “They said that it was expensive – and that walking in on my own was too dangerous. I think they thought I’d be happy because I could plan a wedding instead.”  To her parents’ dismay, the teenager reacted by bursting into tears and refusing to eat for four days. “Even when my mother brought me a bowl of homemade curd – which we never have because it’s so expensive – I left it on the ground. I felt sick, like my whole future was being taken away from me.” Then Sheskalo remembered a group of elderly women she’d seen making handicrafts and selling them at wedding fairs. This could be one answer, she thought, and came up with a business plan to sell handcrafted baskets, bowls, calendars and incense at markets across the district in order to enable her to pay the Rs300 ($3.30) monthly school fees.  “I begged my brother to lend me enough money to buy some coloured paper and glue,” she says. “He’s older than me, and had been allowed to finish school and go to university, so he agreed. He said he was proud of me for standing up for myself.”  With his support, their parents caved – agreeing that Sheskalo could attempt to pay her own school fees for six months. But if she failed, that was it: marriage was the only solution. Her mother nodded while Sheskalo made her business proposal, but her father remained silent. “I thought it was because he didn’t approve,” she says. “But the next day he came home with a rusty bicycle he’d spent all his savings on. He said that I could pay him back when I started making money. And that at least this way,  he knew I’d be safe.” Her debt was repaid two weeks later, and within two months other girls in the village were asking Sheskalo for help. “I could barely leave the house without somebody stopping me,” she recalls. “Mothers were pleading with me to teach their daughters how to make money so that they could stay in school too, and my friends started telling their parents they didn’t want to get married either.”  Community workers funded by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) caught wind of the girls’ rebellion, and began to co-ordinate a “girls only circle” where they could talk freely about their fears of forced marriage and ask for professional support to prevent it happening. Accountants were drafted in to teach them about banking and managing their money.  And when the time came to elect a group president, it was an easy choice. “There are 35 of us who have bought our own bicycles now, and we stopped two girls from getting married last month,” Sheskalo says proudly. “Next on my list is gender-based violence. We’re actually making a really big impact in a really short time.” She now earns up to Rs8,000 ($89) for a month’s work. Half of her income goes to her father, and she saves the rest. She’s saving to do a degree in accountancy after she finishes her final exams next year. In January, she began a course in computing.  “I’d never even seen a laptop before,” she says. “My instructor says I have potential, but sometimes he still has to hold my fingers down because they keep slipping off the keys – I’m not really sure how to keep them still.” “It’s not complicated why girls are made to drop out of school,” she says. “It’s just about money. People don’t have enough food to eat three times a day, so if you have a daughter, you’re going to want to find her a husband as soon as possible because that means you won’t have to feed her any more.”  Despite a legal age limit of 18, 41% of girls in Nepal are married before reaching that age – through secret ceremonies conducted in rural regions, or local police reportedly bribed to stay quiet. In Kapilvastu, an agricultural region, the figure is thought to be almost double that.  “Nepal is seeing slow but steady movements in the right direction, and the government has developed a sound strategy for ending child marriage,” says Lubna Baqi, the UNFPA’s Nepal representative. “However, there is a lot left to be done. Keeping girls in school is key to mitigating child marriage. Empowering girls with knowledge – and the confidence which comes with it – is key.”  Ending child marriage is one of the key targets for the sustainable development goals, and there is slow global progress  being made. With that in mind, as the morning’s classes come to an end at 11am, Sheskalo is one of the first out the door – wheeling her bike towards the gate in a rush. “I love school, but there’s too much to do to hang around,” she says. “I mean, some of us have businesses to run.”

