Submit your Article

Film Southasia Festival of Documentaries, which opened on November 21 by director Kabir Khan, wrapped up on November 24, awarding the Ram Bahadur Trophy for the Best film to 6-A Akash Ganga directed by Nirmal Chander Dhandriyal.

The three-member jury noted of 6-A Akash Ganga: “A mesmerising tribute to the enigmatic Hindustani classical musician Annapurna Devi, whose genius shaped generations yet whose life remains shrouded in mystery. Directed with sensitivity and reverence, the film masterfully combines archival footage, intimate interviews, and rare performances to peel back the layers of a recluse who became a legend.”

The Jury Award was split between two films Devi by Subina Shrestha and Chardi Kala – An Ode to Resilience by Prateek Shekhar, with the jury noting: “The two exceptional films, each addressing the profound undercurrents of conflict in Southasia, are being awarded the Jury Prize jointly, standing together as equal bearers of the region’s most urgent stories.”

Additionally, this year, Film Southasia honored filmmaker Anand Patwardhan with the ‘Documentary Stalwart Award’, honoring his decades of productions focused “on social justice, humanity and memory”.

The Best Student Film Award went to Hello Guyzz! by Samiksha Mathur. The Tareque Masud Best Debut Film Award was awarded to Siege in the Air by Muntaha Amin. The Best Film on Depiction of the Climate Crisis, sponsored by ICIMOD, went to A Flaming Forest by Salman Javeed, Vivek Singh Sangwan and Satya Ambasta.

This year’s edition of the biennial Southasian film festival featured 47 films from nine countries, screened over four days. With the theme, Documentary in Anthropocene, this year’s festival focused on the alarming ecological deterioration of the planet, including in Southasia, while also presenting many documentaries that touched on Southasian lives across boundaries.

The festival was also host to workshops and discussions, kicking off with a directing workshop with chief guest Kabir Khan. ‘Kathaharu’ and the ‘WOW Festival’ conducted masterclasses with Jane Mote, The Whickers, UK, and film editor Shweta Venkat, in collaboration with Film Southasia. Other discussions were held on the themes ‘Understanding the Anthropocene’, ‘The Evolution of the Nepali Documentary’’ and ‘The Sudden Runaway Success of Nepali Cinema’.

The jury, consisting of Farjad Nabi (Lahore), Anitha Pottumkulam (Chennai) and Kiran Krishna Shrestha (Kathmandu), in their closing remarks, highlighted the importance and urgency of the theme related to human-induced deterioration of the environment, “This year’s theme—Anthropocene—is not just timely but essential. It is a stark reminder that what we share cannot be restrained by borders.”

The Kaligandaki Corridor serves as a direct route connecting India and China.

This nationally significant project links the renowned Muktinath Temple in Mustang with Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, boosting both religious and cultural tourism.

Indian tourists have increasingly begun using the corridor to visit Muktinath, making it the most efficient route for their pilgrimage. According to Harihar Sharma, Deputy Mayor of Jaimini Municipality, the corridor also connects tourists from the Kaligandaki coastal area to Lumbini.

“The face of Baglung has transformed due to the southern corridor, which is currently undergoing blacktopping,” Sharma noted. The corridor includes a 44-kilometer stretch in Baglung, passing through Balewa, Kushmisera, and Jaidi, before connecting to Gulmi via Chhisti Chhischilo.

“The corridor has opened the door to South Baglung's development. Roads have been paved within five years of its opening. Indian tourists can now access Muktinath, while Chinese tourists can reach Lumbini, fostering trilateral trade relations,” Sharma added.

Since the corridor’s expansion, large cargo trucks and tourist buses have started arriving at Muktinath from Gaindakot via Jaiminidham, Baglung Kalika, and Panchakot. Once road paving is complete, the corridor is expected to see significant traffic, making it the shortest route for travelers entering Baglung, Myagdi, and Mustang from India.

According to local resident Sanam Rana, the convergence of the Kaligandaki Corridor and the Mid-Hill Highway in Baglung will further enhance tourism development in the region.

In the five years since its opening, various segments of the 495-kilometer corridor—extending from Gaindakot to the Korala border crossing with China—have been rapidly upgraded and paved. Inaugurated in 2018 with support from the Nepali Army, the corridor now enables Chinese tourists to travel to Lumbini through this route.

