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Despite the government’s policy of retaining youth within the country, the number of young people going abroad for employment has continued to increase.

A total of 393,067 youths left for foreign employment in the first six months of the current fiscal year alone - up 14.46 percent from 343,405 that left for foreign job destinations in the same period of the previous fiscal year. This number excludes an additional 4,814 that left for Israel and South Korea under government-to-government arrangements during the review period. According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), 225,625 obtained new labor permits, while 162,628 obtained re-entry approval. About 11 percent of these youths, or 7,105, are women.

Data provided by the DoFE shows an average of 360,000 youths have left for foreign job destinations in the first six months of the past fiscal years. This implies that more than 700,000 youths are leaving the country for foreign employment annually.

Data shows 59,575 youths left the country for employment in the first month of the current fiscal year i.e. mid-July to mid-August. Likewise, 57,493 left the country in mid-August to mid-Sept, 53,525 in mid-Sept to mid-Oct, 70,990 in mid-Oct to mid-Nov, 84,226 in mid-Nov to mid-Dec and 67,258 in mid-Dec to mid-Jan. An average of 65,500 youths are leaving the country in search of employment every month.

Surya Bahadur Khatri, the director general of DoFE, said youths are leaving the country primarily due to lack of employment opportunities and the prospect of better earnings in foreign job destinations. “Despite relatively good conditions in Nepal, many are leaving the country in search of even better opportunities,” Khatri said. “Migration is not just happening in Nepal but is a global phenomenon. People from the US are also moving to Japan, Canada and Australia. Similar migration trends can be seen globally.”

Khatri claimed that the workforce going abroad is gradually becoming more skilled compared to earlier. “Those going to good countries are learning languages and some skills. Particularly, they are gaining knowledge in hospitality, cooking, waiting and packing, and receiving training from various training centers,” he added. He claimed that remittances entering the country have increased due to the growth in the skilled workforce. 

UAE Most Preferred Employment Destination

DoFE’s data shows that UAE has remained the most popular destination for Nepali youths. In the month of mid-Dec to mid-Jan, 21,121 youths, including 2,412 women, obtained labor permits for the Gulf country. Saudi Arabia was next, receiving 13,642 Nepali workers, followed by Qatar (11,983), Kuwait (6,050), Malaysia (3,175), Japan (1,946), Romania (1,743) and Croatia (1,134).  According to DoFE, Nepali youths obtained labor permits for 100 countries between mid-Dec and mid-Jan.

Wildfires have been raging at a community forest in Thamlek, Kavre district, since Tuesday afternoon. Together with local people, security personnel have been trying hard to extinguish the blazes, to little avail.

While blazes occur during the dry season in Nepal without fail, all three tyres of the government—local, provincial and federal—appear ill-prepared to deal with the disaster. Ill-equipped communities and security personnel try to douse the blazes, literally with bare hands, in a desperate bid to save lives and properties, often with little success.

Data speak for themselves. According to the Global Forest Watch, from 2001 to 2023, Nepal lost 7.05 kilo hectares (kha) of tree cover from fires and 48.6 kha from all other drivers of loss. The year with the most tree cover loss due to fires during this period was 2009 with 1.33 kha lost to fires—24 percent of all tree cover loss for that year.

The average annual loss of lives and properties from these blazes paints a very alarming picture. On an average, 77 people lose their lives in wildfires and other incidents of fire every year, according to government statistics.

Data from the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority show that 18,772 fire incidents took place in Nepal from 2014 to mid-March 2023, killing 769 people, leaving 2,548 injured and causing a total financial loss of over Rs. 22.23bn. 

A question arises: What (or more exactly who) causes wildfires in Nepal? A June 2022 study titled Status and Practical Implications of Forest Fire Management in Nepal, published in the Journal of Forest and Livelihood, seeks to tackle this question. The study shows that 58 percent of forest fires are a result of deliberate burning on the part of grazers, poachers, hunters and non-timber forest product collectors, 22 per cent due to negligence and 20 per cent by accident. 

Online data from the Global Forest Watch (2021) show that more than 80 percent of forest fires occur in March and April, with about 60 percent forest fires occurring in April alone. 

A walk into the forests located not so far away from our settlements generally shows gross negligence in the management of forests. Firebreaks are rare and so are forest guards while dry leaves and grasses are everywhere. In such a situation, all it takes is a live cigarette butt, a live matchstick and a criminal or negligent mindset to set the woods—and nearby settlements—on fire. 