Nepal’s three-time prime minister Kirti Nidhi Bista passed away on Saturday at the age of 90, the state-owned Nepal Television said. The veteran politician breathed his last in his residence at Gyaneswor in the capital Kathmandu after a prolonged battle with cancer. Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and senior politicians have expressed deep sorrow at the passing of the former prime minister, Xinhua news agency reported. “I’m deeply saddened at the passing away of Kirti Nidhi Bista. He was an epitome of simplicity and integrity, and will always be remembered as a great soul. My heart goes out to his bereaved family,” Deuba tweeted. Bista served as prime minister from 1969 to 1970, 1971 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979 during the party-less Panchayat system under two monarchs – King Mahendra and King Birendra. Later in 2005, he served as the vice chairman of the government under the direct regime led by king Gyanendra. A non-corrupt, candid and nationalist politician, Bista began his political career in 1949 and was one of the confidants of late king Mahendra of Nepal. Despite being close to the then Royal Palace, Bista is remembered for his integrity and taking a firm stance on national interests in crucial situations. “He should be remembered for his integrity and well-cultured manner. He loved the country and he made an image of a leader of strong moral ground,” said former minister and political analyst Nilamber Acharya. Also, his decision to resign from the post of prime minister on moral grounds after the main administrative building of the country, Singhadurbar, was destroyed in a fire on July 9, 1973, received public admiration.  Bista refrained from politics after the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990 for a long time. But he accepted the then king Gyanendra Shah’s proposal to become a vice-chairman of the government following the king’s takeover. Bista had to face public criticism for being loyal to the king amid the huge public outrage against the autocratic rule of the king.  Final rites of the former prime minister were performed at the Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu later on Saturday. Bista is survived by two sons and three daughters.

Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has said that elections will help in maintaining political stability and maturity in the country and strengthen political achievements made so far.  She was speaking at a function organised in Kathmandu to celebrate 103rd birth anniversary of Ganesh Man Singh the “Iron Man” and father of democracy in Nepal. She said that late Ganesh Man Singh played a significant role in initiating political change in Nepal. President Bhandari stressed that it would be a true tribute to late leader if we work to hold elections as stipulated by the constitution in a free, fair and peaceful manner. President Bhandari appealed people of Nepal to take part in upcoming parliament and provincial elections.

As the dust settled from Nepal’s massive earthquake, a fresh humanitarian crisis was just beginning: supply lines to remote communities had been destroyed, and villagers were starving. Without these trails used by porters and mules to ferry in goods, more than 1mn people living in isolated villages in central Nepal were desperately short on food. What staples did manage to creep along these damaged lifelines to local markets quickly skyrocketed in price. “The cost of those items once they get there becomes prohibitive, especially nutritious food,” said Pippa Bradford, head of the World Food Programme in Nepal, of the areas worst-hit by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in April 2015. In the months following the disaster, food supplies to these remote areas, already so limited before that many children suffered from stunting, all but dried up. Mules couldn’t travel on the damaged paths, meaning all goods had to be carried precariously on the backs of porters. Journeys that took one or two days doubled. “(The trail) was scary, with big crevices, and it looked like it might slip away at any moment,” said Rochit Tamang, 24, a porter from the remote Ruby Valley just 30km (19 miles) east of the quake epicentre. The WFP declared more than 1.1mn Nepalis “severely food insecure” – one step below famine – immediately following the earthquake, and supplies were shuttled in by helicopter to alleviate the crisis. But as global disaster efforts shifted from emergency response to reconstruction, the choppers stopped, leaving these villages in the foothills of the Himalayas to fend for themselves. “Even if people had some money, if they don’t have a trail, they can’t access the market,” said Pushpa Shrestha, who works with WFP in Nepal. Two years on, these vital trails are all but restored in Nepal’s four worst-hit districts through a $6mn project funded by British aid. Goods are slowly trickling back into communities. Long mule trains laden with sacks of rice, lentils and sugar snake up steep slopes to the villages, vying for space with porters carrying everything from basics to live chicks in large whicker baskets on their backs. “It was bad and not too fit for walking before. Now it is easy to walk. There are more mules and they are able to bring more goods,” said mule owner Jitpa Tamang, who transports goods between hamlets in the Ruby Valley in Dhading district. Food prices have stabilised as the journey time has reduced. It’s far from perfect though, with residents in Lapa – a village in Dhading two days walk from the road – complaining that owners of mules operate like a cartel and fix prices. In mountainous Nepal, home to eight of the world’s highest peaks, around 2.6mn people – 9% of the population – live in villages only accessible on foot, according to the United Nations. The rugged terrain and extreme temperatures mean that communities are only able to farm the land for half the year, relying on food stocks through the winter. In the quake-hit districts, food stocks were destroyed in the 2015 disaster and remain perilously low after two years of erratic rain, said Shrestha of WFP. “The local crop production in places like the northern belt of Dhading is not sufficient to ensure food security year round, so any kind of natural disaster like drought or hailstorm they become vulnerable,” he said. In the Lapa Valley, food prices fluctuate throughout the year, said Bam Tamang who owns a shop in Borang village, a two-hour walk from the road. “But it has become much better for us after the trail was rebuilt,” the shopkeeper said as the laden mules plodded past his shop. Mules carry goods along restored trails in Dhading, some 100km northwest of Kathmandu.