The corridor, planned 24 years ago, is progressing toward completion. It is being developed in two key sections: the 224-kilometer Gaidakot-Ramdi-Maldhunga segment, and the 255-kilometer Maldhunga-Beni-Jomsom segment. According to Kalpana Adhikari, Chief of the Kaligandaki Corridor Gaindakot-Maldhunga Project Office, 162 kilometers, or 67 percent, of the Gaidakot-Maldhunga segment has already been blacktopped.

The corridor has significantly simplified travel from Lumbini to Mansarovar via Muktinath. Campaigner Tikaram Dhakal anticipates further accessibility improvements after the road paving is complete.

With the corridor’s activation, Indian pilgrims are now traveling to Muktinath via the Ruru region, while Dhakal highlights the need to attract Buddhist pilgrims from China to Lumbini, the sacred birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha.

The corridor, envisioned from Gulmi 24 years ago, connects several prominent pilgrimage sites, including Triveni Dham, Devghat Dham, Keladi Dham, Ramdighat, Ranighat, Rudrabeni, Setiveni, Purti Ghat, Jyamrighat, Palpa Bhairabhsthan, Baglung Kalika, Galeshwor Dham, Kagbeni, Muktinath, and Damodar Kunda.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the Nepal Premier League will directly contribute to promoting tourism and presenting the youth talent in the international arena.

Unveiling the NPL Trophy from the historic Dharahara premises today, he gave assurances of the government's cooperation and encouragement to NPL as far as possible. The PM said the government is always with the players for the development of the sports sector.

He believed that the NPL will add a new dimension to Nepali cricket.

"Cricket is the dream and also a topic of glory for our present generation. Let us be able to add a new dimension in the Nepali cricket through this League. The government is with you. My interest and ownership will always be there whether, personally, I am in the government or not," Prime Minister Oli said and extended best wishes to all the participating teams for their victory.

He also wished that may the youth talent be exposed and the thinking that Nepalis can do if given the opportunity be established through the NPL.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 15, 900 per tola in the domestic market on Monday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow metal is being traded at Rs 151, 300 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 167, 200 per tola on Sunday.

Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 115 and is being traded at Rs 1,845 per tola today.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli extended his best wishes that may the '16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence' make significant contributions towards building a civilized and violence-free society.

In a message of best wishes on the occasion of the commencement of the campaign today, PM Oli highlighted the need of putting collective efforts for a civilized society. 

Prime Minister Oli stated that joint efforts should be made to advance our efforts on the path of prosperity, equality, civilization, justice.

"We can build a peaceful, civilized and humane society through the path of cooperation and mutual respect", the message reads.

He also wished that the campaign may inspire everyone to build a humane society. "For today, gender-based violence has presented a big question mark on our consciousness, civilization, behavior. Gender discrimination and violence are a blot on us", reads the message, adding, "The society we want should be a just society, a civilized society, an advanced society, a cultured society. It is also well stated in our scriptures".

He went on saying, "This is a common campaign of all of us, it is necessary to take this common campaign forward through the joint efforts".

From the age of slavery, which considers a man as a machine, the feudal era of women as a commodity, we have now entered the modern, equitable, peaceful era in a conscious, normative, constitutional, legal and practical way and our efforts are on to make it more advanced, the PM noted.

In the message, the Prime Minister said that he has established the national aspiration of 'Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali' and wants to achieve prosperity through the path of good governance and development in the country.

"We are moving ahead on the path of building a society with just society, social justice and equality, reflecting these things and we have brought our policy programs accordingly", reads the message.

President Ram Chandra Paudel appointed Chitralekha Yadav as the Nepali Resident Ambassador to Australia.

President Paudel appointed Yadav to the post of ambassador on the recommendation of the Government of Nepal, the Council of Ministers.

Yadav was former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) and former Minister in the Cabinet as well.

Shailaja Regmi Bhattarai, Spokesperson at the Office of the President informed that President Paudel appointed Yadav to the post of ambassador in accordance with Article 282 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal 2072 BS.

Nepal has received its first-ever sovereign credit rating of ‘BB-’ from the global agency Fitch. The rating agency has assigned Nepal a Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘BB-’ with a stable outlook. The rating reflects the country’s financial stability, potential for growth, and areas requiring improvement, say experts.