The Thamlek incident should open the eyes of our authorities and local communities, prompting them to do some serious homework to save lives and properties from fires and other disasters, both manmade and natural.   

The Westerly low-pressure system has its influence in the western region of the country at present. 

The weather is partly cloudy in the hilly region of Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces, and fair in the rest of the country with the occurrence of fog in most of the parts of Tarai region, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. 

Meteorologist Pratibha Manandhar said that foggy weather will continue in the Tarai region throughout the coming week and it will disappear gradually after that.

The temperature has also started to gradually increase in the Kathmandu Valley. The minimum temperature in the Valley was 6.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday morning and it is the same this morning as well. The Department has forecast the maximum temperature between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius in the Kathmandu Valley today. 

The weather will be partly cloudy in the hilly region of Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali Provinces, and mainly fair in the rest of the provinces this afternoon. There is a possibility of light snowfall at one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous region of Karnali Province today.

Similarly, the weather will be partly cloudy in the hilly regions of Koshi and Karnali Provinces tonight and mainly fair in the rest of the country.

In the next 24 hours, there is a possibility of light snowfall in one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous region of Karnali Province.

The Department has urged all concerned to remain alert as there is a possibility of fog in many places of the Tarai on Saturday morning, which may affect daily life, agriculture, health, transport and civil aviation.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire has said that Nepal has been adhering to the 'one China' principle with strong commitment.

The Speaker said this while addressing a program organized by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China on Thursday evening, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and China and the Chinese New Year 2025.

On the occasion, he said that China has been a reliable and important development partner of Nepal for a long time.

"Nepal and China have age-old, close, friendly and cooperative relations. Our relationship is cordial, harmonious and multifaceted, built on a strong foundation of mutual trust. Geographical and cultural commonalities as well as people-to-people ties have further strengthened our bilateral relations," the Speaker said.

He said such programs would contribute a lot in further strengthening the existing economic, social and cultural ties between the two countries.

Stating that this year is the Year of Snake as per Chinese tradition, he expressed the belief that this New Year would bring more happiness, progress and prosperity to the Chinese friends.

On the occasion, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song said that China has made excellent progress in the last year facing various challenging situations.

Ambassador Chen said that under the central leadership of the Communist Party of China, especially under the guidance of Chairman Xi Jinping, China has ensured its economic development in the midst of a complex international situation.

He said that during the visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to China, the Cooperation Framework Agreement was forwarded to jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative to take ahead the China-Nepal Strategic Cooperative Partnership.

The Chinese Ambassador said that this has taken the strategic partnership of long-term friendship between Nepal and China towards development and prosperity to a new height.

"The development of a three-dimensional connectivity network between the two countries is gaining momentum, 14 traditional border trade points have been fully operational and 48 direct flights are operating in a week," he said and expressed pleasure to see friends of the two countries visiting each other for tourism, more Chinese entrepreneurs coming to Nepal to invest and do business in Nepal and export of more and more Nepali goods to China.

One hundred and seventy-four out of 292 vehicles have failed the pollution test conducted by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

The number of vehicles failing in the pollution test is 60 percent of the total vehicles subjected to the test.

Of these, 14 failed when 71 petrol-powered vehicles were tested and 160 failed when 221 diesel-run vehicles were subjected to the test.

According to KMC, 160 of the 221 diesel-run vehicles have failed the pollution test.

KMC Assistant Spokesperson Dhurba Kumar Kafle said the vehicles have been checked as per the Environment and Natural Resources Act, 2077 BS, the Pollution Control Standards, 2081 BS and Waste Collection and Transportation Procedure, 2081 BS.

KMC has been checking vehicles lately to reduce the impact of vehicular pollution. Owners of vehicles failing the pollution test have been suggested to repair their vehicles within a certain time period and operate them as per the standards.

Preparations are being made to gradually bring the vehicles that do not meet the criteria under the purview of action and stop their operation after giving them an opportunity, through the awareness program started from January 13, to make improvements.

So far, petrol and diesel- run vehicles plying through Koteshwor, Durbarmarg, Chakrapath Balkhu, Babarmahal, Teku, Sukedhara, Sinamangal, Panipokhari and Jamal have been tested.