A bank in Nepal is the latest victim in a string of cyber heists targeting the global SWIFT bank messaging system, though most of the stolen funds have been recovered, two officials involved in the investigation confirmed on Tuesday. Hackers last month made about $4.4mn in fraudulent transfers from Kathmandu-based NIC Asia Bank to countries including Britain, China, Japan, Singapore and the United States when the bank was closed for annual festival holidays, according to Nepal media reports. All but $580,000 of the funds were recovered after Nepal asked other nations to block release of the stolen money, Chinta Mani Shivakoti, deputy governor of the Central Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), told Reuters. Brussels-based SWIFT said last month that security controls instituted after last year's $81mn theft from Bangladesh's central bank helped thwart some recent hacking attempts, but it warned that cyber criminals continue to target SWIFT customers. SWIFT or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication is a co-operative owned by its user banks. It declined to comment on the NIC Asia Bank hack, saying it does not discuss specific users. Representatives with NIC Asia Bank, one of dozens of private banks in Nepal, were not available for comment. The chief of Nepal's Central Investigation Bureau, Pushkar Karki, confirmed to Reuters that his agency was investigating the theft. KPMG is also involved in the investigation, according to Nepali media reports. KPMG representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. The central bank intends to release guidelines on how to thwart such incidents after investigations are completed, according to Shivakoti. "The incident showed there are some weaknesses with the IT department of the bank," Shivakoti said. SWIFT said in a statement on Tuesday that it offers assistance to banks when it learns of potential fraud cases, then shares relevant information with other clients on an anonymous basis. "This preserves confidentiality, whilst assisting other SWIFT users to take appropriate measures to protect themselves," it said. "We have no indication that our network and core messaging services have been compromised," SWIFT added. 

A bank in Nepal has recovered most of the money stolen after its SWIFT server was hacked last month, two officials, involved in the investigation of the Himalayan nation’s first reported cyber heist, said yesterday. Cyber attackers made about $4.4mn in illegal transfers from NIC Asia Bank, based in the Nepali capital, by hacking the SWIFT server at the private bank, to other countries, including the United States, Britain, China, Japan and Singapore last month when the bank was closed for annual festival holidays, Nepali media said. Chinta Mani Shivakoti, a deputy governor of the Central Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), said the regulator had requested authorities in these countries not to release the payment of the stolen amount as soon as it was informed about the theft and had launched moves to recover it. “Most of the stolen amount of money has been recovered,” Shivakoti said. “A sum of $580,000 is yet to be recovered,” he said without giving details. The chief of Nepal police’s Central Investigation Bureau Pushkar Karki said his agency was investigating into how the passcode of the bank’s computer system had been stolen and who was involved in it. “We are still working on this,” Karki said. Nepali media reports said consultancy firm KPMG was also involved in the investigation. “The incident showed there are some weaknesses with the IT department of the bank. Once the investigation report is available we’ll provide guidelines to avoid such incidents in future,” Shivakoti of the central bank said. SWIFT said it does not comment on individual entities. A SWIFT spokesperson said: “When a case of potential fraud is reported to us, we offer our assistance to the affected user to help secure its environment.” “We subsequently share relevant information on an anonymised basis with the community. This preserves confidentiality, whilst assisting other SWIFT users to take appropriate measures to protect themselves. We have no indication that our network and core messaging services have been compromised”. Officials from NIC Asia Bank, one of dozens of private banks in Nepal, were not immediately available for comments. Hackers stole $81mn from the Bangladesh central bank in February last year after gaining access to its SWIFT terminal and the emergence of other successful and unsuccessful hacks rocked faith in a system previously seen as totally secure.