The rating places Nepal above many South Asian nations, except India, which holds a two-notch higher BBB- rating. While categorized as speculative, the rating signals moderate economic stability and future growth potential for Nepal. Experts view the outcome as better than anticipated for Nepal’s first credit evaluation.

The ratings reflect Nepal’s low and highly concessional government and external debt burdens, strong external liquidity and solid growth prospects underpinned by the hydropower sector. “This is balanced against an underdeveloped economy that is vulnerable to external shocks and natural disasters,” the rating agency said. While Nepal’s GDP per capita and governance metrics are well below the 'BB' median, Fitch said it has been improving since the end of the armed conflict in 2006 and the subsequent political transition.

Nepal’s public debt, which is at around 44 percent of GDP, is below the forecast ‘BB’ median of 55 percent. Fitch has noted that Nepal’s non-financial contingent liabilities appear limited, while provinces currently have no debt and the bulk of state-owned enterprise debt is on-lent from the government. Likewise, Nepal’s robust foreign currency reserves, supported by remittances, provide a solid financial foundation, it added.

The positive rating is expected to create new opportunities for Nepal. First, having a sovereign credit rating will enable Nepal to issue bonds in the international market, which will pave the way for financing large infrastructure projects. Second is, the rating, albeit speculative, reassures potential investors that Nepal holds promise if necessary reforms are implemented. Third is the scope for improvement. Experts believe this rating provides a benchmark for future progress, as regular reviews allow Nepal to work toward higher grades.

There are challenges as well. Experts say the rating reflects moderate risks in its economic environment. Low revenue generation, increasing public debt and inefficiencies in regulatory frameworks could make potential investors cautious. Another important challenge is political stability. Frequent changes of government hinder policy stability, affecting economic and financial governance.

To improve its rating and attract more investments, the government needs to ensure political stability and policy continuity. A lack of policy stability has often led to disruptions in implementation of projects and programs and made potential investors reluctant to commit funds in Nepal. The government needs to undertake comprehensive reforms to strengthen its financial foundation. Modernizing revenue collection, expanding the tax base and putting in place more efficient tax administration processes are some of the measures that the government needs to take. 

Likewise, public deft requires management through a well-defined strategy. Further, the government must focus on improving capital expenditure execution, which has consistently fallen short of targets, and ensure borrowed resources are utilized more efficiently for productive investments rather than recurrent expenses.

The government also needs to make its market oversight more effective. Empowering financial sector regulators with better enforcement capabilities, modernizing supervision methods and improving coordination among various regulatory agencies are some of the things that the government must undertake. 

This would not only boost investor confidence but also help in creating a more transparent and predictable business environment that international investors seek.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is holding a discussion with the former prime ministers and former foreign ministers about his upcoming China visit.

In the meeting to be held at the Prime Minister’s Office at 11 am today, Prime Minister Oli will take suggestions from the former prime ministers and foreign ministers in order to make the visit productive, according to his secretariat.

At the invitation of China, the Prime Minister is leaving for the northern neighbor on December 2.

During his visit to China, Prime Minister Oli is also going to discuss BRI, implementation of past agreements signed between Nepal and China, ongoing projects and Nepal-China relations among others, sources claimed.

Lawmakers have been presenting differing views on whether to take loans under BRI or not.

Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said that he would not be able to attend the meeting of former prime ministers called by Prime Minister Oli on his forthcoming visit to China.

He, however, put forth his few thoughts.

Leader Bhattarai said, “Nepal is the oldest independent and sovereign country in South Asia and one of the oldest in the world, and hence, has every right and responsibility to assert and maintain its sovereignty, come what may.”

“Given Nepal's specific geo-strategic, geo-economic and geo-political positioning between two rising and competitive powers China and India, and closely monitored by the Super Power USA and its allies, we have to be adept in maintaining  friendly relations with all for our own national interests.”

He further said, “As we need foreign trade, capital, technology, knowhow and goodwill to kick-off our laggard economy to a developed stage at the shortest possible time, we must take advantage of whatever possibility the BRI of China offers us, as we have done with India and USA earlier.

Bhattarai said that his party, the Socialist Party of Nepal (Naya Shakti), extended best wishes to the PM and his team for the forthcoming China visit.