Among the vehicles found to have failed in the pollution test are buses operating for public transport services, school buses, jeeps operated by government offices, trucks, among others.

KMC's Department of Environment Management is carrying out the pollution checking of vehicles in collaboration with the Department of Environment, the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office and the Metropolitan Police Force.

The death toll in the Jalgaon train accident has gone up to 13 with the recovery of a headless body along the railway tracks, police said on Thursday.

Some passengers of the Mumbai-bound Pushpak Express, who got off the train after an alarm chain-pulling incident, were run over by the Karnataka Express heading from Bengaluru to Delhi on the adjacent tracks in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district on Wednesday evening.

"Of the 13, we have identified eight bodies so far, including two from their Aadhaar cards,"Special Inspector General of Police Dattatraya Karale told PTI.

The eight identified deceased include four hailing from Nepal, Jalgaon district information officer Yuvraj Patil told PTI.

As per the list provided by authorities, the four Nepalis have been identified as Kamala Navin Bhandari (43) (who lived at Colaba in Mumbai), Javakala Bhate (60) (who resided at Bhiwandi in Thane), Lachchiram Khataru Pasi (40) and Imtiyaz Ali (11).

Out of the 15 persons injured in the incident, 10 were currently undergoing treatment - nine at the Pachora civil hospital and one at a medical facility in Jalgaon city- while the others who suffered minor injuries were discharged, he said.

Meanwhile, the Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), its final destination in the Maharashtra capital, at around 1.20 am on Thursday, a railway spokesperson said.

The Central Railway's general manager and other senior officials also reached the accident spot at night and inspected the site, he said.

They also visited the hospitals where the injured persons were taken for treatment.

The tragedy unfolded on Wednesday evening when passengers onboard the Pushpak Express, fearing a blaze, hastily jumped onto the adjacent tracks and were run over by the oncoming Karnataka Express, officials earlier said.

The accident took place between Maheji and Pardhade stations near Pachora town in north Maharashtra's Jalgaon district, when the Pushpak Express halted after someone pulled the chain at around 4. 45 pm on Wednesday, Central Railway officials said.

Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board, however, denied that any spark or fire inside the coach caused passengers to pull the alarm.

In a video message from Davos in Switzerland, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said, "Some passengers in the train mistakenly assumed that smoke was coming out of the train and they jumped. Unfortunately, they were run over by another train."

The CM announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the passengers who died in the tragedy.

The Railway Board separately announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased, Rs 50,000 for grievous wounds and Rs 5,000 for simple injuries. PTI 

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) introduced a policy requiring payment systems like WeChat Pay, Alipay and PayPal to register in Nepal in 2019 after these platforms started handling large transactions worth hundreds of thousands of rupees illegally.

Although many operators registered in Nepal and are operating legally as per the established regulations, there are still complaints that these platforms are still handling large transactions by violating the regulations. Police have arrested several people conducting such illegal payments multiple times.

In 2018, 2021 and 2023, police made several arrests to nab people conducting illegal transactions through WeChat Pay. Those arrested for such transactions in 2018 included restaurant owners and Nepali sellers working for multinational companies, according to police. In 2021, police arrested some Nepalis and Chinese nationals for conducting transactions worth millions of rupees through WeChat Pay. Last year, police arrested a few people from a restaurant in Bouddha for sending hundreds of thousands of rupees to China through WeChat Pay.

Following the police action, the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) also took interest into these cases and conducted its own investigation. An official of the DRI said that an investigation conducted about five years ago concluded that transactions through WeChat Pay were causing revenue evasion worth around Rs 50m.

Chandi Prasad Ghimire, director general of DRI, said that they have filed 30-35 complaints related to foreign exchange misappropriation through WeChat Pay. “Some cases were filed against people arrested by the police, while some were filed following our investigation,” Ghimire said. He urged businesses not to evade revenue through WeChat Pay or any other means and to follow legal procedures.

Although banks like NMB Bank and Machhapuchchhre Bank support QR-based WeChat Pay payments in Nepal, illegal payments are still occurring through WeChat Pay QR codes issued in China. This has caused significant economic damage to the country as transacted amounts go directly to Chinese bank accounts.

The latest case from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police confirms that illegal fund transfers through WeChat have not stopped. SP Sudhir Shahi of CIB said the bureau cannot divulge further details about these cases as investigations are ongoing.