The European Union election observation mission was launched in Kathmandu yesterday for the parliamentary and provincial elections of Nepal slated for November 26 and  December 7 respectively. The mission was formally launched by Chief Observer Zeljana Zovko, who is a member of the European Parliament from Croatia. The European Union was invited to deploy the mission to observe the elections. The mission will comprise more than 100 observers including experts on political, electoral and legal issues. “The elections mark an important stage in Nepal’s democratic development, and I hope that our presence will contribute to an inclusive and transparent electoral process,” Zeljana Zovko said at a  conference yesterday. Over the last two days, Zovko held rounds of meetings with the Election Commission of Nepal, government officials, as well as representatives of various political parties. During its observation and assessment, the mission will oversee legal framework and its implementation, work of election administration, campaign activities, conduct of media, role of state institutions and civil society, voting, counting and tabulation among others. Zovko further informed that 38 long-term observers have already been deployed across the country to observe electoral preparations and  campaign. According to the mission, EU observers adhere to a strict code of conduct for international election observers that require they maintain strict neutrality and impartiality in the course of their work and do not interfere in the electoral process. The EU mission will publish a preliminary statement right after the second and final phase of election and a comprehensive final report including recommendations for future elections. The mission will remain in Nepal until the completion of the electoral process.

Right after the end of the festival in the last week of October, Nepal witnessed three major road accidents which killed more than 50 people and injured dozens, with some still left unaccounted for. On October 28, at least 31 people were killed and 16 seriously injured as an overcrowded passenger bus drove off the highway and plunged into the Trishuli River in central Nepal. Two days later, at least 20 people lost their lives in two separate road accidents in the hilly districts of Gulmi and Udayapur. The common cause of the accidents, according to officials, was that the vehicles were overloaded with passengers and heavy goods, beyond their capacities. With fatal accidents becoming fairly common with numerous road users losing their lives, serious questions have been raised in this small South Asian country about road safety. “Poor condition of highways, outdated vehicles carrying double their capacity and the negligence of drivers are the reasons for the majority of road accidents in Nepal,” Deputy Inspector General Manoj Neupane, Nepal’s police spokesperson, told Xinhua. “Besides, the government’s haphazard and flawed issuance and distribution of driving licences is the primary cause of accidents,” Neupane said. The government’s department of transport management has been responsible for the issuance of driving licences in the country for more than a decade. However, the process is not smooth and transparent, with many economic irregularities often taking place, according to the public and observers. “We have even found the selling of driving licences in small shops, which shows how wretched our system is,” the DIG revealed. Despite having the minimal per capita income, the number of vehicles has significantly grown in Nepal as have numbers of drivers. But there remains no strong mechanism to assess the competence of drivers, especially of public transport, which is often blankly dubbed as “unmanageable” by officials. Although the traffic police are mobilised along both short and long routes, they claim that it is impossible to oversee and monitor every single vehicle. According to data from the department of transport management, 211,969 units of new vehicles were registered in the country in the first half of the current fiscal year. With this, the number of vehicles registered in the country has reached 2,551,138 units. The majority of passenger vehicles are operated in the private sector in Nepal. Despite certain rules such as ensuring double drivers for long routes and upholding vehicle capacity rules, transport companies are often found to disregard such regulations. As a result, Nepal’s public transportation system’s flaws has resulted in the loss of lives of many innocent people, including children, especially in the mountainous region of the country. According to the police’s statistics, at least 2,577 accidents occurred across the country in the duration of three months from mid-July to mid-October, in which 507 people lost their lives. At least 2,384 had died in the fiscal year 2016-2017, which means at least six people die every day in road accidents on average. The cases of road accidents only gain the attention and priority of government agencies when the death tolls are high, while they are seemingly forgotten for the rest of the year. With every big fatality, committees are formed for the investigation of the accident and reports are prepared along with recommendations. However, police accept that such reports are hardly implemented, and existing laws including punishments for traffic rules’ violators are very weak. Yesterday, Rajendra Raj Sharma, joint secretary at the ministry of physical infrastructures and transport, and his team were inspecting the accident site at Trishuli River where 31 people had lost their lives. “The cause of the accident seems to be that the vehicle was speeding as the road condition is pretty good,” Sharma said. “It is true that we have not been able to control the road accidents. We are learning lessons and trying to improve road transportation gradually,” Sharma said. However, transport experts claim that poor road conditions are the primary cause of such accidents. Most of the roads in Nepal are just a single, narrow lane, lacking in regular maintenance, signs and signals, and safety barriers. Nepal has 80,000km of road network of which only one-third has been constructed by the department of roads with the rest handled by the local bodies and communities. Most of the roads are constructed only for connectivity with no engineering standards, according to experts. The burden of more vehicles and passengers using the roads is increasing while road infrastructure has not been developing proportionately. “The roads constructed by authorised government bodies are scientific but there are too many flaws. The lane width is narrow, there are no safety barriers, lane markings or drainage systems in many places, the finishing is very poor,” Ashish Gajurel, a transportation engineer, said. According to Gajurel, there is an immediate need of increased monitoring and for upgrading the condition of roads to save the lives of innocent people.

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and former premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal yesterday filed their nominations for the second phase of the parliamentary and provincial polls scheduled to be held in 45 districts on December 7.  Deuba, also the president of the ruling Nepali Congress, filed his nomination for a parliamentary seat from his home district Dadeldhura in far west Nepal. He would be contesting the election for the sixth time from the same constituency.  CPN-UML chief, K P Oli filed his nomination from Jhapa district constituency No.5, situated in eastern Nepal.  Dahal, CPN-Maoist Centre chief, filed his candidacy from Chitawan district constituency No.3 situated in central Nepal while former prime minister and CPN-UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal filed his papers from Kathmandu constituency No.2.  Apart from the prominent leaders, other candidates also filed their nominations, between 10am and 5pm.  “The candidates registered their candidacy at the offices of chief returning officers and returning officers in their constituencies in a peaceful manner today,” an Election Commission spokesperson said.  On October 22, candidates had filed their nomination papers for the first phase of polls scheduled to take place on November 26.  Another senior UML leader Jhalanath Khanal filed his candidacy from Ilam constituency No.1 in eastern Nepal, while Nepali Congress general secretary Shashanka Koirala filed his candidacy from Nawalparasi 1.  The CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist have forged electoral alliance for both the provincial and parliamentary elections giving a tough fight to ruling Nepali Congress, which emerged as the largest party in the last parliamentary elections. In total, 1,405 candidates filed nominations for the second and final phase of parliament and assembly elections, so far.  According to the Election Commission, 522 candidates submitted their papers for 128 constituencies of House of Representatives and 883 candidates filed nominations for 256 seats of Provincial Assemblies in 45 districts on Thursday.  Candidates can withdraw their names on Sunday and final list of candidates will be published on the same day.

A wild elephant in Nepal killed a 35-year-old man who had attempted to chase it away, police said yesterday. The man was among a group of villagers, who late Tuesday tried to chase away a herd of four wild elephants in the village of Bhadrapur in the country’s southeast, said senior police officer Bishnu K C. “The elephants were crossing a road and were entering the forest. One of them turned back and crushed the man to death,” KC said. He said the area was part of a corridor used by wild elephants that ventured into human settlements during the harvest season between October and November. Conflicts between wild animals and humans have increased in recent years in southern Nepal’s buffer zones, areas which lie between forests and human settlements. In July, a 58-year-old man was mauled to death by a wild elephant near a wildlife reserve in southeast Nepal.