WeChat Pay permitted to do transactions

“Chinese traders were earlier using WeChat Pay for transactions in Nepal. They would send money directly to Chinese bank accounts,” a Nepali trader said. “Although authorities brought laws to stop such transactions, we hear this is still happening.”

The proliferation of such illegal activities led to foreign exchange misappropriation. This attracted the central bank’s attention. Consequently, NRB’s Foreign Exchange Management Department issued a circular in May 2019, terming WeChat Pay illegal and directing people not to use it. The central bank stated in the circular that using payment systems linked to foreign payment systems (like WeChat Pay, Alipay and POS machines issued from foreign countries, etc.) without Nepal Rastra Bank approval was illegal.

Subsequently, the central bank made provisions to recognize WeChat Pay through Payment and Settlement Regulations. After this, First Pay Technology Pvt Ltd applied for a Payment System Operator (PSO) license in Feb 2020 with a paid-up capital of Rs 100m. NMB Bank and Machhapuchchhre Bank also received licenses. First Pay entered an agreement with Tencent Company of China to bring WeChat Pay to Nepal legally. First Pay and these two banks have over 6,000 merchants including hotels and restaurants in tourist areas across the country.

Nepal Bankers Association Chairperson and Machhapuchchhre Bank CEO Santosh Koirala said it is necessary to bring such illegal payments into the legal framework.

Nepal Rastra Bank Spokesperson Ramu Paudel insisted that illegal payments are not happening now as systems are in place for WeChat Pay transactions to remain within the country. According to him, the payment system was established targeting Chinese tourists specifically for transparent transactions.

Similarly, AliPay can now process payments through all banks via Nepal Clearing Hosuse’s Nepal Pay. Foreign visitors can open convertible foreign currency accounts at Nepali banks and financial institutions valid for their visa duration. This facility expires after their visa ends.

Higher risk of illegal payments in Chinese tourist hubs

Thamel, Lumbini, Patan, Jhamsikhel, Bouddha and Rasuwa are some of the places frequented by Chinese tourists in Nepal. WeChat Pay stands have been installed at hotels, restaurants and travel agencies in these areas, according to Koirala. However, there still is risk of foreign currency misuse as Chinese service providers can use WeChat Pay QR codes issued in China to receive payments from Chinese nationals for the services they provide in Nepal.

The Manaslu region is witnessing a boom in tourism with more foreign tourists visiting the  region this tourism season than in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. 

According to the Manaslu Conservation Area Project (MCAP), which keeps data on tourists, 1,500 more tourists have visited the Manaslu region during the tourist season of this fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal (2023-24).

MCAP stated that 10,600 foreign tourists visited the region in 2024, compared to 9,177 in 2023. Santosh Sherchan, head of MCAP, said the region draws more tourists from Europe and America than from South Asian countries. In 2024, the highest number of tourists were from France (1,335), he informed, followed by 1,181 German citizens and 796 Americans. As for tourists from SAARC member-states, Indian nationals stood at the top with 159 individuals trekking to the region. The region also draws tourists from other countries, including the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain and China.

To enter the Manaslu region, tourists from SAARC member-states have to pay Rs 1,000 per person whereas the individual entry fee is Rs 3,000 for tourists from other countries. Tourists have to pay at the counters at Bhrikuti Mandap in Kathmandu and Damsite in Pokhara. According to MCAP chief Sherchan, tourists who have not paid entry fees at either of the two places have to pay double the regular fees at the checkposts in MCAP’s Jagat and Samagaun for entering the region.

Since the Manaslu conservation area is a restricted area, tourists must also obtain permissions from the Immigration Department, which issues one-week permits to visit the area, including Chum and Nubri valleys. Tourists have to pay $50 per person for the Chum valley during the tourist season and only $25 during off-season.

The tourists have to pay $70 per person for the Nubri valley during the season and $35 for off-season. If tourists want to visit the area for more than a week, extra charges apply. The Manaslu region, which is a restricted area, includes seven wards of Chumanubri rural municipality. From this year, the municipality has also started charging domestic tourists as well.

The municipality started collecting revenues from last September. The conservation area covers ward numbers 1 to 7 of Chumanubri rural municipality. Samagaun, Lho, Prok and Bihi VDCs fall under the Nubri valley whereas Chumchet and Chekampar constitute the Chum valley. The Manaslu region has been open to tourists since 2005.